The Satan Pit
The Ood kept advancing, forcing Rose and the Professor back towards the door, until Jefferson had no choice but to give the order.
"Open fire!" he cried as he and the other crew member shot at the Ood.
As soon as they were down Rose ran forward and grabbed the comm. she had dropped, "Doctor?" she called, only to hear static, "Doctor, can you hear me? Doctor? Ida? Are you there?"
"Rose…" the Professor began, stepping forward to put a hand on Rose's shoulder but the girl shoved her arm away.
"Open Door 25."
Jefferson and the crew member turned, guns ready, only to see Danny run in, "It's me!" he shouted, "But they're coming."
"Close Door 25."
"It's the Ood. They've gone mad!" they had nearly gotten him, killed the male crew member who had been with him as they fled.
"How many of them?" Jefferson demanded.
"All of them! All fifty!"
"Danny, out of the way," Jefferson moved to the door, but Danny didn't budge, "Out of the way!" he shoved Danny so he could reach the door.
"But they're armed!" he warned, "They're…" Jefferson started to open the door, "It's the interface device. I don't know how, but they're using it as a weapon."
"It the electrical impulses of the brain," the Professor explained as Jefferson worked on the door, "They travel to the sphere where it is translated, if you bypass that, you get a weapon."
"Open door 25."
Jefferson pulled the door open only to see the Ood standing there, their eyes red. One of them advanced, sticking their communication orb to the forehead of the young female crew member. She screamed and slumped to the floor, dead, as Jefferson opened fire while Danny shoved the door shut again.
"Jefferson!" Zach's voice came through as the comms. came back online, "What's happening there?"
"I've got very little ammunition, sir," Jefferson replied into his wrist, "How about you?"
"All I've got is a bolt gun. With uh...all of one bolt. I could take out a grand total of one Ood. Fat lot of good that is."
"Given the emergency…" Jefferson paused a moment, "I recommend Strategy Nine."
"Strategy Nine agreed," Zach sighed, "Right, we need to get everyone together. Rose? What about Ida and the Doctor? Any word?"
Rose shook her head, "I can't get any reply," she swallowed hard, her voice cracking, "Just...NOTHING, I keep trying, but it's..."
"He's fine," the Professor reassured her, "Trust me."
"Course I'm fine," the Doctor's voice came over the comm., "Still here!"
"You could've said, you stupid b…" Rose began.
"WHOA!" the Doctor cut in from the high-pitched whine the comm. gave, "Careful! Anyway, it's both of us, me and Ida. Hello! But the seal opened up. It's gone. All we've got left is this chasm."
"How deep is it?" Zach asked.
"Can't tell. It looks like it goes on forever."
"'The pit is open,'" Rose repeated, "That's what the voice said."
"But there's nothing?" Zach asked, skeptical, "I mean...there's...NOTHING coming out?"
"No, no," the Doctor affirmed, "No sign of 'the Beast.'"
"It said 'Satan,'" Rose breathed, scared.
"Come on, Rose. Keep it together."
"It'll be alright," the Professor added, trying to put her arm around the girl.
"Don't touch me!" Rose snapped at her, glaring, absolutely in no mood to even try to be civil. She took a breath and turned back to the comm., "Is there no such thing?" there was no reply, "Doctor?" still nothing, "Doctor, tell me there's no such thing."
"Ida?" Zach cut in, not wanting the conversation to progress in that direction, "I recommend that you withdraw. Immediately."
"But...we've come all this way!" she exclaimed.
"Okay, that was an order. That thing opened, the whole planet's shifted. One more inch and we fall into the black hole. So this thing stops, right now."
"But it's not much better up there with the Ood."
"I'm initiating Strategy Nine," he informed her, "So I need the two of you back up top immediately, no ar…" there was a beep as the device cut off, "Ida? Ida?"
~8~
The Doctor raised his eyebrows as the woman beside him cut off communications, turning to him, "What do you think?" she asked.
"I think they've an order," he replied.
"Yeah, but...what do YOU think?"
The Doctor turned and put his foot on the edge of the pit, staring down into it, "It said 'I am the temptation.'"
"If...if there's something in there...why's it still hiding?"
"Maybe...we opened the prison but not the cell?"
"We should go down. I'd go. What about you?"
"Oh!" he grinned, "Oh, in a second, but then again..." he gave a half laugh and turned to look at her, "That is so human. Where angels fear to tread. Even now, standing on the edge. It's that feeling you get. Yeah?" he looked back into the pit, musing, "Right at the back of your head. That impulse...that strange little impulse...that mad little voice saying 'go on...go on...go on...go over, go on...'"
'Actually that mad little voice is me,' the Professor's voice echoed in his mind, 'And I am most certainly not saying 'go on.'''
'What are you saying then?' he asked, all serious.
'Come back,' she said without hesitation.
He nodded slowly, "For once in my life...Officer Scott...I'm going to say..." he looked at her a moment, "Retreat," he sighed and pulled his foot back from where it was resting, "Now I know I'm getting old."
'Thank you,' the Professor whispered.
He nodded, switching back on the comm., "Rose, we're coming back."
~8~
"Best news I've heard all day!" Rose grinned, not knowing how much of a hand the Professor had had in getting the Doctor to agree to come back to them. She turned to smile at the rest of the crew only to see Jefferson releasing the safety off his gun and turn it on Toby, "What're you doing?"
"He's infected," Jefferson said, "He brought that thing on board. You saw it."
Toby's eyes widened in shock and fear as he cowered on the floor.
"Are you gonna start shooting your own people, now?" Rose moved over to him, defensive, "Is that what you're gonna do? Is it?"
"If necessary."
"Well then, you'll have to shoot me 'if necessary,' so what's it gonna be?" Rose glared at him.
"I can scan him if you'd like," the Professor offered hesitantly, stepping up.
"We don't need your help, thanks," Rose turned her glare on the other woman. The Professor just stepped back, her head down as she turned and started rummaging through some odds and ends in the room.
"Look at his face," Rose continued, turning back to Jefferson, "Whatever it was, it's gone. It passed into the Ood. You saw it happen. He's clean."
Jefferson considered it a moment. He would have loved to have the girl scan him or whatever it was she was going to do, to be absolutely sure, but looking at her now, with what Rose had said, he doubted she would offer again.
"Any sign of trouble..." he warned, "I'll shoot him."
Rose nodded as he moved away before turning to Toby, "Are you alright?"
He nodded, trembling, close to tears, "Yeah...I..." he shook his head, "Dunno."
"Can you remember anything?"
"Just...it was so angry…it was...fury and rage...death..." he cast a terrified glance around the room before meeting Rose's eye, "It was him. It was the devil."
"Come here," she pulled him close, hugging him comfortingly as he shook in her arms.
~8~
The Doctor frowned at the biting words he'd heard Rose say to the Professor as she tried to help. It seemed they had forgotten the communicator and they'd heard everything. He could understand that Rose was hurt and scared, but to take it out on the Professor...especially after everything she'd been through…he really was going to have to talk to Rose about this.
"What's Strategy Nine?" he asked Ida as they headed back to the capsule, if just to get his mind off what he'd heard.
