No. Astrid! Astrid, no! The Doctor screamed down at the pile of sunken in dirt. He Couldn't believe it. She was gone. She was never going to come back. For all he knew she was dead down there. She was too young, too early in her timeline. It meant that he never met her. She never would turn into his love now. His Astrid. It was all his fault too. He should have listened! He should have stopped her from being stupid. It was all his fault. He was stupid and worthless. Astrid didn't deserve anyone like him anyways. He always got her hurt. It was always his fault. Everything that happened to her was all his fault. He had lead her straight to her death just like he had done to all his other friends. He always lost them all, because of himself.
"No please … This is all my fault." Amy pleaded as she knelt down and dug into the soil where Astrid had been. She was desperate. She needed to try and save Astrid. Astrid had saved her. Astrid had killed herself to save her. Worthless old her. If she hadn't been so self absorbed maybe she would have been able to stop Astrid. Astrid was the Doctor's reason for living. Amy had gone and taken that away from him. The way Amy saw it, Amy had literally killed Astrid. Not the Ground. Her. She had taken the life of a child and now Amy wouldn't be able to look at herself. She had turned into a monster. She had killed her friend.
"No! No! No! No! No. No! No. No. No. No." The Doctor yelled out in frustration, tears streaming down his cheeks. His screwdriver scanning the soil for any sign of life and revealing nothing. He rarely ever cried, but she had turned him into this. She had shown him his own heart long ago. She had shown him how to love again. She had shown him that nothing lost is ever truly lost. No matter how dark the situation seemed there was always a bright side to things. It was on of the many reasons he loved her. But she was lost now. She was gone forever. His own little rant seized when a concerned looking Nasreen and the man from before ran in. Watching the scene before them with confusion in their eyes.
"Where is she?" The woman asked with hope in her tone, a hope that broke the Doctor just a little bit more. There was no point in false hope. He already knew that whatever had happened, she was dead. She already had known what was going to happen. She had looked so scared to go under the soil. She looked terrified, like whatever was under the ground was a horror beyond horrors. He rarely had ever seen her scared before, and if she was scared it had to be bad. It had to be like death. She was most certainly dead.
"She's gone forever. The ground took her." The Doctor announced, looking at the woman with such a heartbroken frown that it made her cry.
Rory was regretting his decision. Big time. Right now in this moment of time he was standing in a gross hole of dirt meant for a dead person, and he was trying to figure out what happend to said dead person. This was one thing he was never going to do again. Rory was going to stick to acting like an idiot, not solving cases.
"Do you want sugar?" The boy, Elliot, asked Rory. Rory and Elliot had become fast friends since their meeting. Rory had learned that he was twelve years old, only two years younger than Astrid. He also found out that the kid had dyslexia which made him take a liking to audio books more so than print.
"No. Just white, thanks." He replied to the boy. Ever since he had agreed to help them, their mother had been awfully kind. Not only did she make Rory tea, but she had offered to make him some lunch, offered him a muffin, and offered to pay in advance. He had said no to everything but she had kept insisting until finally he stopped her at tea.
"There's only one explanation, as far as I can see." Elliot told him with a smile. The little boy looked like he had told people that before. Maybe he had, and maybe they just didn't believe him. He was only a little kid after all. He looked proud, as if maybe just maybe he had solved it all already. He wouldn't put it past the boy. He was a really smart kid and he certainly looked like he could solve something as simple as finding a lost body. Rory wanted to know. Perhaps Elliot had solved it and Rory wouldn't have to do any more poking around in the earth. He sure hoped so, he was starting to get a little uncomfortable.
"What's that, then?" Rory asked him with curiosity atop his tongue. The boy smiled at him, glad that he wanted to hear what he had to say. Elliot had told his parents what he had thought and her mother had told him he was being ridiculous. His father had even tried to pass it off as dreams! At least Rory was going to listen, he was nice and he wouldn't tell him that he was being delusional.
"The graves eat people. Devour them whole, leaving no trace." Elliot told Rory. A sparkling smile on his face as he did. There was no other explanation, not only was the whole body gone, but the whole casket was too. It was not a grave robber because they only pilfered from graves, they didn't take the whole casket, body included, and risk getting caught. So it couldn't have been a person. It must be the grave itself.
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Rory asked the young boy. He understood where Elliot was coming from. It didn't look like the work of grave robbers since there wasn't any people around here to steal caskets. Plus, it was extremely unlikely that they had stolen the dead body themselves since they were the one's that had called the police. So it didn't seem like a person could have done it, but still it seemed like they were forgetting something, as if what Elliot had said wasn't too far from the truth but it still wasn't correct.
"Well, they didn't steal the body from above. They couldn't have got in from the sides. Only other thing is, they get in from underneath." Elliot explained to Rory. There was no way that the body was taken from the top because the dirt and grass was still in place, a few flowers were even growing in the soil, so it definitely wasn't messed with on the top. They obviously couldn't have gotten in from the sides because there was only more dirt and soil there, so the only possible entrance had to be from below. No one knew what was under the soil.
"Not very likely, though." Rory told him. Still thinking on what they were missing. It seemed like Elliot was on to something. But Rory thought there was another part to that, maybe an alien or something was stealing the humans or something weird like that. It sure seemed like aliens had a huge part in his life and every adventure he had been on so far there was some sort of alien threat. He was one hundred percent sure that aliens had something to do with what was going on. It had to be.
"When you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Sherlock Holmes. The graves round here eat people." Elliot announced, jumping effortlessly into the hole with Rory. Elliot was right the graves were eating people and he had a pretty good idea why. Now all he had to do was find the Doctor. No more investigating for him, it was time to bring in the alien brains. Finally he could get out of this dead person hole! Thank you Elliot!
"It's not quicksand. She didn't just sink. Something pulled her in. It wanted her." The Doctor told the others as he continued to think of what exactly had pulled her in. Oh Astrid, why did you have to rescue Amy, why did you have to put Amy's well being above your own. It was one of Astrid's many flaws and it was the one he loved the most about her. Why did she have to be so selfless. Is that why the ground wanted you? No, because it wanted Amy before you jumped in and saved her. Why did the ground want you two girls? Is it because you're associated with me? I really don't want that to be true. I'm sorry Astrid. I'm really really sorry that you were taken, and I promise I will get you back.
"The ground wanted her?" Nasreen asked confused. Why would the ground want something. It wasn't an actual living thing, it was just as alive as doors and windows. The ground can't be alive so how is it taking people? How is it even feeling the emotion of wanting something? It can't carry out an action or talk like a human. It can't think thoughts so how in the world can the ground want?
"You said the ground was dormant. Just a patch of earth, when you first saw it this morning. And the drill had been stopped. But when you re-started the drill, the ground fought back." The Doctor answered back. He knew he must sound ridiculous but it was true. The ground hadn't been moving when he had gotten here with the girls, it was just a hole of dirt. But when the drill had begun drilling it had attacked back and had crumbled the building beneath it to get to them. It made sense, the humans just weren't listening.
"So what, the ground wants to stop us drilling? Doctor, that is ridiculous." Nasreen said with disbelief. This guy came in here all nice and kind wanting to help them with their problems, but all he wanted was for them to shut down drilling. He had probably set all of this up! He had probably planned it all out with his two friends. That would explain why he didn't look upset about his other friend getting 'taken by the ground'. It was all a huge trick to scare her into stopping her drilling! Well if he thought that she was going to stop drilling because of a stupid prank he had another thing coming.
"I'm not saying that, and it's not ridiculous, I just don't think it's right. Oh, of course. It's bio-programming." The Doctor announced, finally understanding what was going on. His brain was so slow today, it must be because of the slow day. Nothing life threatening or adventurous had happened until now, so his brain hadn't been working overtime like it usually did. Astrid would have figured it out before him! He was going to have a very stern talking to with his brain later!
"Bio Whatsit?" Amy asked confused, she was trying to distract herself now. The pain and guilt gnawing at the back of her mind trying to take her over. She would not let it win, she would defeat it. She hated the feeling of constantly reliving the moment over and over again in her head. She wanted some peace, and asking questions always distracted her. What she had done was unforgivable.
"Bio-programming. Oh, it's clever. You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects. It's mainly used in engineering and construction, mostly jungle planets, but that's way in the future and not here. What's it doing here?" The Doctor said, trying to narrow down the list of several jungle planet species. There were so many it was impossible to tell what species was under the ground. It was like looking for a grain of brown sugar on a beach. No forget the brown sugar. It was just going to be nearly impossible to figure out what type of aliens it was that had captured Astrid!
"Sorry, did you just say jungle planets?" Nasreen asked in a very appalled manner. What did he mean jungle planets? Was he a spaceman of some sort, is that the kind of scientist he was? This man was impossible! He was the impossible man! And that child, the one with incredible knowledge, she was impossible too. They were all impossible! Who are they? Nasreen didn't have a clue.
"Yes, yes he did." Amy confirmed as she stared out into nowhere, barely paying attention to the conversation that the other three were having. Instead she was thinking of the horrible moment that she had witnessed. The pain in Astrid's eyes as she begged not to go under, the helplessness that Amy felt as she tried to rescue her friend, and the fear in the Doctor's eyes at the thought of losing his love. It broke Amy even more every time she played it in her mind, but she had to. If she didn't then she wouldn't only be a killer she would also be a monster.
"You're not making any sense, man." Mack said a bit angrily at the Doctor. Mack was a scientist but he had never once heard any of the words that man was spitting out. Where had this man gone to school, because it had obviously never been a university. He was a genius with a brain like Albert Einstein, he certainly seemed crazy like the man.
"Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up. The earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack." The Doctor replied, trying to explain it in a way that a young timelord would understand. He was used to talking with a genious such as future Astrid, or maybe even younger Astrid … if of course she ever started talking to him again.
"Yeah, even if that were possible, which, by the way, it's not, why?" Nasreen asked him with interest and curiosity atop her tongue. She knew that the ground had done something, but it as sure as hell had not been attacking. She had seen the Doctor's friend get taken but it could have been simply an earthquake after all. And excuse her, but she was so keeping up. She was after all a scientist with a Doctorate, it wasn't like she was completely daft. Not once in her entire lifetime had she ever heard that word before in her life, it wasn't her fault. Perhaps her professor's, but never her own.
"Stop you from drilling. Okay, so we find whatever's doing the bio-programming, we can find Astrid. We can get her back. We can actually properly get her back. Shush, shush, shush. Have I gone mad? I've gone mad." The Doctor said as he paced the room trying to find the exact reason for hearing extra drills. Amy would probably pass it off for being an alien, and Astrid would say that it's his brain trying to tell him something. But the Doctor himself, he thought he had finally gone completely mad.