"Open the airlocks..." Ida sighed, "We'll be safe inside the lockdown...the Ood will get thrown out into the vacuum."
"So we're going back to a slaughter?"
"The devil's work."
~8~
Jefferson, Danny, and Rose were all standing around by where the capsule would come up, waiting to make contact while the Professor stood a little ways back, just tinkering with some junk scattered around.
"Okay, we're in," Ida reported, "Bring us up."
"Ascension in..." Jefferson began, readying the lift as Rose smiled, "Three...two...one…" he pulled the lever and the lights went out.
"This is the Darkness," the animalistic voice spoke again, "This is my domain," the display on the screen changed to reveal the Ood standing before a security camera, the Beast, or whatever it was, using them to communicate, "You little things that live in the light...clinging to your feeble Suns...which die in the..."
"That's not the Ood," Zach warned them over the loudspeaker, "Something's talking through them."
"Only the Darkness remains," the Ood finished.
"This is Captain Zachary Cross Flane of Sanctuary Base Six representing the Torchwood archive. You will identify yourself."
"You know my name," the Ood spoke.
"What do you want?"
"You will die here. All of you. This planet is your grave."
"It's him," Toby trembled, "It's him. It's him..."
"If you are the Beast, then answer me this: which one?" the Doctor cut in, "Hmm? 'Cos the Universe has been busy since you've been gone. There's more religions than there are planets in the sky. The Archivists..."
"Pordonity," the Professor spoke, having turned to look at the screen over the small group's shoulder, scaring them a bit at her sudden words.
"Christianity..."
"Pash-Pash…"
"New Judaism..."
"Sanclar..."
"Church of the Tin Vagabond," the Doctor finished, "Which devil are you?"
"All of them," it replied.
"What, then you're the truth behind the myth?"
"This one knows me, as I know him. The killer of his own kind."
The Professor flinched at that reference, knowing how cutting it must have been for the Doctor to hear it.
"How did you end up on this rock?" the Doctor asked, choosing not to acknowledge the Beast's last statement.
"The Disciples of the Light rose up against him," the Professor answered before the Beast could. The humans turned to look at her in shock.
"And chained me in the pit for all eternity," the Beast finished, "You know the story well…living weapon."
Rose frowned at her as she looked away before her gaze shifted suspiciously to the small device the Professor had been constructing, worried about what that might be...
"When was this?" the Doctor asked, diverting the Beast's attention back to himself.
"Before time," it answered.
"What does THAT mean?"
"Before time."
"What does 'before time' MEAN?"
"Before light and time and space and matter," the Professor answered, "Before the cataclysm. Before this Universe was created."
"That's impossible," the Doctor argued, "No life could have existed back then."
"Is that your religion?" the Beast asked him.
"It's a belief."
"But it is not hers is it?"
"There were theories in the Academy," the Professor replied, knowing the Beast meant her, "Debates about the pre-Universe. Only the Academics really considered it a possibility."
"You know nothing," the Beast spat, "All of you. So small. The captain, so scared of command. The soldier, haunted by the eyes of his wife. The scientist, still running from daddy. The little boy who lied. The virgin. And the lost girl, so far away from home, the valiant child who will die in battle so very soon."
"Doctor, what does it mean?" Rose swallowed hard.
"Rose, don't listen," the Professor began.
"What does it mean?"
"You will die..." the Beast seemed to laugh, "And I will live."
The footage of the Ood suddenly cut off and was replaced by a roaring, horned beast which made everyone but the Professor and apparently the Doctor gasp. And then they all began to talk over each other.
"What the hell was that?" Danny asked, trembling in fear.
"I had that thing inside my head!" Toby shouted.
"Doctor, what did it mean?" Rose breathed.
"What do we do?" Danny turned to Jefferson, "Jefferson?"
"Captain?" Jefferson called into his wrist, "What's the situation on Strategy Nine?"
The Professor stumbled back, biting her lip as she looked at the group before her, all panicking…she could almost feel their fear…so much like her own constant fear…
"Zach, what do we do?" Danny called.
"What if I can fix it?" Toby shook his had, "...the black hole, everything's true."
"Captain, report," Jefferson called.
"Stop…" the Professor breathed.
"We've lost picture…" Zach answered.
"Doctor, how did it know all of…" Rose began.
"Did anyone get…" Ida shouted.
"Jefferson?" Zach called.
"What did it mean?" Rose cried.
"Everyone please just stop…" the Professor tried again, hearing the Doctor trying to calm them down as well.
"What do we do?" Danny panicked.
"Report!" Jefferson repeated.
Suddenly a very shrill whistle cut through the air.
"Stop it!" the Professor shouted, breathing heavily as she lowered her fingers from her mouth. It was hard enough to deal with her own fear of the situation, but to have to handle everyone else's…it had to stop!
Everyone fell silent.
"Doctor," she whispered, signaling for him to do what he did best.
"Thanks," he called to her before addressing everyone else, "If you want voices in the dark, then listen to mine; that thing is playing on very basic fears. Darkness, childhood nightmares, all that stuff."
"But that's how the devil works," Danny argued.
"Or a good psychologist."
"But...how did it know about my father?" Ida asked, a small tremor in her voice.
The Doctor paused, unable to answer.
And so, the Professor answered for him, "The Ood," the humans looked at her, "They're low level telepaths. The Ood read your minds and whatever that thing was read theirs. That's how it knew."
"And what makes his version of the truth any better than mine?" the Doctor agreed, "Hmm? 'Cos I'll tell you what I can see: humans."
"Brilliant humans," the Professor corrected.
"Humans who travel all the way across space, flying in a tiny little rocket into the orbit of a black hole! Just for the sake of discovery, that's amazing! Do you hear me? Amazing. All of you. The captain, his officer, his elder, his genius, his friends. All with one advantage. The Beast is alone. We are not. If we can use that to fight against him…"
He was suddenly cut of by a loud bang as the cable for the capsule snapped, falling down the shaft.
"The cable's snapped!" Ida shouted.
"Get out!" the Doctor yelled.
And that was the last thing they heard before the cable landed at the bottom of the shaft with such force that dust wafted into the air.
"Doctor!" Rose shouted into the comm., "We lost the cable! Doctor, are you alright?" there was no reply, "Doctor?"
"Comms. are down," Zach announced.
"Doctor?" Rose tried again, "Doctor, can you hear me?" when there was still no reply she turned to the Professor, "Is he ok?"
"He's fine," the Professor said after a moment.
"I've still got life signs," Zach added, "But...we've lost the capsule. There's no way out," he sighed, "They're stuck down there."
Rose ran over to the shaft and looked down it, "But we've got to bring them back."
"They're ten miles down," Jefferson sighed, looking down it with her, "We haven't got another ten miles of cable," there was a loud bang at the door that made them all jump. Jefferson lifted his wrist comm., "Captain? Situation report."
Zach sighed, "It's the Ood. They're cutting through the door bolts. They're breaking in."
"Yeah, it's the same on Door 25."
"How long's it gonna take?" Rose asked.
"Well, it's only a basic frame. It should take ten minutes."
"Eight," the Professor corrected before turning to her device once more.
"I've got a security frame," Zach stated, "It might last a bit longer, but that doesn't help you."
"Right," Rose nodded, "So we need to stop them, or get out, or both."
"I'll take both, yeah?" Danny said sarcastically, "But how?"
"You heard the Doctor. Why do you think that thing cut him off? 'Cos he was making sense. He was telling you to think your way out of this. Come on! For a start, we need some lights. There's gotta be some sort of power somewhere."
"There's nothing I can do," Zach replied bitterly, "Some captain, stuck in here, pressing buttons..."
"Then press the right buttons," the Professor called quietly, rubbing her head as it zinged painfully, this whole thing was starting to get to her.
"They've gutted the generators!" Zach called with realization, "But the rocket's got an independent supply. If I could reroute that...Mr. Jefferson? Open the bypass conduits. Override the safety..."
Jefferson quickly turned to a control panel, "Opening bypass conduits, sir."
"Channeling rocket feed. In 3...2...1...power."
The lights came back on as Rose clapped, "There we go."
"Let there be light!" Danny smiled.
"What about that Strategy Nine thing?" Rose turned to Jefferson.
"Not enough power," he replied, "It needs a hundred percent."
"Alright. We need a way out. Zach, Mr. Jefferson, you start working on that," she turned and glanced at the Professor, "You working on a way to get us out?"
"No," she shook her head.
Rose blinked, "Then what are you doing?" the Professor didn't answer, just concentrated on the device in her hand, "Right," Rose scoffed, "Lot of help you are," she turned and walked over to Toby, "Toby, what about you?"
Toby stood, "I'm not a soldier. I can't do anything."
"No, you're the archaeologist. What do you know about the pit?"
"Well, nothing. I can't even translate the language. Your friend over there would be more help than me."
"Right," Rose rolled her eyes, "She's too preoccupied with whatever that is to help us."
"Maybe…" Toby began.
"What is it?"
"…since that thing was inside my head, it's like the letters made more sense."
"Well...get to work," she smiled, "Anything you can translate, just...anything," she turned and headed back to Danny, "As for you, Danny-boy, you're in charge of the Ood, any way of stopping them?"
"Well...I don't know," he sighed.
Rose pulled him over to a computer, "Then find out. The sooner we get control of the base, the sooner we can get the Doctor out. Shift," she playfully smacked him onwards.
~8~
"We've got all this cable, we might as well use it," Ida sighed as she walked over to the pile of cable and started to gather it up, "The drum's disconnected, we could adapt it. Feed it through."
"And then what?" The Doctor asked.
"Abseil. Into the pit."
"Abseil. Right."
"We're running out of air with no way back. It's the only thing we CAN do. Even if it's the last thing we ever achieve."
"I'll get back," he swore, "Rose is up there. The Professor's up there."
"Well, maybe the key to that is finding out what's in the pit."
"Well…it's half of a good plan," he admitted.
"What's the other half?"
"I go down. Not you."
~8~
Rose watched as Jefferson worked at the computer, blatantly ignoring the Professor as she tinkered away, "Open junctions five...six...seven..." he counted, ignoring the bang on the door, "...reroute filters sixteen to twenty-four. Go."
"There's all sorts of viruses that could stop the Ood," Danny explained as Rose walked over to him, "Trouble is, we haven't got them on board."
"Well, that's handy, listing all the things we haven't got," Rose replied sarcastically, "We haven't got a swimming pool either. Or a Tescos."
The computer beeped, the word 'affirmative' flashing on the screen, "Oh my God," Danny breathed, excited, "It says yes! I can do it! Hypothetically, if you flip the monitor, broadcast a flare...it can disrupt the telepathy! Brainstorm!"
"What happens to the Ood?"
"It'll tank them, spark out!"
"There we are, then! Do it!"
Danny's face fell, "No, but..." he shook his head, "I'd have to transmit from the central monitor. We need to go to Ood Habitation."
There was another bang on the door, this time causing sparks to fly.
"That's what we'll do, then," Rose glanced at the door, before turning to Mr. Jefferson, "Mr. Jefferson, sir! Any way out?"
"Just about..." he nodded, "There's a network of maintenance tunnels running underneath the base. We should be able to gain access from here."
Rose smiled, "Ventilation shafts."
"Yeah, I appreciate the reference, but there's no ventilation. No air, in fact, at all. They were designed for machines, not life forms."
"But, I can manipulate the oxygen field from here," Zach called, "Create discrete pockets of atmosphere...if I control it manually...I can follow you through the network."
"Right, so we go down, and you make the air follow us," Rose nodded, understanding, "By hand."
"You wanted me pressing buttons."
"Yeah, I asked for it, okay. We need to get to Ood Habitation, work out a route."
~8~
There was another violent bang on the door as Rose, Jefferson, and Toby stood around the maintenance tunnels, ready to head down. Danny and the Professor were standing across from each other, their backs to each other, Danny at the computer and the Professor hurriedly soldering something to the device she was making.
"Danny!" Rose shouted.
"Hold on!" Danny called back, "Just conforming..."
"Both of you, you gotta go NOW!" Jefferson called, as there was another bang. The Professor quickly put down the soldering device and headed over to them, "Come on!" the computer beeped.
"Yeah!" Danny shouted, pulling an orange computer chip out of the machine, holding it up to them as he ran to the maintenance entrance, "Put that in the monitor...and it's a bad time to be an Ood!"
"We're coming back," Rose looked at each of them, though her gaze seemed to skip over the Professor who, in her mind, hadn't done a thing to help them, "Have you got that? We're coming back to this room and we're getting the Doctor out."
"Okay, Danny, you go first," Jefferson motioned them down, "Then you Miss Tyler, then Toby, then the Professor, I'll go last in defense of position. Now come on! Quick as you can!"
They all lowered themselves into the tunnels as Jefferson specified. Rose sniffed as she landed next to Danny, "God, it stinks. You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm laughing," Danny replied sarcastically as Toby landed beside him, "Which way do we go?" he called through the wrist comm. to Zack as the Professor fell in as well.
"Just go straight ahead," Zach ordered, "Keep going 'til I say so."
Jefferson fell down into the hole, quickly ushering them to go, all of them crawling down the tunnels as fast as they could.
"Not your best angle, Danny," Rose remarked, glancing at Danny's bum.
"Oi!" he glared back at her, "Stop it!"
"I dunno, it could be worse," Toby smirked at Rose's bum.
"Oi!" she cried indignantly.
"Straight along until you find junction 7.1," Zach spoke, "Keep breathing. I'm feeding you air. I've got you."
They kept going till they reached the junction, all of them sitting down, out of breath, "We're at 7.1, sir," Danny reported.
"Okay, I've got you…I'm just aerating the next section."
"Getting kinda cramped, sir...can't you hurry up?"
"I'm working on half power here."
"Stop complaining," Jefferson ordered.
Rose turned to Danny, "Mr. Jefferson says 'stop complaining.'"
"I heard," he replied.
So Rose turned to Jefferson, "He heard."
Toby lifted his wrist comm., "But the air's getting a bit thin."
"HE'S complaining now," Rose reported to the older man.
"I heard," Jefferson rolled his eyes.