"Doctor. What are you …" Nasreen tried again, this time being cut off. The Doctor was starting to annoy her now. He was too kind for her to yell at him or kick him out, especially after what had just happened. She knew in her heart all he was trying to do was help and that he had good intentions but this was out of hand. He was insane or something, because this was not how normal people acted. Sure a few of them once in awhile say that they hear things, but acting like a complete lunatic? That was not normal.
"Shush, shush. Silence. Absolute silence. You've stopped the drill, right? And you've only got the one drill? Well, of course you only have one drill, if you had more than one I'd have seen it. So, if you shut the drill down, why can I still hear drilling? It's under the ground!" The Doctor said in a very long ramble. Why if all the drills were shut down, could he hear more drills. It doesn't make sense! What was under the ground! He wished he had Astrid with him now, she knew everything. Ugh, her and her know it all knowledge. And he thought he knew everything. He needed Astrid and soon, he would never be able to solve this without her big, smart brain.
"That's not possible." Mack exclaimed. It was just preposterous! Drills under the ground? There was only one drill and it was off. Mack couldn't hear anything. What was going on? Was he going to have to restrain this man? Why was this Doctor guy so insistent on getting him and Nasreen to do stuff for him, did him and Nasreen have a giant sign above their heads that said they needed help from a psycho? This Doctor, was very kind but perhaps maybe too kind.
"As Astrid would say, nothing is impossible just highly improbable." Amy said a little shaken from the whole incident that had happened a few moments prior. Amy knew that Astrid could take care of herself, especially the future version of Astrid. But the hysterical fear that was on her face before she was sucked into the earth made Amy think differently. She knew what was going on, yet she was so scared of what was awaiting her under the soil. Whatever was there had to be bad. She watched silently as the Doctor sonicked the computers near by, her eyes mournfully watching his every move.
"Oh no, what, what are you doing?" Nasreen asked as she rushed over to stop him. That laptop held all the research on her work and he could break it. Who knew what that silly little pulsing thing was doing to it. This man seemed kind and a little too sciencey for his own good, maybe just maybe he was out to steal her work. No, she couldn't make assumptions like that, it wasn't nice. This man wasn't going to break anything she was sure of it. She just needed to calm herself down.
"Hacking into your records. Probe reports, samples, sensors. Good. Just unite the data, make it all one big conversation. Let's have a look. So, we are here and this is your drill hole. Twenty one point zero zero nine kilometres. Well done." The Doctor said at an extremely fast pace, not even stopping for a breath. This was a huge achievement for a human. Shouldn't it be in the history books? He had read every single history book in existence. He had almost beaten Astrid too. It was one of their stay in days and Astrid had insisted that she was a better reader than him, he of course being prideful had called the statement false so they had a race reading every single history book in the world, to see who could do it fastest. She had beaten him by a smidge, he still suspected that she had cheated. But still that didn't change the fact that Nasreen's accomplishment had not been in any one of them. The important question being, what happened to prevent that?
"Thank you. It's taken us a long time." Nasreen pronounced proudly, smiling a huge smile, and her eyes gleaming with happiness. This was what she always wanted to do ever since she was a little girl living in London. All she ever wanted to do was explore. And now here she was, living her biggest dream with the best team behind her, and her biggest achievement ever on her shoulders forever. This had taken them almost all of their adult lives, but good god it was worth it.
"Why here, though? Why'd you drill on this site?" The Doctor asked her. Something was telling him that it wasn't a good reason. Drill out in the middle of nowhere? They had to have a reason. No one … except for maybe him and Astrid would ever do a crazy thing such as that. But he wasn't a human and Astrid was special. Human's would never dare do something as insane as that. It was freezing out here, and it was really small. The only thing that ever got humans to do stuff was curiosity. But curiosity, although a very logical explanation to why Nasreen chose to come out here was still not a big enough reason to drop everything and come out here. Wherever here was.
"We found patches of grass in this area, containing trace minerals unseen in this country for twenty million years." Nasreen told the Doctor as she looked at the screen in awe as new information came up. She had been extremely fascinated with the grass, in fact she thought it was too beautiful to be dug up. But it had to be if she was ever going to accomplish her dream. Now that he was asking, it did seem a bit strange to her. No sign of it for that long and no caution when it shows back up again. She was definitely wary of that grass now. She really should have stayed away the first time, she was such an idiot.
"The blue grass. Oh, Nasreen. Those trace minerals weren't X marking the spot, saying dig here. They were a warning. Stay away. Because while you've been drilling down, somebody else has been drilling up." The Doctor replied to Nasreen as he started typing on the keys again, trying to reveal the sensor readings. He remembered the blue grass from somewhere. Where was it? Think, think, think! Hadn't Astrid warned him about blue grass? Not this Astrid but the future version of her had. It was in his last body, she had said something about blue grass and a lizard. He wasn't sure exactly what she had said, it wasn't exactly important at the time and he hadn't really listened to her. Now he was really regretting not listening because that information could very well mean her life. He was so stupid.
"What are they?" Nasreen asked as she stared at the screen trying to make heads or tails of the information. It certainly wasn't like anything she had seen before. It was new. It was like there was a hidden passage way on her screen and it wouldn't show itself until the Doctor revealed it. What did all of this science stuff mean? She didn't understand half the words on the screen now! This was worrying her, she didn't know what was going to happen.
"Heat signals. Wait, dual readings, hot and cold, doesn't make sense. And now they're moving. Fast. How many people live nearby?" The Doctor asked frantically. There was only a handful of alien species that had both hot and cold readings and mostly all of them were bad, about half of them were his enemies! This was getting worse and worse for Astrid. He only hoped that it wasn't who he thought it was because if he was right, and he usually was, she would be killed in battle. Astrid would die before he got her back.
"Just my daughter and her family. The rest of the staff travel in." Mack quickly explained with a very confused look on her face. Why was this guy asking personal questions now? Was he an inspector of some kind? No he couldn't possibly be an inspector, he barely looked old enough to drive. The Doctor seemed to be kind enough, especially after just losing his little child friend. So why was he ordering them to do stuff? Maybe the loss had broke him. Maybe the loss was making him crazy. Mack didn't know but he wouldn't be able to take much more of this.
"Grab this equipment and follow me." The Doctor stated firmly as he very quickly snatched up the laptop and placed it in Nasreen's hands. Something was wrong and he was going to get to the bottom of it. He was going to save the earth … again he might add. Why was the earth always in trouble, why couldn't it just stay calm and peaceful for just one adventure. But he couldn't leave his second home stranded without help, it wasn't like he could just run away. He ran away all the time and he was not going to now, especially since he wanted his love rescued.
"Doctor, where are we going? Doctor?" Amy questioned as they walked further and further away from the building they had been in. She was confused? What was so bad with something coming up from inside the ground. Sure it was probably something not good. Plus, it was the same thing that had taken Astrid. But who cares it wasn't like it was going to have the chance to kill them. Her raggedy man would defeat whatever alien it was this time around and then he would get them far far away from this place. Nothing would hurt them so why was he in such a hurry? Amy didn't understand!
"That noise isn't a drill, it's transport. Three of them, thirty kilometres down. Rate of speed looks about a hundred and fifty kilometres an hour. Should be here in ooh, quite soon. Twelve minutes. Whatever bio-programmed the Earth is on its way up, now." The Doctor explained, quickly thinking out a plan. If they took Astrid as a bribe in exchange for something perhaps he could get her back. But would it work? What if it was one of his enemies. He was after all over nine hundred years old and he had several enemies. If it was one of them trying to steal Astrid to get to him, well … then there was no hope for her. But a future version would have told him about this right? Ok, so the plan was wait and see what type of alien it was and then go from there. Maybe then he would have a better plan then just hoping and praying that they would give her back to him.
"That's good right? They could lead us straight to Astrid." Amy said hopefully. If Astrid came back unharmed that means that she would be able to stop blaming herself! It was perfect! Then she wouldn't feel like a rubbish friend and everything could go back to normal! Yeah, that could work.
"No, it's not good because whatever is happening to Astrid right now would happen to all of us." The Doctor replied, shivering at the thought. He didn't know what threat was down there it could be something as simple as Adipose or something as horrid as Daleks. He hoped it wasn't the latter but either way, it was taking humans and doing something to them. And that something sure didn't sound good. He was not going to risk Amy and Rory or himself down there, and he especially didn't need them coming up here to wreak havoc. This was going to be a disaster!
"How can something be coming up when there's only the Earth's crust down there? Who are you, anyway? How can you know all this? Why'd you have a child with you?" Mack asked, firing question after question at the man. Mack was completely and utterly confused. Properly confused. The man shows up with a child and a meek little ginger friend and he bosses them around once the child goes missing. Something was coming out of the earth? What the hell does that mean? The only thing that lived under the earth was worms and dirt and stuff. Earth stuff. Well at least he thought so. Could there be more? He trusted the man after all and the man was telling them that there was something else under the ground. So maybe there was after all.
"Whoa, did you see that?" Nasreen asked amazed as she watched the glimmer of red blow up the sky into a blaze of auburn. It was beautiful. Was it fire? Maybe something was wrong with the sky? She knew that something was wrong which just added to the fact that nothing was going right today. But it was beautiful. All the reds and oranges that had slowly lit up the sky for a brief moment. It was awful but she wanted it to come back. Just for a minute so she could see the divine beauty once again.
"No, no, no." The Doctor mumbled. This could not be happening! How would he ever be able to get Astrid now! He wasn't going to just use the front door! He would be killed instantly if they suspected that they were intruders! What could he do! Well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Maybe it wasn't what he thought it was. To check to see if he was right the Doctor quickly pulled out a catapult and stone from out of his bigger on the inside pockets, and then quickly proceeded to fire the stone into the air. His hopes were diminished however, when the stone met a energy shield and vaporized into dust in front of his eyes.
"Energy signal originating from under the Earth. We're trapped." The Doctor announced downcast, staring at were the rock once was. Nothing would be able to save Astrid now. She was lost. She was gone forever. No! He would not accept that. He would not accept defeat. Astrid was not gone until there was no more he could do. Astrid was going to be saved. He was going to save her even if he had to give up his own life in exchange for hers. He was going to gamble with the universe, and he was going to win.
"Doctor, Amy, something weird's going on here, the graves are eating people." Rory said, walking up to them confused. He had finally found them! Now Rory could explain to the Doctor what was going on and he would fix it. Right? He was the Doctor, and it was an alien threat. Well, at least he thought so. So could the Doctor fix the threat, and save the day so Rory didn't have to? He wasn't a hero like the Doctor was. He couldn't save all these people alone. He needed the Doctor to help and he needed him to help now before it got worse and one of them were eaten.
"Not now, Rory. Energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye. We can't get out and no one from the outside world can get in." The Doctor explained as he thought about what else he could do. There weren't many options now that they were locked into this tiny town, they had no resources, they were cut off. That meant that if anything went wrong they wouldn't have any way of escaping.