"Can we please stop that?" the Professor asked, rubbing her head from a lingering zing she'd felt finishing up the soldering. She was now trying to tweak a few wires sticking out of the device as they waited.
Danny wiped some sweat off his face as Rose sniffed again, disgusted, "Danny, is that you?"
"I'm not exactly happy," Danny turned to her, defensive.
"I'm just moving the air..." Zach called, "I've got to oxygenate the next section. Now, keep calm...or it's gonna feel worse."
There was a loud bang at the end of the tunnel and Jefferson immediately aimed his gun.
"What was that?" Danny gasped.
"Mr. Jefferson, what was that?" Rose asked.
"What's that noise?" Toby turned fearfully.
"Captain...what was that?" Jefferson called into the comm..
"It's the Ood," the Professor reasoned.
"The junction in Habitation Five's been opened," Zach reported, "It must be the Ood. They're in the tunnels!"
"Well, open the gate!" Danny cried.
"I've gotta get the air in!"
"Just open it! ...sir."
"Where are they?" Rose breathed, "Are they close?"
"Don't know, I can't tell," Zach admitted, "I can't see them...the computer doesn't register Ood as proper life forms."
"Whose idea was that?"
"OPEN the gate!" Danny roared into the comm..
The gate opened and they all lunged through it, "Danny, turn left," Zach instructed, "Immediate left."
They crawled down the tunnel quickly, Jefferson going backwards with his gun at the ready, "The Ood, sir, can't you trap them?" Jefferson asked, "Cut off the air?"
"Not without cutting off yours," Zach replied as another bang sounded, "Danny, turn right. Go right! Go fast, Dan, they're gonna catch up!"
Danny rushed forward, frantic.
"I'll maintain defense of position!" Jefferson called, motioning for them to go on.
"You can't stop!" Rose looked back at him.
Jefferson just sat down and aimed his gun, "Miss Tyler, that's my job. You've got your task, now see to it."
"You heard what he said, now SHIFT!" Toby shouted, nudging Rose forward. They moved on, leaving Jefferson behind, the Professor giving him one final glance before following after Toby.
They heard him fire moments later as they crawled down the tunnels, finally reaching the next junction.
"8.2," Danny called into the comm., "Open 8.2. Zach!"
"I've gotta aerate it!" Zach shouted back.
"OPEN IT NOW!"
"I'm TRYING!"
Danny thumped his hand against the gate, desperate.
"Danny, stop it," the Professor called out, shaking, "That's not helping."
"Zach, get it open!" Toby shouted.
"Jefferson..." Zach spoke urgently, "I've gotta open 8.2 by closing 8.1. You've GOT to get past the junction, now that's an order, now MOVE!" there was a moment of silence as they heard Jefferson cease fire, "I'm gonna lose oxygen, Jefferson, I can't stop for your dramatics!" they could hear him shuffling, trying to reach them.
Gate 8.2 opened, allowing them through it.
"Come on!" Danny shouted, rushing through, Rose, Toby, and the Professor following along.
"Danny, turn left and head for 9.2," Zach ordered, "That's the last one. Jefferson…you've gotta move faster. Move!"
"Mr. Jefferson, come on!" Rose shouted, seeing him through the gate.
"Keep GOING!" Toby shoved her forward.
It was too late.
The gate closed, leaving Jefferson trapped on the other side.
"Regret to inform, sir..." his voice came over the comm. a moment later, "I was a bit slow. Not so fast, these days."
"I can't open 8.1, John," Zach said quietly, "Not without losing air for the others."
"And quite right too, sir," Jefferson agreed as they reached the end of the tunnel, "I think I bought them a little time."
"There's nothing I can do, John. I'm sorry."
"You've done enough, sir, made a very good captain under the circumstances," the Professor looked over, seeing Danny and Rose close to tears. She reached out hesitatingly towards Rose but pulled back at the last second, unsure if she would accept the comfort, "I ask, if you can't add oxygen to this section...can you speed up the process of its removal?"
"I don't understand. What do you mean?"
"Well...if I might choose the manner of my departure, sir...lack of air seems more natural than...well...let's say...death by Ood. I'd appreciate it, sir!"
"God speed, Mr. Jefferson."
"Thank you, sir."
A moment later Zach spoke again, "Report...Officer John Maynard Jefferson PKD...deceased...with honors. 43K2.1."
"Zach...we're at the final junction," Danny reported, "9.2. And er...if my respects could be on record. He saved our lives."
"Noted. Opening 9.2."
The gate opened only to reveal a horde of Ood right behind it, waiting for them. Danny, Rose, Toby, and the Professor scrambled back away in shock.
"Lower 9.2," the Professor called.
"Zach lower it!" Rose shouted.
"Back!" Danny ushered them, "Back! Back!"
"We can't go back!" Toby argued, "The gang point's sealed off, we're stuck!"
Rose looked up and noticed a grilling above their head, "Come on!" she shoved it up and out of the way, clambering through it, followed by Danny and the Professor, "Come on!" she shouted down to Toby, "Toby, come on! Toby, get out of there!"
"Help me!" he shouted, reaching up, "Oh, my God, help me!"
Rose and Danny hoisted him up through the hole as the Professor put the grilling back to buy them just a bit more time. They looked over to see more Ood approaching them from one end of the corridor.
"It's this way!" Danny shouted, running in the opposite direction, leading them as the Ood followed.
"Hurry up!" Zach shouted.
They ran into Ood Habitation, rushing over to the computer as the Ood that were already inside the pen looked up at them.
"Get it in!" Rose shouted.
"Danny, get down," Toby shouted.
"Transmit!"
"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Danny scrambled to get the chip in, "I'm getting at it…"
"Stop them!" Toby cried, as they all backed away from the Ood making their way up the stairs.
"Danny, just calm down and get the chip in," the Professor said quietly, her eyes on the Ood.
Danny took a single moment before managing to bash it into the computer, the reading falling straight down to Basic 0. The Ood began to clutch at their heads, stumbling about, before collapsing to the floor.
"You did it!" Rose smiled, "We did it!"
"Yes!" Danny cheered, hugging Rose in delight.
She turned and hugged Toby while the Professor nodded a 'job well done' at Danny before he hugged Toby as well.
"Zach, we did it," Rose called into the comm., "The Ood are down. Now we've gotta get the Doctor."
"I'm on my way," Zach replied as they turned and ran out of Ood Habitation, none of them noticing the Professor pull a wire or two from one of the junk bins off by the wall.
~8~
"You get representations of the Horned Beast right across the Universe," the Doctor spoke as he was propelled lower into the pit, into the darkness, "In the myths and legends of a million worlds. Earth..."
'Draconia,' the Professor added, having kept tabs on him throughout his excursion, as soon as the comms. had been disabled.
"Velconsadine..."
'Daemos...'
"The Kaled God of War...it's the same image, over and over again. Maybe...that idea came from somewhere. Bleeding through...the thought at the back of every sentient mind."
"Emanating from here?" Ida asked.
"Could be."
"But if this is the original...does that make it real? Does that make it the actual devil, though?"
"Well, if that's what you want to believe. Maybe that's what the devil is, in the end. An idea."
'What is it?' he added, hearing her chuckle in his head.
'Nothing,' she said, 'It's just…you, abseiling…it reminds me of when we went spelunking,' she paused, thoughtful, 'It's funny…I was never scared of heights when I was with you.'
'Really?'
'I always felt safe.'
He smiled, 'I'm glad.'
The cable ran out and the Doctor jerked to a halt.
"That's it," Ida sighed, "That's all we've got," the Doctor pressed a button on the device on his wrist, "You getting any sort of readout?"
"Nothing," he replied, "Could be miles to go, yet. Or...could be thirty feet. No way of telling," he paused, "I could survive thirty feet."
"Oh no you don't! I'm pulling you back up," the rope began to hoist him up so he pushed a button on his own end to stop it, "What're you doing?"
"You bring me back, then we're just gonna sit there and run out of air. I've gotta go down."
"But you can't," she breathed, scared, "Doctor, you can't."
"Call it an act of faith," he started releasing the hooks holding him to the cable.
"But...I don't want to die on my own…"
The Doctor paused, before sighing, "I know."
He released another hook.
~8~
Rose ran to the comm. as soon as they reached the exploration deck once again, "Doctor? Are you there? Doctor? Ida? Can you hear me?"
"The comms. are still down," Zach said, joining them, "I can patch them through the central desk and boost the signal. Just give me a minute," he started working at the computer while Rose looked on anxious, eyes wide.
The Professor looked down, knowing what the Doctor was planning and turned, finishing the last bit she needed for her device, focusing on that. She didn't want to bother the Doctor, he needed to focus.
~8~
The Doctor released another hook, "I didn't ask, have you got any sort of faith, or..."
"Not really," Ida replied, "I was brought up Neo Classic, congregational...because of my mum, she was..." she paused a moment, "My old mum. But no, I never believed."
"Neo Classic, have they got a devil?"
"No, not as such. Just um...the things that men do."
"Same thing in the end."
"What about you?"
The Doctor paused for a long moment, thinking, "I believe...I believe I haven't seen everything, I don't know...it's funny, isn't it? The things you make up, the rules. If that thing had said it came from BEYOND the Universe, I'd believe it, but BEFORE the Universe...impossible. Doesn't fit my rule. Still, that's why I keep travelling. To be proved wrong. Thank you, Ida."
"Don't go!" she pleaded.
"If they get back in touch...if you talk to Rose...just tell her...tell her I...oh, she knows," he looked down before resting his head against the rope, thinking, "But she doesn't know," he whispered, "I never told her…" he swallowed hard, "If the Professor is there…tell her…" he shook his head, no, he wouldn't burden her with that if he didn't make it, "Just tell her, I'm sorry, for everything."
He released the rope and fell back into nothingness.
"Doctor?" Rose called through the comm., "Are you there? Doctor, Ida? Can you hear me?"
~8~
"Are you there, Doctor?" Rose tried again.
"He's gone," Ida breathed.
"What do you mean, 'he's gone?'"
"He fell. Into the pit. And I don't know how deep it is, miles and miles and miles."
"But...what do you mean 'he fell?'" Rose's voice broke.
"I couldn't stop him. He said your name...and…is the Professor there?"
"I'm here," the Professor called.
"He told me to tell you…he's sorry."
Rose shut her eyes tight, she couldn't believe that the Professor had gotten a message and she hadn't.
"Rose…" the Professor stepped up, but Rose backed away from her, "Rose, he's alive."
Rose's eyes snapped open, "What?"
"He's alive. I can feel it…he's still there."
Rose stood there, stunned, unsure whether she should believe the girl or not.
"I'm sorry," Zach took the comm. from Rose, needing to talk to Ida, "Ida? There's no way of reaching you. No cable, no backup...you're ten miles down...we can't get there."
"You should see this place, Zach," Ida said a moment later, "It's beautiful. Well, I wanted to discover things..." she sniffled as she began to tear up, "And here I am."
"We've got to abandon the base. I'm declaring this mission unsafe. All we can do is make sure no one ever comes here again."
"But we'll never find out what it was?"
"Well, maybe that's best."
"Yeah."
There was a moment of silence before Zach spoke again, "Officer Scott…"
"It's alright," she cut in, "Just go. Good luck."
"Thank you," Zach breathed before shutting off the comm. and turning to the crew, "Danny, Toby, close down the feed links. Get the retrotopes online. Then get to the rocket, strap yourselves in. We're leaving."
Rose turned to him, "I'm not going."
"Rose, there's space for you. For the both of you."
"No, I'm gonna wait for the Doctor. Just like he waited for me."
"I'm sorry," Zach stepped forward, "But..."
"You don't know him," Rose cut in, her voice breaking as she tried to hold in her tears, "The Professor says he's alive, then he's alive. And even if he wasn't, how could I leave him? All on his own, all the way down there? No. I'm gonna stay."
Zach glanced back at the Professor, an understanding passing between them as she nodded shortly at him, stepping back, away from Rose.
Zach nodded as well, "Then I apologize for this. Danny, Toby, make her secure."
Danny and Toby stepped on either side of her, each taking an arm, "No, no!" she cried, struggling, "No! No! No! Let me go!" she strained and screamed at them, "Get off me! I'm not leaving!" Zach plunged a needle into her arm, sedating her, "No..."
She fell forward, unconscious, as Zach caught her, "I have lost too many people," he muttered to her, "I am not leaving you behind," he looked up at the Professor, "We can't wait," she nodded as he hoisted Rose onto his shoulder, "Let's get her on board."
The Professor swallowed hard as she followed Zach out of the room. She had promised the Doctor she would protect Rose…and so she would, even if Rose didn't want her to.
They headed out into the corridor where there were Ood scattered about.
"Did that one just move?" Toby pointed at one as it twitched again, opening its eyes and lifting its head.
"The telepathic field," the Professor remarked with a flinch, "It's reasserting itself."
"Move it!" Zach shouted, hurrying down the corridor, "Get to the rocket, move!"
~8~
"Dislocating B-Clamp," Zach reported as he began to pilot the ship. The Professor sat next to him in the co-pilot's chair while Rose was behind her, sitting to the right of Toby who had Danny on his left, "C-Clamp, raising blue nitrates to maximum…Toby, how's the negapact feed line?"
"Clear!" Toby read, "Ready to go, sir. For God's sakes, get us out of here!"
Danny looked over as Rose started to stir, "Captain...I think we're gonna have a problem passenger..."
"Keep an eye on her," Zach ordered.
"Wait..." Rose shook her head, still a bit groggy, "I'm not…"
"It's alright, Rose," Danny tried to sooth her, "You're safe…"
"I'm not going anywhere!" she shouted, tugging at her seatbelt, "Get me out of this thing! Get me out!"
"And...liftoff!" Zach called as the rocket blasted off.
~8~
"A rocket..." the Doctor breathed, hearing it taking off.
'Rose is safe,' the Professor assured him, 'I promised I'd protect her.'
He swallowed hard, nodding as he continued his trek.
~8~
Rose spotted the bolt gun Zach had brought from the base and grabbed it, pointing it at Zach, "Take me back to the planet," Zach didn't reply, he didn't even turn around, though the Professor had, "Take me BACK!"