"What? Okay, what about the Tardis?" Rory asked. He knew he was fairly new to the Tardis and that he had only been on a few adventures so far, but the Tardis, from what Rory had seen, could do anything! It traveled through space and time to different worlds and universes during different time periods so wouldn't it be able to do something as simple as transport off the earth? It seemed like an easy way out. Maybe too easy.
"Er, no. Those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got nine and a half minutes." The Doctor told him, distracted by his own thoughts. They were trapped, and Astrid was stuck underground with something that they didn't know much about. A future version of Astrid had certainly told him about this adventure before, it sounded very familiar. He should have listened, why didn't he listen to what had happened, it was one of the rare times that she had given him spoilers and he hadn't listened. No wonder she was mad at him that day, she was angry that he hadn't listened to her warnings. Now it all made sense! He would have to apologize the next time he saw a future version of her, he had a feeling it wouldn't be for a while though, they had a very young version of her with them now and he doubted that she would be leaving them for a while now. Not until IT happens. That's when she'll leave. He didn't know when IT would happen, but he knew it wouldn't be soon.
"Nine and a half minutes to what? Doctor what are you not telling us?" Amy asked confused, contributing to the conversation again. Astrid was missing, Rory would find out any minute, whatever had taken Astrid was coming out of the ground, and they were trapped. Then on top of all that, the Doctor was hiding something that had to do with a time limit. Was Astrid dying? Was the world going to explode? Amy didn't know but from the way the Doctor was talking about it, and the way he looked extremely distracted with it then it was not good, not good at all. Something more was happening and Amy was going to get to the bottom of it.
"We're trapped, and something's burrowing towards the surface." Nasreen clarified for Amy. She was a person of learning. Eight years of learning at a university to be exact. She knew what the Doctor was going through in his mind. The way his eyes constantly darted around the room, the way his mouth was set in a firm line, he was concentrating on something. Then if Nasreen thought about it, the man had shown them the dual readings coming closer. Well, if she added all of that together then it was quite obvious what he wasn't telling them. The readings looked close, about nine minutes close. He must have not told them because he assumed that they had known. He was a really smart man, in fact he was a genius.
"Where's Astrid?" Rory asked in a distraught manner, finally realising that she wasn't with Amy and the Doctor. The Doctor wouldn't dare let her go off on her own, especially with a possible alien invasion. There was no way, she was too young. Where was she if not with them. What had happened? All Rory could do was fear the worst, that she had died. She had died because she was traveling with the Doctor. She had gotten hurt just like he thought she would. He could see it on the Doctor's face. Oh my gosh she was gone! Something had happened. Astrid was gone.
"Get everyone inside the church. Rory, I'll get her back." The Doctor replied, staring at Rory with determined eyes and his lips set in a firm line. He was going to find Astrid. He knew that Rory was still a little bit weary of traveling in the Tardis with him. He knew that Rory thought that one of these someone would get hurt, and he had been right. All he ever did was lead people to their graves. Lead them to pain and suffering, and lead them to war and hate. He changed people. He hurt them to the point where he didn't recognize them anymore. He was a monster. He had hurt Astrid. He had gotten her hurt as a child. Was he the reason that she was who she was in the future. He hadn't noticed it until that day. The day after her first time jump. Astrid was strong and hid her pain behind her smiles and laughter. He didn't know until that night. That night she was so upset and confused. The Tardis had lead him to her room, where she sat crying, tears making it's way down her cheeks. In her future she was hurt, hurt so much that she was far beyond repair. Did he make her that way? Was it all his fault? Had he really broken his beautiful love?
"What do you mean, get her back? Where's she gone?" Rory asked the Doctor trying to get some sort of answer. He looked torn, like even the mention of Astrid was killing him slowly. Whatever had happened had not been pretty. If Astrid was dead, did she die in pain and suffering, begging for more time, begging for Rory to come and save her. He had promised to keep her safe and he had broken that promise. He felt like he was losing a sister, someone so close that it was hurting him.
"She was taken. Into the Earth." The Doctor told Rory, pain evident in his tone. This was really hard for the Doctor, this was probably the hardest part of any of this. Defeating aliens he could handle but telling someone that their best friend was hurt or possibly dead. That was nearly impossible. Especially when that best friend was also the love of the Doctor's life. He was hurting. A proper hurt. When he had lost Rose, it felt like he was losing a friend and he had cried for a day or two, when he had lost Martha it had felt like he was losing a mother. Someone who cared about him and took great care of him, and when he lost Donna he felt like he was losing a sister. Someone he cared about so so much, someone that made him smile and laugh. Someone that had been filled with such fire. But hurting Astrid and potentially losing her, that broke him. It was like losing all three at one time. It was like killing Gallifrey all over again.
"How? Why didn't you stop it? She was my best friend!" Rory exclaimed, anger and disbelief in his voice as he spoke. Astrid was hurt. She had been taken just like the people in the graves. His friend, his best friend. The little girl with the fiery red hair and fiery temper like his wife. The little girl with the calming brown eyes, the eyes so innocent that he couldn't help but smile when he saw them. The little girl that had so much spirit and laughter, the person that lit up any room that she entered. She was Rory's little girl, his best friend.
"I tried. I promise, I tried." The Doctor told Rory, almost begging Rory to forgive him. It was all his fault, he should have listened to Rory. It was all his fault that he may never hear her laughter again or see her sparkling, beautiful, doe eyes. It was all his fault and he would never be able to live with himself if she were dead.
"Well, you should've tried harder! She was only a little girl!" Rory yelled at the Doctor. He should have been more careful. She was barely even fourteen. It was all Rory's fault, he should have went with them. He could have saved her then. He could have saved her, and yet he had gone off to play in some grave. It was all his fault and he would never forgive himself. He wasn't mad, not at them at least. He was mad at himself.
"Rory it isn't his fault, She saved me and took my place. She knew how much I meant to you." Amy said to Rory, nearly bursting into tears as she griped her hands into fists to compose herself. It was Amy who had been stuck, it was her who had been saved by Astrid so didn't that mean it was her fault. She could see the guilt flash behind Rory's and the Doctor's eyes, but it was her fault that Astrid had even been taken. It was her fault not theirs, never theirs.
"Yet, she doesn't understand how important she is to all of us." Rory mumbled. It was true though, Astrid was his best friend. They trusted each other, they helped each other, and they only told each other the truth. Astrid was Amy's friend, before Amy started to ignore Astrid of course. Amy cared about Astrid, Amy took interest in some of Astrid's hobbies, and they both enjoyed playing darts. And Astrid was the Doctor's lover in the future. At least that was what Amy told him. The way their eyes sparkled with love when they saw each other, and the way that Astrid talked about the Doctor like he was everything to her. Astrid was special to them and yet she gave up her life thinking that no one loved her.
"I'm sorry Rory I know how you feel, she was my friend too." Amy proclaimed exasperated, grabbing Rory's hand as he went to walk off. Even if Amy was being ignored she still cared about Astrid. She wanted Astrid safe just as much as Rory and the Doctor. She knew she may not have been as important to Astrid as the other two were but she still wanted Astrid safe. She wanted Astrid alive, and she was just as upset as the other two were that Astrid was hurt.
"No Amy, no you don't know how I feel. Try losing the Doctor and then tell me how you feel." Rory said as he closed his eyes tightly in pain, not even daring to open them. Amy may be Astrid's friend but she didn't know all of Astrid's hopes and dreams. Amy didn't know what Astrid was scared of, or what made her feel better. Amy didn't know what to say to make Astrid smile and laugh, or what her secrets were. She knew about the Doctor. The Doctor was her best friend, not Astrid. And until Amy lost the Doctor she would never know how Rory felt in this moment, right here, right now. It was harsh and Rory knew that, but it was true.
"I'm sorry Rory. I'm so, so sorry." Amy said, tears now making an appearance as she broke down crying. She let go as she wiped away the tears that flowed down her cheeks. She knew that Rory was just upset, but would he ever forgive her for what she did to Astrid. She had lost her. She had lost Rory's best friend and he was angry and upset.
"I'll find Astrid. I'll keep you all safe, I promise. Come on, please. I need you alongside me. Both of you." The Doctor said as he swung an arm over both of his friends, begging them to help save Astrid. Amy wiped the remaining tears off her cheeks and nodded a small yes towards the Doctor. She would help whatever it took, she walked off towards the church, Rory leaving a few seconds later, stalking off towards the church with anger in his eyes, leaving the Doctor alone outside as he thought about what he could do to save Astrid.
"So we can't get out, we can't contact anyone, and something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the Earth." Ambrose clarified, with confusion in her eyes. It sounded unreal. Like something out of a child's story book. It couldn't be real, this man was bonkers. He was drunk or something. They weren't anything she'd seen before. The woman with the stripper clothes, and the man with the shy face with a bowtie wearing man that happened to be a doctor. They were not normal, Ambrose could tell you that much. And there was something that the Doctor wasn't telling them, something in his eyes that just looked off. She couldn't explain it, but he was lying to them. She could tell.
"Yes. If we move quickly enough, we can be ready." The Doctor answered. He knew that the woman was confused. Who wouldn't be after hearing that you're husband was under the ground with aliens that were coming up to collect the rest of us. Any normal human would not believe that and he had a feeling that she didn't. It was an insane idea to anybody who hadn't seen it a million times already, and he often forgot that.
"No, stop. This has gone far enough. What is this?" Ambrose asked with a hostile tone. Something was going on. Nothing was 'coming out of the earth' the only thing that lived under the ground was dirt and rock and sand and an occasional bug or two. It was science 101. Hadn't any of them taken science? Science was even a part of her father's line of work! It was like something was hypnotising them to believe something as stupid as other life forms. What was wrong with them.
"He's telling the truth, love." Mack told his daughter. It was like she was in denial. Like losing Mo was putting her over the edge. It was like she didn't trust anybody in this room. Like she was going to kill anybody who came close to her. She was hurt and he understood that, but it was no need for her to act like a complete teenager. Mack thought he had raised her better than that. Obviously not though.
"Come on. It's not the first time we've had no mobile or phone signals. Reception's always rubbish." Ambrose said, coming up with a quick excuse because she didn't want to believe it. It wasn't like monsters and aliens and all that stuff was real. Not at all. These people were being deceiving and nobody noticed it but her. It was like she was the only one with any common sense left!
"Look, Ambrose. We saw the Doctor's friend get taken, okay? You saw the lightning in the sky. I have seen the impossible today, and the only person who's made any sense of it for me, is the Doctor." Nasreen explained to the young woman, taken aback by her behavior. The Doctor was a very truthful man and he knew what he was doing. If he had a plan to get back Mo and his friend, Nasreen was not going to get in the way. The Doctor was far from hostile it wasn't like Ambrose was going to be killed by him or something. Yes he talked about many things that she didn't understand but his friend's seemed to understand it and that was enough for her. Ambrose had nothing to worry about so what was wrong?