"Or what?" Zach scoffed.
"Or I'll shoot."
The Professor quickly reached out and yanked the gun from Rose's grasp, startling the girl, "The Doctor wouldn't want that."
Rose glared at her, "How could you!" she nearly spat, "You said you loved him! How could you just leave him there? You wouldn't have, you couldn't have if you really…"
"I did it 'cos I promised him I'd protect you!" the Professor shouted, the first time Rose could ever recall the girl doing so, "And I don't break my promises to him, ever, no matter what. No matter how much it hurts or what it costs me, alright? My only concern from the moment I made it was keeping you safe and breathing!"
Rose blinked at her, stunned from the force behind the Professor's yell and how much had spilled out in her words.
The Professor turned back in her seat and took a deep breath, pressing a hand to her head, trying to calm herself down.
She lied.
There was one promise, only one, that she had ever made to the Doctor and failed to keep. The day of his wedding, his Union, she had gone to see him as he prepared for the ceremony, he'd looked so sad when he made her promise that she would be happy, find a nice bloke one day, and just be happy…she never had.
"It's too late anyway," Zach said, trying to shake off the tension, "Take a look outside. We can't turn back. This is what the Doctor would have wanted," Rose looked out the window to see them speeding away from the black hole, "Isn't that right?"
~8~
The Doctor shown his torch on the wall of an underground cavern, seeing crude drawings of a horned beast and tiny stick figures surrounding it.
'What do you make of this?' he called to the Professor, sending her the image.
A moment later there came a tense reply, 'History of a battle. Man against Beast. They defeated the Beast and imprisoned it.'
He paused, frowning, 'Are you alright?'
She didn't answer.
He was about to ask again when his light fell on what looked like a large vase on a stand. Surprised, he turned to look back at the picture, seeing the people carrying the vase on their heads. He approached one slowly, seeing another in line with it a few feet away.
"Or maybe that's the key..." he muttered, touching it, watching as they both lit up, "Or the gate, or the bars..."
He turned, hearing a quiet growl. His mouth dropped open at the sight before him. In the pit was a huge horned beast, chained down and roaring at him.
~8~
In the rocket, Toby started to laugh quietly to himself as Rose did up her seatbelt again after having tried to escape it before.
"What's the joke?" Danny asked.
"Just...we made it," Toby sighed, "We escaped. We actually did it."
No one else laughed.
"Not all of us," Rose reminded him.
"We're not out of it yet," Zach agreed, "We're still the first people in history to fly AWAY from a black hole."
"The first humans," the Professor commented quietly though no one seemed to notice.
"Toby, read me the stats."
Toby looked up at the reading above him, "Gravity funnel holding, sir. Always holding."
~8~
The Doctor stared, wide eyed, at the Beast, "I accept that you exist. I don't have to accept what you are, but you're physical existence, I'll give you that," the Beast growled but the Doctor just took a few steps forward, "But I don't understand. I was EXPECTED down here. I was given a safe landing, and air. You need me for something. What for?" the Beast lunged forward, straining against the chains, "Have I got to...I dunno, beg an audience?" he wondered, unsure, "Or...is there a ritual? Some sort of incantation or summons or spell, all these things I don't believe in, are they real?" the Beast just looked at him, "Speak to me! Tell me!"
But the Beast was silent.
"You won't talk. Or…you CAN'T talk. Hold on, hold on. Wait a minute, just let me..." he shook his head, trying to think, "Oh! No. Yes! No..."
'Think it through,' the Professor's wise words whispered to him.
He nodded, "You SPOKE before," he looked up at the Beast, "I heard your voice. An intelligent voice. No, more than that, brilliant! But, looking at you now...all I can see..." the Beast growled, "Is..." and growled, "Beast. The animal. Just...the body. You're just the body, the physical form! Right?"
'Right?' he called to the Professor.
'I don't know,' she replied, 'I can't analyze it from here…'
'Look through my eyes. Use them to scan it.'
She hesitated, 'It may not be spot on…'
'You can do it,' he smiled, encouraging her as he stared at the Beast intently.
~8~
The Professor closed her eyes, feeling herself pulled out of the ship and into the pit, staring up at a large horned creature. She eyed it curiously a moment, examining it intently, taking in every aspect and detail, before gasping, her eyes snapping, in the ship again.
~8~
'It's just the body,' she affirmed.
"What's happened to your mind?" the Doctor wondered, "Hmm? Where's it gone? Where's that intelligence?" he glanced up, realizing, "Oh, no..."
~8~
"Stats at 53, funnel status at 66.5," Toby read the report, "Hull pressure constant. Smooth as we can, sir. All the way back home," Rose just stared out the window, devastated, "Coordinates set for planet Earth," the corners of his mouth turned upwards in an unpleasant smile, when he noticed the Professor eyeing him from the side of her chair, "What?"
"Nothing," she replied, turning around, taking a deep breath as she too realized what the Doctor had.
~8~
The Doctor shown his torch on the symbols covering the walls, "You're imprisoned. Long time ago. Before the Universe, after, sideways, in between, doesn't matter. The positioning is PERFECT. It's absolutely…it's eternal. Oh, YES! Open the prison, the gravity field collapses! This planet falls into the black hole! You escape, you die. BRILLIANT! But that's just the body. The body is trapped, that's all. The devil is just an idea. In all those civilizations, just an idea," he paused, edging forward again, "But an idea is hard to kill. An idea could escape. The mind, the mind of the great Beast, the mind can escape! Oh, but that's it! You didn't give me air, your jailers did! They set this up! All those years ago! They need me alive. Because if you're escaping, then I've gotta stop you."
The Beast roared in fury, straining against the chains as the Doctor picked up a rock, "If I destroy your prison, your body is destroyed. Your mind with it!" he swung the rock over his head, ready to bring it crashing down on one of the vases when he stopped suddenly and dropped it, "But then you're clever enough to use this whole system against me. If I destroy this planet, I destroy the gravity field. The rocket…the rocket loses protection and falls into the black hole. I'll have to sacrifice Rose. Lose the Professor…again…" he looked up at the Beast, disgusted, as it laughed.
~8~
"It doesn't make sense," Rose remarked in thought, "We escaped, but there's a thousand ways it could've killed us. It could've...ripped out the air or...I dunno, burnt us, or anything. But it let us go. Why? Unless it wanted us to escape..."
"Hey, Rose, do us a favor…" Toby leaned over to her, "Shut up," Rose just stared at him as he looked away, "Almost there. We'll be beyond the reach of the black hole in 40...39..."
The Professor looked down at the bolt gun in her lap, seeing that she had absently been checking it over with her hands, checking its settings. She let out a frustrated breath before scrunching her eyes shut and falling back against the chair, torn.
~8~
"So, that's the trap," the Doctor shook his head, "Or the test or the final judgment, I don't know. But if I kill you, I kill them."
'Do it,' the Professor whispered to the Doctor.
'What?' he breathed, stunned.
'I promised to protect Rose. I know what to do…trust me.'
He blinked, taking a breath, 'I do.'
He nodded, turning to the Beast, a firm expression on his face, "Except that implies, in this big grand scheme of Gods and Devils, that either of them are just victims and you have not met my friend if you believe that. 'Cos I've seen a lot of this Universe. I've seen fake gods and bad gods and demigods and would-be gods, out of all that, out of that whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing...just one thing..." he grabbed the rock, "I believe in HER."
He smashed it down on the vase, destroying it before shattering the second one.
~8~
The rocket started to shake violently, "What happened?" Danny looked around frantic, "What was that?"
"What's he doing?" Toby gasped, eyes wide, clearly not talking about anything going on in the rocket, "What is he doing?"
And that was all the evidence the Professor needed to know her theory was correct.
"We've lost the funnel!" Zach shouted, "Gravity collapse!"
"What does that mean?" Rose yelled.
"We can't escape," Zach shook his head, struggling to pilot, "We're headed straight for the black hole!"
~8~
"This is your freedom!" the Doctor spun to the Beast, "Free to 're going into that black hole and I'm riding with you!"
Flames flew out of the Beast's mouth as he screamed and burned alive.
~8~
"It's the planet!" Rose shouted, looking out the side window, "The planet's moving. It's falling."
She sat back in her seat and glanced at Toby only to reel back in shock. He was glaring at her, eyes red, the black symbols over his skin once more.
"I am the rage!" Toby began in the voice of the Beast.
"Rose unstrap him!" the Professor shouted, leaning around the seat.
"And the bile and the ferocity!"
"What?" Rose looked at her as though she were mad.
"I am the Prince and the Fall and the Darkness!"
"Just do it!" the Professor shouted.
"It's him!" Danny cried, trying to back away, "It's him! It's him!"
"Stay where you are, the ship's not stable!" Zach shouted as Toby expelled flames from his mouth, "What is he? What the HELL is he?"
"Trust me!" the Professor called.
"I shall never die! The thought of me is forever! In the bleeding hearts of men, in their vanity and obsession and lust…"
"Do it!" she shouted.
Rose lunged forward, hitting the unlock button of Toby's harness.
"Nothing shall ever destroy me!" he jumped to his feet, "Nothing!"
The Professor turned to the window and fired a blast, shattering it. Toby was sucked through in an instant and cast out into space, heading straight for the black hole, roaring in fear and anger.
"Emergency shield!" Zach shouted, pressing a button. An emergency shield activated, covering the hole in the window. The rocket continued to shudder and shake, still headed for the black hole, "We've still lost the gravity funnel. We can't escape the black hole!"
"Quick, everyone get up!" the Professor called, unstrapping herself and standing.
"What?" Zach looked up at her, stunned.
"Get to the escape pod," she pointed, turning and unstrapping Zach herself as Danny and Rose scrambled to get themselves free.
"Are you insane!"
"Trust me," she told him serious, hefting him up and half shoving him back where Danny was running to the emergency escape pod, "Do it! Out!"
Danny opened the pod in the back of the ship, getting in, followed by Rose and then Zach. Rose turned back, seeing that the Professor hadn't stepped in, "What are you doing?" she demanded.
"Keeping you safe," the Professor said, slamming the door shut and hitting the eject button, casting them out into space, the force of the expulsion sending them off, away from the hole for now, giving them more time. She ran back to the main room, standing before the computer, watching, waiting. There was one key moment, one single chance she would get to do what she needed.
She watched the diagram as the planet slowly fell back towards the black hole.
~8~
The Doctor ran down a tunnel, ducking from the debris raining down around him, when a blast of air knocked him backwards, straight into something blue. He looked up and beamed, seeing the TARDIS!
~8~
"The planet's gone," the Professor whispered to herself, watching as the diagram disappeared into the black hole, "Almost time…"
She held her device tightly in her hand, waiting, hoping her timing would be precise enough to allow her to survive what she had to do...
~8~
Rose, Zach, and Danny held tightly to one another in the small escape pod as it shook and rocked violently, being pulled back towards the black hole.
"First human beings to fall inside a black hole," Zach remarked humorlessly, "How about that? History."
Rose closed her eyes tightly, all of them not wanting to look, just waiting to hit the hole when suddenly the shaking stopped and everything fell silent.
"What happened?" Rose breathed.
"We're...turning," Zach said as they felt the capsule move, "We're turning around. We're turning away!"
"Sorry about the hijack, captain," the Doctor's voice patched in over the comm., "This is the good ship TARDIS," Rose's mouth dropped open in shock, "I'm just towing you home. Gravity-schmavity. My people practically invented black holes," he paused in thought, "Well, in fact, they did. Just bringing you up alongside now."
A moment later the door of the pod opened to reveal the inside of the TARDIS, the doorway lodged in the TARDIS's doorway. Rose practically flew out of the pod and straight to the Doctor as he scooped her up into his arms.
"What the hell…" Zach breathed, staring around at the inside of the Doctor's ship.
"Ida!" Danny noticed the woman sitting up, unconscious, running over to her with Zach.
"She's alive!" Zach breathed, checking on her.
"YES! Thank God."
"Yeah!" the Doctor waved them off, "Bit of oxygen starvation, but she should be alright," he frowned, "I couldn't save the Ood. I only had time for one trip. They went down with the planet…" he trailed off, looking around, his eyes widening when he realized someone was missing, "The Professor…where is she?"
Danny, Zach, and Rose stiffened, looking at each other, uncomfortable.
"Rose…" he turned to her, "Where is she?" Rose looked away. He strode over to her, grabbing her arms, "Where is she?" he demanded, "Rose, where is she?"
Rose blinked back a few tears at his reaction, unable to look him in the eye, unable to tell him of the sacrifice the Professor had made...for her. Instead, she looked towards the doors, at the black hole they could see above the pod.
"No…" he breathed, running to the door and looking out. They could just make out the shuttle getting sucked in, "No!"
Suddenly there was a bright light...inside the hole, actually inside the hole!
"But that's impossible," Zach breathed, as he and Danny came to stand by the door as well, watching as the light expanded.
"What's happening?" Rose asked, seeing the Doctor staring wide eyed at the black hole.
"She's closing the black hole," he breathed.
"But that's impossible," Danny repeated not only Zach's words but the Doctor's.
The Doctor shook his head, "If anyone can it's her."
"Why?" Rose asked.
"My people invented black holes. More specifically, her ancestors, she would know better than anyone how to reverse it."
A moment later, the light blinked out.
The humans were stunned, looking out into space only to see the black hole was gone. Though in the distance, they could just see a tiny shuttle floating there. The Doctor ran back to the central console, "Professor!" he shouted into the link, "Professor!"
~8~
Ida slowly came to back on the rocket with her friends, the two of them telling her about the Doctor's ship.
"I can't remember," she frowned, disappointed she couldn't recall the extraordinary ship.
"Well, it LOOKED like a box," Danny added.
Zach nodded, "Doctor locked onto the rocket and had it set down in the hull. A big blue box. It just appeared!"
"Zach?" the Doctor's voice came through the comm., "We'll be off, now. Have a good trip home."
"How's the Professor?" Danny called.
"Fine," the Professor answered, her voice shaking just a bit.