"Him?" Ambrose questioned, gazing at the Doctor with a little bit of a glare. Ambrose did not like this man. The man that had a little possie of liers backing him up and tricking them. The man that seemed to talk gibberish to her but make complete sense to her father. The man that had gotten his friend to get just a little too close to her son. He was not a doctor. He was a fake if he'd ever seen one. He looked more like a child then an adult! How old was he anyway, eighteen? He couldn't have been much older then twenty. He was a flippin kid and they wanted her to trust him?! No way. Not ever going to happen.
"Me." The Doctor confirmed, a small smile on his lips. He had some cooperation at least. This would make his plan so much easier. Especially with help. Rory may be extremely mad at him and Amy may be unable to function because of her guilt, as well as the fact that the woman with the purple shirt seemed to absolutely not trust him, but the other two were ready to help. And he could feel that they trusted him. Two more pairs of hands would make this work very well! He couldn't wait to get started!
"Can you get my dad back?" Elliot asked in a small whisper, barely audible for anybody to hear. His dad was missing. His dad could be hurt. The dad that read him funny stories and made him laugh. The dad that made him smile even when he wasn't trying to. The dad that he loved so very much. He wanted his father back. He missed him. He trusted Rory, and if Rory trusted that the Doctor could bring his father back, then he trusted the Doctor too. He just needed to know that the Doctor would bring him back. To hear it from him.
"Yes. But I need you to trust me and do exactly as I say from this second onwards, because we're running out of time." The Doctor told the young boy. He knew what it was like to lose a father. He hated that feeling and he was going to try everything to get this little boy's father back as well as Astrid. He could relate to this boy and that made him fight harder. He was not going to give up. Not once, not ever. Because the boy's life could be ruined forever if he did.
"So tell us what to do." Ambrose said hesitantly. She was a little unsure of this man, but he could bring back her husband then he would not question his abilities. After all he had lost someone too. He knew how she felt and Ambrose knew that he would try anything to get the people that were stolen, back. She didn't trust this man, not even in the slightest but she wouldn't complain. Not when that could jeopardise Mo coming home.
"Thank you. We have eight minutes to set up a line of defence. Bring me every phone, every camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find." The Doctor announced to everyone. He had a plan that could help him get Astrid back. He was angry as hell and whoever took her was going to get the shock of their life … quite literally. They had stolen a little girl. A young version of his love. And he was not going to stop fighting until she was back with him safe and sound. He knew he was being revengeful and violent. He knew that he wasn't supposed to be. But Astrid wasn't here, and she was the one who usually stopped him. He didn't know how to stop himself.
Finally, a good few minutes later all the equipment was set up. The dots on the computer screen blinking and shining red, showing them heading closer and closer to the surface with every second of every minute. Letting them know of the inevitable appearance of some sort of alien or another heading to the surface.
"Right, guys, we need to be ready for whatever's coming up. I need a map of the village marking where the cameras are going." The Doctor said, walking over to the little boy that Rory had told him was named Elliot. He looked left out and the one thing the Doctor hated doing was leaving people out.
"I can't do the words. I'm dyslexic." The young boy told him. His lips turned into a frown as he thought about his disability. He had always had it and it made it extremely hard for him, especially in school when he had to read aloud. All the kids had laughed at him and it was the reason that he was homeschooled on half of the school days. He really wanted to help, but making a map would be impossible!
"Oh, that's all right, I can't make a decent meringue. Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot." The Doctor told Elliot, glee in his voice as he walked away, a smile on his face as he did so. The boy quickly grabbed out his crayons getting to work on his map. He was going to help fight the monsters and he was going to do it even though he had a disability which made him proud of himself. With an attitude like this he could achieve anything in life! The Doctor had shown him that everyone had limitations, but very few actually pushed past them and he was going to be one of the very few. Thank you Doctor, for changing his views on dyslexia.
It was not long after that the CCTV was ready and set, the Cameras were just about ready and their plan was almost complete. Pretty soon all they would have to do is wait.
"Amy, what's wrong?" The Doctor asked her, slowly walking over to where she sat on the step. Her eyes closed in pain.
"It's all my fault, Doctor. All of it." Amy said solemnly, her eyes closed in despair as she relived what had happened to Astrid over and over in her mind. She should have been there for Astrid. She had almost killed Astrid once. A future Astrid, but it still counted. Astrid had saved her life then too, taking the pain away from Amy so she didn't have to go through it. The Doctor may heal people and make them better but she was the Superhero that jumped in and saved the day. But Amy, Amy had just killed her. She wouldn't be able to save anybody ever again.
"Amy it's not your fault. She saved you on her own." The Doctor told her soothingly. Astrid had done it all to her own accord, not even thinking twice about what had happened. That was who Astrid was, leaping in to save her friends without even thinking of the consequences. She had risked her life on several accounts for her friends, as well as himself. Not once complaining about what she had to go through to save them from the pain and suffering. Astrid placed herself second when it came to her friends and that worried him. He had promised himself that he would save her … but he hadn't. If anything it was his fault.
"But Rory, he's furious. They were best friends." Amy said, looking down at her hands almost in tears. She had hurt Rory, she had hurt the man she loved. On top of that she had killed his best friend, there was blood on her hands and she would never be able to forgive herself. Not ever. What had she done to ever deserve a man like Rory, a sweet kind man. All she had done was hurt him and mock him, ever since they were little. She never deserved him. Not once had she ever done anything to earn such a noble prize.
"Don't worry about Rory, worry about yourself. It is not your fault." The Doctor told her with a very stern tone. He didn't want to see Amy so broken. The only thing she had done so far was sit still with a distant look on her face, barely talking but forever thinking. It made him even angrier at himself to see the aftermath of not saving Astrid himself. It was his fault, never Amelia's, and he hoped that it stayed that way, always.
"Maybe he's right, I don't know how he feels. She wasn't as special to us. Rory is the only person who ever pays any actual attention to her." Amy said, sinking further into a shell of self pity. He could see it in her eyes, he knew that look well, he wore that look several times before. Guilt. The feeling of something trying to force it's way up your throat. The feeling of tears building up in your eyes just barely burning you as they dared you to cry. The feeling of dread in your hearts, that no matter what you do it never feels any better, and the constant pounding in your head like a million people were yelling at you for what you had done, telling you that it should have been you. He knew the feeling like a second home, and he did not want it to eat through Amy, making her so afraid of herself that she was her worst fear. He was going to help his Amelia.
"Oh Amy, that may be true but she is as special to me as she is to Rory and she is as special to you as she is to me. I'll leave you alone to think a bit. Just don't blame yourself Amy." The Doctor tried to explain, only resulting in making Amy even more confused as she had been. What did he mean? She knew that she shouldn't blame herself but she couldn't help it! She had lost a little girl and probably killed her too. She was a terrible role model for Astrid. But most of all she was a terrible, horrible friend for doing what she had done. It was all her fault.
"How're you doing?" The Doctor asked Rory, slowly walking over to him as he was putting finishing touches on a sensor array. He knew Rory was mad at him, who wouldn't be after he had let a little girl get hurt? He was even mad at himself for crying out loud! It was his own stupid fault. He was an idiot, Astrid was completely right on that one. But now, now he was going to make up for it. He was going to apologize, even if it broke him.
"Not that great. My best friend is missing and were being attacked by … by who knows what." Rory told him, panicked by the idea that they had no idea what they were fighting. For all he knew it had super sonic eyes and could destroy their cameras with a bat of it's eyelashes. It wasn't incredibly hard for him to believe something like that, after all he had seen the impossible already. Rory was hurt and the only thing that would console him is seeing the not hurt fourteen year old girl with his own eyes.
"Rory i'm sorry." The Doctor said remorsefully. Rory didn't understand who Astrid was to the Doctor yet. He didn't understand that to the Doctor she was his lover in the future, and that every time that Astrid was in danger it torn his hearts apart until he saw that she was not harmed in any way. But he understood Rory's thinking. Rory had lost his best friend. If he had lost Amy he would have been a wreck. He understood Rory. He understood him perfectly.
"No, just stop, I know. I was just upset, I should be the one who's sorry. It's getting darker. How can it be getting dark so quickly?" Rory asked confused, watching as the sun faded out into nothing. It was as if someone had flicked a light switch, turning the blinding light into a murky black. He understood what was going on, something or someone, whatever had taken his best friend, some alien of some sort, was trying to capture the rest of them. He didn't know why or how, but he knew that they were going to try to do to them whatever they had done to Astrid. He knew the Doctor would stop it. He always stopped it. He would get Astrid back and persuade the aliens not to capture them. He would right?
"Shutting out light from within the barricade. Trying to isolate us in the dark. Which means …" The Doctor explained, a very loud rumble cutting him off. The dark had come, shutting them in pitch black dark. All they could see was black and all they could hear was each other breathing. It was time, whatever was under the earth, whatever had stolen his Astrid was here. And he was ready.
"They're close to the surface now." Nasreen announced, frightened. She knew with the Doctor's help that they wouldn't get hurt. At least she hoped so anyways. But that didn't stop her from being scared. Nareen had a feeling. A tingling, gut wrenching feeling that something was wrong. That something bad was going to happen. A feeling that told her that they weren't going to be safe. Feeling the need for comfort she grabbed Macks hand. The man that she knew would console her fears for time being. Mack, not having the same amount of faith in the Doctor, knew that something was going to go wrong. Every plan had a glitch, he didn't know what the glitch was in this plan but there was one, he just knew it. Not thinking that he was ever going to have the chance to do it again, he quickly conquered up all his courage and pulled Nareen towards him, giving her a long, lengthy, breathless kiss filled with passion. Meanwhile, the dots on the screen had stopped moving. They were here. Hell had begun.
"I can't open it. It keeps sticking. The wood's warped." Ambrose announced, desperately trying to pull open the door with all her might. She did not want to be left out here when whatever it was came out of the ground. Not at all. She wanted to be safe in the church … well, as safe as she was going to be.
"Doctor, pull harder." Amy told him, standing off to the side lost in thought. If she wasn't so distracted she would have been helping. But no, she was stuck listening to the little voice inside her head scream at her for letting Astrid rescue her. Amy should have been the one stuck under the earth. Amy should be the one missing. Amy should have stopped whining like a toddler and she should have been sucked under the dirt. She shouldn't have let Astrid save her. Rory was going to hate Amy for what she had done. She had killed a child.
"Any time you want to help." The Doctor said to Amy, snapping her out of her thoughts. He knew she was guilty and he knew what that did to a person. All she needed was a little distraction and she would be fine … Right?
"Can't you sonic it?" Rory asked the Doctor, highly annoyed that the timelord hadn't thought of it in the first place. He understood that the Doctor was distracted but that gave him no reason to make them do arduous work even though they had an easy out.
"It doesn't do wood." The Doctor explained, yanking on the door handles to try and open the door before the whatever alien it was came to the surface. He wanted to meet them, yes, that was true, but he did not want to get attacked by them without knowing what they were getting attacked by.
"That is rubbish." Rory proclaimed, finally giving up and walking over to Amy. What kind of alien technology didn't do wood? That was just preposterous!
"Oi, don't diss the sonic." The Doctor yelled over to him, the door finally creaked open as he yanked on the handles a final time. It wasn't his fault the sonic didn't do wood, it was timelord technology not his technology after all. No matter how hard he wished it was his.
"No power." Mack said as they rushed around trying to find something to turn the power back on, a power box, something, anything that could help them fry the things. They had sent a blackout their way so whatever they were, they were smart. They had known what their plan was, they had left them defenceless, and trapped, no way of escape. They had put them in the dark which weakened them since they wouldn't be able to see. They were getting ready for attack, he just knew it. They were goners for sure.
"This is usually when you have a really great idea!" Rory shouted at the Doctor, trying to get up after the giant rumble that had knocked him off his feet. The Doctor was the master of coming up with plans on the fly. He had witnessed it on his first adventure. When his planned had failed he had quickly come up with another one, and it resulted in saving Venice. If his first plan didn't work out he easily came up with another one, so why wasn't he now? What was the difference?
"Nothing. We've got nothing. They sent an energy surge to wreck our systems." The Doctor said. He had no more plans. He was hopeless, there was no way he would be able to save her now. They had no weapons. All he had was his sonic and it wouldn't be able to fix the large range blackout that was happening! He needed a new plan and soon, or else they were hopeless.
"Doctor, what was that rumble?" Rory asked confused. What did these aliens want? They insisted on taking humans. They insisted on taking his best friend. They insisted on taking out the defences and leaving them trapped and defenceless. And they insisted on leaving them in the dark where they couldn't see. These aliens were sure the smartest he's ever seen.
"It's coming through the final layer of Earth." The Doctor told the others, answering Rory's question. They were coming, they were going to try and take all of them. No, not try, they were going to get the rest of them. He still didn't have a clue about what he was going to do! He had no plan, and no weapons! He had no way of saving everyone now, no hope for rescuing Astrid. He had lost almost all his hope by now. He didn't know what he was going to do. This couldn't get any worse then it already was.
"Where's Elliot? Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?" Ambrose frantically asked. Her son, her little baby boy was missing! Elliot was her only child! He was too young to die! Please don't let her little baby get taken too! Ambrose was scared. Elliot was her everything, she had already lost her husband, she didn't want to lose her son too. Please let him be safe. Please let him be ok. If anything happened to him she didn't know what she would do.
"I saw him last." The Doctor said guiltily, glancing down at the floor as he did. He was pitiful. Not only had he let Astrid get hurt and she was barely out of childhood, but he had let Elliot, another child get hurt as well. He was a terrible person. He was hurting children left and right now. He was glad that he didn't have any kids of his own because he'd make a rubbish dad. He'd probably get them killed too! He was truly a terrible person. He would never be able to forgive himself. He wasn't sure what was under the ground and if it was anything dangerous, never mind losing the love of his life, he had just lead two young children to their deaths.
"Where is he?" Ambrose asked the Doctor, very close to tears as they formed in the corners of her eyes. It was all his fault. She shouldn't have trusted him. He had lead a sweet little boy to his death and all he can say is that he was the last one to see him. No sorry, no I'll get him back. Nothing. He was a liar. A rubbish person. He was probably not even a Doctor. He was a monster. Killing off children, and ruining families. It looked like it didn't even bother him! He probably did this for a living! She wouldn't be surprised if he had already killed a child before today! He was a no good terrorist and she was not going to stand for it, not one bit.
"He said he was going to get headphones." The Doctor explained to Ambrose, a very guilt ridden look crossing his features. He thought it was ok. Nothing was happening at the time, and he didn't suspect that the boy lived very far, he thought the boy would get back in time! He looked a little younger then Astrid and she went out and did whatever she wanted. He thought it was alright, he wouldn't have let him otherwise! He was such an idiot. It was all his fault.
"And you let him go? He was out there on his own?" Ambrose shouted at the guilty man, a glare set in her eyes as she thought about her baby all alone out there in the dangerous dark little town. He was going to get taken she just knew it. Her baby was going to get hurt. He was going to die all because of this man. She snapped out of her nasty thoughts when she heard loud, scared shouts from outside the door. Elliot's scared shouts. She ran towards the door like any mother would, trying to save her baby from the threat outside.
"Elliot! He's out there. Help me! Push, Elliot. Give it a shove" She shouted at the young boy, trying to get him away from the pain the alien's would bring him. She banged on the wooden door, her knuckles burning from pain and turning bright red, and her throat turning hoarse and sore from the yelling. All she wanted was her baby safe and sound in her arms away from the alien threats that she felt were getting closer and closer to her child with every ticking second. Her arms grew tired and with one final yank after what felt like forever the door opened and she rushed out to find her son and save him from whatever was chasing him.
"Elliot! Where is he? He was here. He was here. Elliot!" Ambrose shouted into the chilly dark air, no reply from her only child. She ran further and further from the church, not even registering the shouts of protest from the Doctor and Amy. Then she saw it. She collapsed to the ground where his son's headphones laid, tears streaming down her cheeks as she grieved for her dead child. He was gone. Elliot was dead. Her baby. Her only child was dead. A blur quite suddenly knocked her over, snapping her immediately out of trance as she fought with the strangely shaped silhouette. She had already lost her child, she was not under any circumstances going to die too. Even if it did mean finally being with Elliot again. Mack, quickly reacting to the stranger fighting with her daughter, quickly grabbing it from behind. The stranger being extremely strong wiggled out from Mack's grip and just for good measure flicked it's extensible tongue and hurt the man's neck, quickly running off into the darkness, never to be seen again, or so they thought.
"Elliot's gone. They've killed him, haven't they?" Ambrose told the Doctor as tears streamed down her face, her hearts broken as he stared into the mysterious eyes of her son's murderer. If he hadn't let Elliot go then maybe just maybe he would still be alive and well in his mother's arms. Maybe then her father wouldn't have gotten hurt. But no. Maybe he wasn't satisfied with seeing her in pain and needed to see someone else in pain. She wasn't sure, she didn't know his life. But she saw those eyes. Those innocent emerald green eyes and they told Ambrose something else. He looked composed. He didn't even look sorry. Everything he said was a lie. He has seen death and she suspected that he was the one that had killed. The Doctor was a killer.
"I don't think so. They've taken three people when they could've just killed them up here. There's still hope, Ambrose. There is always hope." He said, mostly trying to console himself more so then Ambrose. It made sense though, if they were simply trying to prove a point the most impact would be killing them up here and then letting them see. But they had simply stolen them. It was as if they needed the humans alive. For what, he wasn't sure but it made him positive that Astrid and Elliot were still alive.
"Then why have they taken him?" Ambrose asked the Doctor, her tone wavering. If they weren't taking them to kill them, then what were they taking them under the ground for? Didn't it suffocate them and kill them on the spot? He was dead wasn't he? Or maybe he wasn't and she still had the chance to save him! This guy may have sent her son to his capture and almost death, but perhaps he wasn't such a bad guy after all. Ambrose still didn't trust him. But maybe just maybe he wasn't a murder. Maybe he was telling the truth and maybe he wasn't, but either way the news of her son's survival gave her hope now. It gave her the hope she needed to save her son. To protect him. She would get him back even if it meant breaking her way through dead alien corpses.
"I don't know. I'll find Elliot, I promise. But first I've got to stop this attack. Please, get inside the church." The Doctor told them, quickly motioning for Amy to help them with getting an injured Mack back into the church. He knew that she wouldn't be much help because of her guilt. She was probably spacing out and replaying the moment over and over again in her head, and she was in no condition to help them with an alien attack when she can barely concentrate long enough on the task. He watched them walk off from the corner of his eye, Amy and Nasreen supporting him and Ambrose glancing worriedly in his direction as they slowly made their way to the church.
"So what now?" Rory asked with a very astonished face. One person had been hurt, and one stolen before a plan was even put into action. They needed to act and fast. He was slowly beginning to feel uncomfortable with how the situation was panning out. They were losing and soon that would mean they would be losing Astrid too. He watched as the Doctor placed a pair of infra red sunglasses on his face and spotted a dark shape moving through the bushes, his glasses picked up the movement, and the Doctor finally realized who it was after all this time. If he was right, and he usually was with stuff like this, Astrid should be fine, for now anyways, which lifted his hopes considerably higher.
"Cold blood. I know who they are." The Doctor whispered, quickly tossing the glasses to the side, and quickly strutting off to the van where he proceeded to get a CO2 fire extinguisher. He was ready. He knew who it was. He would get them. He'd done this before. He had done such terrible things. He was a really bad person. He should stop right now and not even try to get a hostage. But he had to. He had to save Astrid. It would help him save Astrid. He was going to have to capture a hostage, but on no account was he ever going to use violence. Never again would he use violence. Something hissed nearby, knocking him out of his trance, quickly he set off the fire extinguisher, the alien hissing as the stuff hit it. Rory ran out from the van and grabbed the alien quickly pushing it inside the van and assisting the Doctor with the alien's capture.
"We got it." Rory said extremely happy as he laughed. The Doctor had caught himself a hostage. It had been executed out very well too. Which made Rory wonder, has the Doctor ever caught a hostage before? It was a silly question … the Doctor wasn't that kind of person. He was too nice to do that kind of thing. Besides, he wasn't a violent man. He would never accept what would happen to hostages in normal circumstances. It just wouldn't happen. Rory could never picture him doing that sort of thing before and he had a feeling that this time around there would be no violence tolerated. Which eased his mind a bit considering Ambrose seemed to be a very violent person.
"Defending the planet with meals on wheels." The Doctor said in a goofy tone, high fiving Rory in extreme delight. However the delight soon turned to confusion when a large rumble ran through the small town, very nearly knocking him off his feet. And that confusion sooned turned to happiness when he not only didn't fall down, but realized that the rumble only meant that the threat was leaving. Everything went according to plan, not one flaw this time. They were minutes closer to saving her. They were ready!
"Sounds like they're leaving." The Doctor said with a slight smile trying to make an appearance. It looked like his plan had worked. His plan to gain leverage over the aliens had worked. It helped tremendously that he already new what type of alien it was. Part one of his plan had worked, now all he needed was to think of part two and do a thing. Well … maybe two things depending on if the first thing didn't work. He wasn't sure what said things were yet but he'd save Astrid and the earth. He could do it! He was the Doctor after all!
"Without this one?" Rory asked the Doctor a little bit confused. They had stolen one of the aliens, wouldn't the others try to put up a fight to get her back? Didn't they care if she was home? Or was she a decoy? No, Rory was thinking too far into this. Maybe there wasn't enough of them or something, or perhaps they weren't ready to attack yet. Whatever the reason, Rory didn't care he was just glad that they were one step closer to rescuing Astrid and getting the hell out of here. Soon he would have his girl's and all of the universe. Soon she would be safe.
"Looks like we scared them off." Rory said with a small smile on his lips. They had won. They had the upper hand. The Doctor knew what they were and he hopefully knew everything about them, weakness, strengths, everything. They had their own hostage. They could bargain the hostage for Astrid. They could bring Astrid home safe. They could save Astrid. They were going to save earth. The Doctor had a plan now. They were going to win.
"I don't think so. Now both sides have hostages." The Doctor said as he looked off into the distance, watching as the energy dome became transparent letting the bright sunshine back in. They had a hostage that meant something to someone. They had an alien with family underground that wanted her back safe. The aliens on the other hand had someone that meant a lot to them. Someone that they wanted back safe, someone that he loved. They wanted back Astrid and they wanted her back now.
Smooth and bright. So very bright. It felt like she was laying on a bed of ice under the sun. She opened her eyes and blinked against the light as she took in her surroundings. She seemed to be in some sort of glass container. She placed her hand against it, her warm palm pressing against the cool glass. It didn't feel too thick from what she could tell. She didn't even know how she could tell in the first place, but hey it helped so she wasn't going to question her abilities. Maybe someone would hear her! She didn't mind lying here but it was cramped and the cold was starting to suck the heat out of her bit by bit. Soon she would be cold, and she hated being cold.
"Let me out. Can anybody hear me? Come on seriously! I know you're out there. My name is Astrid Selene and you'd better get me the hell out of here or so help me I am going to climb out myself and then i'm gonna destroy you." She threatened as she banged on the glass with her fist. She knew that someone ought to hear her and if no one did, well she would do exactly what she said she would. She would climb out herself and strangle the person nearest to her for not helping. She smiled in hope as a disoriented silhouette of a figure leaned over the glass container.
"Shush." The figure told her, popping her hope of a rescue as it walked away. She was angry now. Very angry and her dimly glowing red eyes proved that. She was pissed at the figure. Did they really just try to tell her to be quiet? While she was locked in a box?! No, No one tells her to shut up. Not even Rory can tell her to shut up! No one tells her to be quiet unless she wants to be quiet! And that is that! You never tell a woman to shut up!
"Did you just shush me? Did you honest to god just shush me?! Shush yourself jerk!" She yelled back out to the figure. Even if it wasn't going to help her escape the least she could do was teach it some manners. Nobody got away with telling her to shut up. She would slap anyone that told her to. She couldn't get her hands on the figure to slap him but the least she could do is yell at him enough to cause a headache. Her rant cut off when some smokey white gas began to enter the container. She held her breath to try and not breathe it in but alas that didn't work for long and soon she was winded.
"No, no, no. No, don't do that. I should have seen this coming. Ugh No gas. No gas!" She shouted in a last attempt to free herself. She knew it wouldn't work but the thought was nice. The last thing she heard before she passed out into darkness was herself choking on the gas.
"So, I think I've met these creatures before. Different branch of the species, mind, but all the same. Let's see if our friend's thawed out." The Doctor told the group of people. He had met something similar to the Homo Reptilia, he was friends with them and he had tried, oh he had tried so hard to save them from death. But to no avail. The Doctor was going to make up that now. He was going to save both humans and Homo Reptilia from death. This time he would rescue them all.
"Doctor, will we be able to save her." Amy asked him in a small whisper. She wanted Astrid safe. Whatever Astrid was going through down there it was her fault. Amy did not want her hurt, Rory was right she was only a kid. A kid who she did not want anything to happen to. A kid that Rory trusted and wanted to be safe. She saw the look that Rory gave Astrid. It was the same look that her Aunt always gave her. Rory wanted Astrid to always be loved and safe. And Amy was going to make sure that she got exactly that.
"Just watch me. I will not stop until she is safe within my arm's." The Doctor said, not even turning around. He wanted Astrid safe and he would make sure she was safe. He would never forgive the Homo Reptilia if she were hurt. She didn't know it yet, but she broke easy and he did not want to see her break. He was not going to see her break. He would go through hell and back again before he let that happen.
"Are you sure you want to do this? By yourself?" Rory questioned the Doctor. He knew that he was mad at him for the incident with Astrid. But he was still worried about the Doctor's safety. He didn't need him getting hurt too, especially since they really needed him to stop whatever was going on with these lizard alien things.
"Very sure. I need to talk to her." The Doctor answered as he opened the door. He needed to find out what was going on if he was ever going to find Astrid and the other humans and then save everyone else. The only way to get answers was to ask the hostage. That was movie 101. He was going to do this, and he was going to find out where Astrid was.
"But the sting? Won't you get hurt?" Rory asked him in a very concerned manner. Rory was worried about the Doctor. He was being reckless and Astrid wasn't here to stop him. He needed someone to stop him. He was going to literally walk into a room where an alien hostage could kill him with the sting of it's tongue. Astrid would kill him if anything happened to the Doctor.
"Venom gland takes at least twenty four hours to recharge. Am I right? I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine." The Doctor consoled Rory. Closing the door behind him as Rory left. He wasn't an idiot he wasn't going to just waltz into a room where death would await him. Well … there was that one time … and that one time when. Ok, he was that stupid. He did that a lot. The Doctor slowly walked down the stairs as the prisoner moved out of the shadows. The chains rattling like rusty wind chimes in a cold winter breeze. The Doctor approached cautiously, very clumsily setting himself into a chair.
"I'm the Doctor. I've come to talk. I'm going to remove your mask." The Doctor told the lizard like alien, very carefully removing the reptile like mask that had very big black eyes on it. He removed it to find a human like alien with scaly green skin and no hair. It was beautiful. Her eyes shone like blue crystals in the sea and her skin was as green as the beautiful not-so-lost moon of Poosh. The Doctor hadn't seen beauty like this for centuries. Well … other than Astrid and a few other select things in the universe. But the Homo Reptilia was not mediocre, that was for sure.
"You are beautiful. Remnant of a bygone age on planet Earth. And by the way, lovely mode of travel. Geothermal currents projecting you up through a network of tunnels. Gorgeous. Mind if I sit? Now. Your people have a friend of mine. A very special very good friend and I want her back. Why did you come to the surface? What do you want? Oh, I do hate a monologue. Give us a bit back. How many are you?" The Doctor said, going off on a very long ramble. He had only met Homo Reptilia once. A very bad once but it still counted. They were at war with the humans then too. He had of course saved the humans, the Homo Reptilia had offered peace since after all it had been a misunderstanding. Maybe now he could do the same thing. All he needed now was information. Then he would be able to find Astrid quicker.
"I'm the last of my species." The woman proclaimed, a very emotionless stare as she looked off into nowhere. She wasn't the best when it came to interrogations. She had past that part of her test with a sixty two percent. But she was going to pass this test. Oh she would. She wanted so badly to take part in taking their world back! She was going to beat the Doctor. She knew it was a hard feat, but she would do it. She would beat him.
"Really. No. Last of the species. The Klempari Defence. As an interrogation defence, it's a bit old hat, I'm afraid." The Doctor said regretfully, thinking of all of the Gallifreyans he had slaughtered that one terrible day. Oh, he knew what it felt like. It would ruin your hearts until someone came along and picked them back up again. Astrid was that someone. She had fixed his hearts right up until he only felt guilt and not heartbreak. She had saved him just like he had saved her. They fixed each other and made each other better. He was the last of his species, yes, but he had Astrid and to him that was all he could ask for. Everybody needed an Astrid in the world. But he had the original, and that made him smile.
"I'm the last of my species." Alaya told the man, no emotion in her voice at all. She was smart. If she played her cards right she would be freed any minute now. Then she would go back to her home underground and prepare to slaughter all of these humans. She didn't want to be left out of all of the fun! Plus, she really didn't want to worry her sister. If she was gone too long then she would become furious, and she really hated her sister when she was furious.
"No. You're really not. Because I'm the last of my species and I know how it sits in a heart. So don't insult me. Let's start again. Tell me your name." The Doctor said in pain. He knew that technically he wasn't the last. But she didn't count. She wasn't born on Gallifrey. She was just part Tardis. To him, she was a timelord. But if he were to be realistic that was just him trying to not feel guilty about what he had done to his home.
"Alaya." The Lizard woman told the man. Her plan had failed. She was captured, hostage, and the defence mechanism she had been taught had not fooled the man. She had no idea what to do. She was trained to pretend to be the last of the Homo Reptilia and if that didn't work and they didn't let her go, to use her poison in her tongue. She had no poison left! She had no choice but to sit here and answer the man's questions. She was defenceless.
"How long has your tribe been sleeping under the Earth, Alaya? It's not difficult to work out. You're three hundred million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now?" The Doctor asked the woman. This was the question that had been plaguing his mind for a few minutes now. Homo Reptilia were usually hibernating underground. They rarely came out unless they were summoned. So why were these Homo Reptilia out and about? What had changed to wake them up?
"We were attacked." Alaya proclaimed angrily. The humans had already killed a half a dozen of her species she didn't need more dropping dead in front of her. It was all their fault. The Homo Reptilia had warned them. They had grown blue grass is patches where their air pockets were so the humans would know not to dig there. Obviously they had wanted to attack, otherwise they would have left the patches alone.
"The drill. So I was right, Astrid did know something about the drill." The Doctor whispered to himself. He was positive that Astrid knew what was going on. When she had glanced at that drill, he just knew it had something to do with the ground eating people. He wasn't sure how until now. It all made sense now. Aliens getting attacked, aliens fight back. Oh Astrid! She had completed the puzzle for him! That girl! That amazing girl!
"Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems. The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault. We will wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet." Alaya said, a small victorious smile coming to her lips. They were ready. They were ready to fight. They were ready to win. Most of all they were ready to destroy the humans.
"Do we have to say vermin? They're really very nice." The Doctor said, wincing as he did. Humans were so beautiful! That's why he had humans as companions. They all had so many wonderful traits and every single human was different. They were a unique species with a loving heart. Well, most of them anyways. They were an impossible species but all the same they were amazing. Not filth or any vermin of the sort. They were wonderful.
"Primitive apes." Alaya corrected the Doctor. They were nothing more than stupid monkeys. They were using the earth for all of these silly things such as holidays and wifi. No, the earth was to be used to grow vegetation and live your life. All humans were was filth that needed to be rid of this universe. They didn't know about simple things such as family. They were all iPhones and gossip. They needed to go.
"Extraordinary species. You attack them, they'll fight back. But, there's a peace to be brokered here. I can help you with that." The Doctor told the young alien. He knew the history of the Homo Reptilia, he knew this was their home long before the humans came to exist. It wasn't their fault that they were created. Humans had so much potential and the Doctor was not going to let the Homo Reptilia take that away from them. He was not going to see humans turn into monsters because of their families being threatened. He was having none of it.
"This land is ours. We lived here long before the apes." Alaya answered back to the two hearted Doctor man. They were here right after the planet was made. They were here before humans were even created! This was their planet and they did not share. They were not going to share. They were going to take it back whether the humans liked it or not.
"Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid. Humans won't give up the planet." The Doctor explained to the lizard like alien. The humans were living here now. They had been living here for such a long time. The Homo Reptilia wouldn't have noticed them if it hadn't been for that incident that he was a part of a couple years back. Long story short he learned not to kidnap egyptian kings and take them to see an alien species under the ground. Let's just say queen Neffie enjoyed the adventure, but her husband … well … he could see why he had started so many wars. That pharaoh was cross!
"So we destroy them." Alaya said flippantly. The humans were so easy to destroy with all their frail skin and the easiness of drawing their blood. They were weak and feeble. They would be able to be discarded in a heartbeat. The humans would die and her family would get what they always wanted. A new world on the surface of a planet doused in human blood.
"You underestimate them." The Doctor retaliated. The Humans looked fragile with their flesh and blood and bones. They drew blood so easily and they were as frail as china dolls. But they had the strongest defense. They stuck together with an undying love for each other. They protected each other and treated each other like family. And that was the best defense of all.
"You underestimate us." Alaya said with a glare in his direction. Her sister was a leader, she had lead their species to victory in a few dozens of wars. They were a small section of their species but they still had quite a few warriors, with the lead of her sister they would beat these humans and take back what was theirs.
"One tribe of homo reptilia against six billion humans? You've got your work cut out." The Doctor said with a bit of humor. They had no chance of winning. Humans were amazing creatures, and sadly they were really good at things such as wars. They would kill all of the Homo Reptilia and knock them out extinct. They were excellent when it came to self defense and combined with their fear of dying, they were unstoppable.
"We did not initiate combat, but we can still win." Alaya announced with a malice smile. The humans had threatened her home with their giant drills. Every time that drill was turned on their home was seconds away from being destroyed. Now her kind were going to get what they deserved. They were going to get their planet back.
"Tell me where my friend is. Give us back the people who were taken. Now." The Doctor exclaimed angrily. He wanted Astrid back and he wanted her back now. He wanted her safe in his arms making wisecracks about his driving and being the sassy young girl he knew she was.
"No." Alaya said harshly, staring at the Doctor like he was insane. She was certainly not going to be giving up their side's secrets that easily. If humans had a weakness they would find out soon. They had their best doctor dissecting the hostages and with what they learned they would win this war.
"I'm not going to let you provoke a war, Alaya. There'll be no battle here today." The Doctor told her sternly. He knew the humans were defenseless. They hadn't known that there was a whole another species under the soil that their drills were threatening. They had done nothing wrong! A war was not going to be started. No, not if he was alive and breathing.
"The fire of war is already lit. A massacre is due." Alaya said proudly. She knew what was happening and with her held as hostage, and her sister being the commander of the war there was going to be a bloodbath. Every single stupid human paying for what they had done.
"Not while I'm here." The Doctor said with an oncoming storm glare. Astrid was down there in a middle of battle prep, surrounded by the Homo Reptilia while they were at their worst. He was not going to let that happen. He was not going to let her be in the center of violence, especially not since she was just barely a teenager.
"I'll gladly die for my cause. What will you sacrifice for yours?" Alaya questioned the timelord with a sneer in her tone. She knew this man. They had legends of this man, a man that traveled the stars defeating monsters and evils in the universe. She was told as a young girl that he was the man with no weaknesses. He had a weakness. His weakness was war. Or so she thought.
"I'm going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe, to talk to them." The Doctor announced. If he had any chance of getting Astrid back he had to act and fast. Every minute that he stood here explaining was another minute that she could be closer to death. Standing up here doing nothing was not helping at all, and if he had any hope of getting her back he had to leave and now.
"You're going to negotiate with these aliens?" Ambrose asked him, confused. From what she had seen and what she had lost these aliens were not nice. They were the complete opposite of nice! It would be terribly stupid to go down there with a million of them waiting to kill you. They wouldn't negotiate with anybody, all they wanted was to steal humans. Ambrose thought the best course of action would be to fight back, not beg for them to give back the humans when they had obviously stolen them for a reason!
"They're not aliens. They're Earth-liens. Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue, Eocenes, or Homo Reptilia. Not monsters, not evil. Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that's all. Look, from their point of view, you're the invaders. Your drill was threatening their settlement. Now, the creature in the crypt. Her name's Alaya. She's one of their warriors, and she's my best bargaining chip. I need her alive. If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Astrid, because I will find them. While I'm gone, you five people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity." The Doctor explained. He knew the Homo Reptilia were nothing dangerous but to him it seemed like perhaps they were attacking. It seemed to him like they were strategizing as if it were a war. He knew what that looked like, and a war for Homo Reptilia was certainly nothing nice.
"And what if they come back? Shouldn't we be examining this creature? Dissecting it, finding its weak points?" Mack asked him. This was a war. Those monster Reptilia things had taken his son in law, his grandson, and had hurt him. They needed to get even and find out their weak spots. If they found out their weak spot then they would be able to fight back. They had a hostage and now they could do exactly what the Homo Reptilia were doing. They could dissect the hostage and find out more about them. He had fought in wars before, and even though he wasn't under the soil with the hostages he knew what was happening. He had seen it happen before first hand after all.
"No dissecting, no examining. We return their hostage, they return ours, nobody gets harmed. We can land this together, if you are the best you can be. You are decent, brilliant people. Nobody dies today. Understand?" The Doctor explained. He knew as he looked around that they were decent people. He trusted that they wouldn't do anything that they would regret. At least he hope so. He picked his friend's well and if these people tried anything he knew that he could trust Amy and Rory to put them in place. Amy put him in his place almost every day so he knew that he could trust her to make sure that these people do nothing stupid. They would be fine. But the Doctor couldn't have been more wrong.
"No, sorry, no. What are you lot doing?" The Doctor asked the two ladies following him. Amy and Nasreen walking confidently beside him as if he'd never notice. He was confused, why would they be following him when they should be back at the church waiting for him to return with Astrid. Why were they coming after him, did they need something? Maybe he hadn't been clear to them on what the plan was? Maybe they were confused? He didn't know, women confused him. It was the one thing Astrid told him constantly after all. So what did these two want? Astrid would know. She was a genius, and a girl. But mostly a genius.
"Obviously coming with you raggedy man." Amy answered sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she did. For a super intelligent alien he was a little slow today. If she was following him she was obviously going to help him. No offence to the people up here but she didn't want to stay up here and count the tiles on the ceiling as she waited for him to return. No, she was going to do something. She was going to help.
"Coming with you, of course. What is it, some kind of transport pod?" Nareen asked the man. She had seen many strange things today, she knew that if the man was going under the soil he had to have a device that was not from this world. A transport pod being the first thing to come to mind. Although, it would be a little snug. It was quite small and looked like it fit one, two people at the most. It made Nasreen wonder just who this strange Doctor man was.
"Sort of, but you're not coming with me." The Doctor said to the the woman and the fiery ginger. He had to do this alone. He didn't mind getting hurt but he was not putting other people at the same risk. Especially not when one of those people is his friend. His best friend. He was not risking Amy. Not ever.
"He's right. You're not." Mack told Nasreen, his voice firm and unmoving. He loved that woman and by gods she was not going to go under the ground with some mysterious man, to get hurt by a bunch of scaly looking monsters. He had just admitted to loving her and he was not going to lose her already. Not if he could help it!
"Yeah you're most definitely not." Rory agreed, trying to sound firm like Mack. She did not need Amy going under there too. He would be stuck up here and who knew what would happen to her without him there to stop her from being reckless. Rory couldn't lose both his soon to be wife and his best friend. His heart would not be able to take that.
"I have spent all my life excavating the layers of this planet, and now you want me to stand back while you head down into it? I don't think so." Nasreen exclaimed. All her life she had dreamt of this moment. All her life she had dreamt of finding out what was in the earth. If you dug deep enough what would you find? She always wondered and today she was going to find out. And nobody, not even a funny man with a bowtie was going to stop her. She was going whether he liked it or not.
"And I feel guilty … I'm staying with you until Astrid is safe and unharmed. No arguments." Amy announced in a serious voice. She was going to be the one to rescue Astrid. She wanted to be forgiven. She wanted Astrid to forgive her for making her go through … whatever the Homo Reptilia were doing to her. She needed it. If Astrid didn't forgive her she didn't know what she would do. If that was the case she didn't think she would ever be able to look at Astrid again. Let alone her own fiance.
"I don't have time to argue. It'll be dangerous, though." The Doctor told them. Pleading with them to stay behind. He did not need Amy getting captured too, then Rory would be furious. The man would never forgive him if he let that happen! Not a chance. Besides he was not putting Amy in danger, Amy was his best friend and he did not want to lose her.
"I go on adventures with you all the time, when is it not dangerous?" Amy asked him with surprise in her tone. They were chasing aliens twenty four seven so she didn't see much of a difference. Just because they were aliens from earth changed absolutely nothing! Everything that they did with the Doctor was going to be dangerous! He was a magnet for trouble! If they were going to save Astrid she was going with them and that was that.
"Oh, for goodness sake. All right, then. Come on." The Doctor told her, convinced that she could go. Amy was right, it was never not dangerous with him so if she wanted to come, she could come. Besides she's guilty about what had happened with Astrid. He wanted to show her that there was nothing to be guilty about. Astrid would explain it to her. Astrid was always good with that kind of stuff. He was rubbish with the humany stuff. She would set everything right again. If only they found her again. Amy's face lit up into a bright smile and she bolted off into the Tardis. She was ready. She was going to rescue Astrid. Then maybe the nagging feeling of guilt would go away.
"You better bring her back safe. Both of them." Rory told the Doctor, a stern look on his face. He wasn't that angry at the Doctor and Amy now, but he didn't want them to know that. He was just worried. Forever worried that Amy or Astrid were going to get hurt and die. Forever worried that one day they were going to go off on an adventure and one of them weren't going to return. Worried that all that awaited anyone that traveled with the Doctor was death.
"Don't worry I will. I promise Rory." The Doctor told him, a weak smile on his face as he swaggered off inside his Tardis. He knew that Rory wasn't angry anymore. He knew that Rory was just anxious for the safe return of Astrid and Amy. He was worried for Astrid too. Astrid was his future. The person that he would had known for so long. His constant companion. The only companion that never left him. The only person who kept him grounded. She needed to be ok. He couldn't think straight with the possibility of her getting hurt. It worried him to death that something had happened. He understood Rory, he understood him completely.
"Welcome aboard the Tardis. Now, don't touch anything. Very precious." The Doctor told Nasreen, gesturing around with his hands. He knew that the sight got to a lot of people but that was no excuse for them to go poking around and touching things that shouldn't be pressed! This was his Tardis after all and he was not going to allow some random stranger to go driving her when they didn't know a thing about her. That was more Astrid's thing, not his.
"No way. But, but that's, this is fantastic. What does it do?" Nasreen said, glancing around the machine in awe. She knew that this man was no ordinary man, but this, this was amazing. It was beautiful and so cool! No doubt her face looked hilarious as she glanced around. She had seen some pretty amazing things in her time, especially considering her job. But this, this just took the cake. This was the most wonderful thing she had seen in her whole life!
"Basically, she does a whole lot of smart sciency stuff that nobody understands." Amy answered the woman, watching as she looked around the Tardis in amazement. She remembered being in that woman's place. This was beautiful and she felt that feeling every single day. Everytime she walked into the console room it felt like she was walking into heaven. This was her life, and she never wanted it to change, no matter how dangerous it is. Right as she said that within her mind, like irony gone wild they were knocked off their feet a loud dull noise ringing in her ears, and stars swirling around her eyes from slamming her head on the floor.
"Did you touch something?" The Doctor asked. Not even bothering to ask if the two ladies were alright. He knew that he should have kept a better eye on the woman. She probably had touched something in her dazed state and sent them off into space or something. He knew that he should have made sure that she hadn't come, but he didn't have time to argue. Every second wasted was another second that Astrid was in danger.
"I didn't touch anything. Isn't this what it does?" Nasreen asked with curiosity in her voice. She didn't know what happened in this amazing machine. Was that humming? No, nevermind, it almost sounded like talking. Maybe her ears were just ringing from her fall. Nasreen, didn't know what to expect. She had just jumped into another world where aliens were threatening her society and blue wooden boxes were bigger on the inside. She didn't know what was normal anymore. She just didn't. The Doctor glanced at the screen, confused. If she hadn't touched it and he hadn't touched it, what was going on?
"I'm not doing anything. We've been hijacked. I can't stop it. They must've sensed the electromagnetic field. They're pulling the Tardis down into the Earth." He concluded. He knew this was good, this was more than good. They were going to be placed exactly where they wanted to be placed and he would be able to find Astrid quicker. This was going to be easy now. Much easier.
"You had to come and see me." Alaya said with a sneer. She hated these humans with a passion and now they had kidnapped her, lighting that hate up in her heart and making her angry. They said all these lies about safety to her. How they were going to make sure nothing happened to her, as if they actually cared. Humans didn't care they were pitiful, stupid creatures. No, they wanted her to suffer and die and that was exactly what was going to happen.
"We are going to keep you safe." Rory replied back to her. From what the Doctor had said, the Homo Reptilians were not harmful. He hoped that this was true because he did not want to be stuck here with one if that was the case. He had already been pushed past his limit today with losing Astrid, having Amy leave to get possibly get hurt herself, and climbing into a dirty hole meant for a dead person. He did not want to add killed by hostile alien to that list. Not yet at least.
"Your tribe are going to give us back our people in exchange for you." Ambrose further explained to the woman. She didn't like this not one bit. Her husband was missing, her own baby boy was missing, her father was hurt! And it was all thanks to this malice little creature. If it wasn't for her then her whole family would still be with her! Ambrose was angry and she wanted revenge. But she knew that this alien thing was antagonizing her and she would not be persuaded to kill.
"No. Shall I tell you what's really going to happen, apes? One of you will kill me. My death shall ignite a war, and every stinking ape shall be wiped from the surface of my beloved planet." Alaya screamed at them. She knew the apes, especially the ones standing in front of her. She knew them well. The lonely boy with a sense of loss around him like he had lost someone close to him. And those sparkly blue green eyes that looked like they had seen wonders. The loud, obnoxious girl that was desperate to get her family back. She knew. Oh she knew them so well.
"I promise you Alaya, none of us will allow that to happen." Rory answered her. He was not going to let another person get hurt. Not when this was their bargaining chip. The bargaining chip that ensures Astrid's safety. Astrid was too young to die and he was going to make sure that she got home safe. Even if it killed him in the end he would rescue her. And if that meant making sure that the bargaining chip didn't die, well he'd take it. He was a nurse after all, it shouldn't be too hard.
"I know apes better than you know yourselves. I know which one of you will kill me. You both have important people missing so who will it be? Do you know?" Alaya replied back to Rory, glancing at both of them with an accusing glare on her face. She knew that she was going to die today. She knew that she was going to die at the hands of one of these people. She knew she was going to release the monster of the human woman and that she was going to die in agonizing pain. But she also knew that with the drop of her blood would be the start of a war, and that made it all worth it.
Cold. Cold and dark. Well … other from the bright light shining down into her face and causing a headache. She opened her eyes a crack taking in her new surroundings. Yeah, she knew where she was. Oh, why did Amy always try saving people? The even better question was why the Doctor was such a magnet for trouble. Well, she didn't know but either way this was all their faults. Yeah, yeah she knows she was the one that saved Amy. She knew it was her own fault. But she couldn't let Amy go under the soil. Not only did she definitely not want her Amelia. One of her favorite people and friends, getting hurt. But also, Rory loved Amy! She had to do something for her best friend. If she hadn't saved Amy, Rory would have never forgiven her. If Amy had gotten hurt then he would have hated her just as much as the other two did. Astrid had saved Amy for Rory.
"Don't struggle. Close your eyes and don't struggle." The young man that she knew to be Mo told her. Oh she remembered this part and she remembered it well. This was why she had saved Amy. She didn't want the possibility of her getting hurt. And if she remembered correctly Rory had been really, really upset that Amy had been taken and if anything had happened, well let's just say that she did not want her best friend on her bad side. She had done everything in her power to stop Amy from getting hurt to make Rory happy and she had succeeded. But unfortunately it meant a few unpleasant consequences for her.
"Great it's this lovely part. I remember this part well. So then, enlighten me what are they gonna do?" She asked the man, already well knowing what was going on and what would happen. She always loved this part because of how mouthy Amy was to the lizard doctor. Well now the roles were switched. She had done an excellent job and had actually done something with her knowledge. Her prize was being locked up on a cold metal table underground, and being mouthy to a lizard alien doctor. What an excellent prize! Oh, and don't forget … She got to watch a lizard man nearly cut her open and dissect her! What grand fun! This was all just whacked up! She knew what curiousness did to a person, but that gave them no right to go cutting people open. That wouldn't stop the Homo Reptilia. Oh this was gonna be a ball!
"Decontamination, they call it. They did it to me while I was conscious." The man answered her. To be honest she didn't know what would happen. She was here and that was a huge change of events. He knew what would happen since she was here. Anything could change now, anything. She had changed the events of history. She had literally rewritten time. She knew time was precious, that it was not to be messed with. But she wasn't a timelord, she couldn't tell if something was fixed or flux.
"Alright, that's a little vague. Did what?" Astrid asked him. She knew that in the show he had been cut open, but who knew, that could have all changed by now. Everything was unpredictable and it was all because of her. To be honest this made her frightened. She hated change. She was scared of change. Astrid liked things the way they were. She liked being here, in fact she loved it. But that didn't make her feel any differently about change. She wanted everything to freeze so nothing would ever change. But she knew, She knew so well. Everything has to move on, everything has to change.
"Dissected me." He whispered to her, showing her a very long, raw scar that went from his sternum to his navel. He looked at her pained as if he was sorry for her, the look clearly sympathetic. He knew that these lizard things were monsters, but stealing a child and cutting them open! That was horrific! She had to be just a few years older then his son, and just the thought of her getting hurt really got to him. This was not right. Not in the least. He couldn't save her, but he could certainly try and help ease the pain. Astrid looked at the scar, a very sad expression on her face as she looked on. Her eyes glowing a dull blue yet again as an overwhelming sadness took over her heart. She tried to look away, but the sight captivated her. Pulling her in. After a few moments of unbearable silence, she snapped out of her trance. She looked into the man's eyes and her whole demeanor changed. This was not right. Not in the least. They had stolen a man from his child and then sliced him open. She was not going to stand for this! She looked into his eyes, a fire in her own as the dim glow in them flickered from blue to red.
"Great! Lovely! Awesome! Bloody Fantastic! Oh look, that's new I'm talking british now. I'm so angry I'm actually speaking in a different accent." Astrid yelled as she tried to break out of metal binding. She was furious now. They had hurt a nice man. A man that had a family and a job. A man that did nothing wrong. They had abducted him and hurt him. She didn't care what happened to her now. She just wanted to get this man out safe not matter what happened to her. She would save him with her last breath. It wasn't because she was angry or upset. Or because he had been hurt. It was because he was an ordinary man. And that man had tried to help her. He was special and he would be saved.
"He's coming. I'm sorry. I wish I could help you." Mo said, as off in the distance footsteps were heard resounding off the walls. He wanted to save the young child. He wanted to so much but he couldn't. As a parent he wanted to save her from the pain and sadness. He wanted to save her from all the hurt and suffering. But he couldn't and it was slowly eating away at him. It wasn't even his own kid and yet he felt like he needed to save her. He had failed. He had failed the young girl and he felt guilty for her upcoming suffering.
"It's not your fault. Not one bit. And I promise you, I will get you out of this alive." Astrid whispered to Mo. Her head held high and her lips set in a thin line. She stared down the lizard doctor as he entered the room with a scalpel, coming ever closer to her with every step. She was not going to back down. She got to sass a lizard man after all. She was not going to break down and cry even though she felt the tears building up in her eyes. She felt some sort of empathetic emotion to Mo and she just wanted to burst into to tears, crying for what was done to him. The doctor got closer step by step by step and she held her ground, not showing any emotion whatsoever. She was brave, and strong, and very very angry. Astrid was fearless.
"We're looking for a small tribal settlement probably housing around a dozen Homo Reptilia. Maybe less." The Doctor told them as he looked around underground. He knew that the quicker that they found the Homo Reptilia, the quicker they would find Astrid. If she were still alive of course. While the Doctor had paused, thinking of what could have happened with Astrid, Nasreen and Amy had been walking down a side passage.
"No Doctor, really, one small tribe?" Amy replied surprised. She knew that he was busy thinking of ways to save Astrid, but what he had said had been a huge miscalculation. There were certainly not a dozen. Not at all. She went over to the Doctor and grabbed his hand, leading him over to the sight so he would understand what they were telling him. Overlooking the ledge was tons upon tons of little house shaped objects.
"Ok, um, Maybe more than a dozen. Maybe more like an entire civilisation living beneath the Earth." The Doctor said staring at the sight before him. Finding Astrid was going to be harder than he thought. A lot harder.