As soon as the TARDIS had touched down, the Doctor had bolted out of it in search of his friend, finding her collapsed in the cabin with what he claimed was a crudely made device that could shut down black holes. How she had managed to make it out of the tech from the base, he still couldn't figure out. She had come to moments later, much to the Doctor's relief.
"Word of advice," he cut in again, "The next time you get curious about something…oh, what's the point? You'll just go blundering in. The human race..."
"But Doctor, what did you find down there?" Ida called, "That creature, what was it?"
"I don't know."
"The writing wasn't very specific," the Professor added.
"Well, that's a relief!" he cheered, "Day I know everything? Might as well stop."
"You'll never stop," the Professor joked.
"What do you think it was?" Rose cut in, "Really?"
"I think...we beat it," he replied, "That's good enough for me."
"It said I was gonna die in battle…"
"Then it lied."
"It said a lot of things," the Professor added, trying to reassure the girl as well.
"Right, onwards, upwards. Ida, see you again, maybe!"
"I hope so," Ida agreed.
"And thanks, boys!" Rose cheered.
"Hang on though, Doctor…you never really said...you three...who are you?"
"Oh..." the Doctor trailed a bit, "The stuff of legend," and then he cut the comm..
~8~
Rose hesitated a moment as she watched the Professor sit at the edge of the TARDIS doors, looking out at the stars. A moment later the Professor glanced back and saw her.
"What's wrong?" she asked, turning and standing, leaning against the doors to face her.
"I've treated you badly," Rose admitted, "I've said things to you and done things with the Doctor just because I knew it would get to you. By rights you should hate me…" she held up her hand to stop the Professor from interrupting, "But out there, today, you risked your life to save me."
And she had. All her thoughts and belief that the Professor was only protecting her to make herself more appealing to the Doctor had flown out the window because...they had no solid proof, just a belief, that the Doctor would survive facing the Beast. And yet the Professor had still risked her life to seal the black hole, just to save her. There was no reason to do it to seem better to the Doctor if he wasn't going to survive, granted there was little chance that the Professor would have survived as well which meant it was all to keep HER safe from the black hole. And...if the Professor knew the Doctor would survive, then she'd gone out there with little chance of survivng just to keep her with the Doctor. He'd told them that it had been a one-in-a-billion chance that she'd survive, that she'd manage to close the black hole in time and not get trapped within it in the process. He'd been so afraid because her reflexes and timing hadn't been up to par since she'd regenerated. And she realized, the Professor couldn't be trying to take the Doctor away if she was truly willing to let herself be taken out of the picture, leaving just her and him. Saying she wanted to stay on Earth to not come between the two of them was one thing, doing something was another.
She'd been wrong, this whole time.
"Yeah," the Professor nodded, swallowing hard. She was till having trouble coping with coming face-to-face with a theory she'd only discussed in one ancient dusty room in the Academy for a class.
"Why?" she couldn't help but feel that there was more to it than just a promise to the Doctor.
The Professor was silent for a long moment before shrugging, "The Doctor would miss you more."
And with that, she walked past a stunned Rose and up the stairs, back to her room.
~8~
"Run!" the Doctor shouted, "Run! Go!"
The three of them ran down a dark hallway, trying in vain to escape the Daleks chasing after them. They burst out into the street, into the downpour of rain, and ran as fast as they could back to the TARDIS.
Rose tripped, falling to the ground with a grunt.
"Rose!" the Professor shouted, running back to her as she pushed herself up, just as a Dalek appeared in an Emergency Temporal Shift, ready to fire, "No!" she shoved Rose out of the way, taking the blast for herself.
She flew through the air, landing in a heap against an old brick wall.
"NO!" the Doctor screamed, running to her side, checking her. He shook his head frantically, her hearts had stopped...the blast had been too much…she was gone…the regeneration hadn't been able to kick in, she'd died before it could start, "No…not again…" he breathed, tears mixing with the rain pounding down on him.
"Doctor," Rose ran to his side, "Doctor, we've got to go! Now!"
She tried to pull him to his feet but he shoved her away, "No…no…" he muttered brokenly, "Kata, no…you can't go…I never said…"
"Doctor!" Rose tried again.
"No!" the Doctor shouted, shoving her away one final time. He looked back as the Dalek approached, ready to fire once more, and held out his arms, taking the blast, falling down beside the Time Lady.
"Doctor!" Rose shrieked, rushing to his side, checking on him like he'd checked on the Professor...
He was dead.
She shook her head, looking up to see the Dalek advancing. She pushed herself up and ran past it, into the TARDIS whose lights were dimming fast. She ran over to the main console, dropping to her knees, "Please," she whispered, "Take me back…"
The TARDIS gave a sick hum before starting up, wheezing more than Rose had ever heard her, before jerking to a stop, landing. Rose ran to the door, looking out to see the TARDIS had landed in the alley just beside where the Professor and the Doctor had died.
A moment later she saw the Doctor run around the corner, towards the TARDIS, herself following, and then the Professor. She watched herself trip, the Professor turning to rush towards her. She saw the crackle of the Dalek's energy just before it appeared and ran as fast as she could.
Before the Professor could even blink Rose slammed into her, sending them both to the ground as the Dalek fired, striking her past self, killing her.
"Rose, no!" the Doctor shouted as the Professor looked between Future Rose and Past Rose, the future version fading entirely now that her past had been changed.
"Rose," she breathed, shaking her head as she ran over to the fallen girl's side, "No…no…" she looked up at the Doctor, "I tried…I…I don't know…"
"Exterminate!" the Dalek shouted, powering up again.
The Doctor looked over, alarmed, before his face set in a grim and angry fashion. He stood up with Rose in his arms, grabbing the Professor's hand, and pulling her towards the TARDIS, dematerializing moments before the Dalek fired again…
The Doctor shot upright in his bed with a gasp, the nightmare replaying in his mind's eye over and over...watching as the Professor was shot and then Rose…
He quickly scrambled out of bed and ran down the hallway, he needed to check…needed to make sure. He gently opened the door to the bedroom, peering in to see the gentle rise of the Professor's chest as she slept.
He let out a breath of relief, glancing down the hall at Rose's door before looking back at the Professor.
It was just a nightmare.
"Doctor?" the Professor called, a bit drowsy from sleep, as she rolled over, the light from the hallway waking her, "You alright?"
He nodded, "Fine…just a bad dream…"
She nodded slowly, scooting back, and pulling down the sheets of her bed. He stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, quickly walking over to get in beside her. He pulled her into his arms, just looking at her, as though still trying to reassure himself she was alive.
"Hmmm…" she hummed, her eyes closing, "We haven't done this since we were children."
They had often snuck into each other's rooms at the Academy when they were younger, whenever nightmares plagued them or they couldn't sleep, they sought comfort in each other.
"I know," he agreed sadly, "We were what? 90?"
"You were 90. I was 88."
He nodded in thought, "Why did we stop?"
"I was cross with you," she sighed, snuggling up to him.
"Why?"
"You went to the Medusa Cascade with OUR device and took the Master. You said we'd go together."
"He cornered me on my way to find you. Caught me red handed with our device to seal the rift and threatened to report me unless I brought him along instead. I apologized for that about a thousand times!"
"Was still cross," she murmured, before adding, "1,001 might have helped."
He laughed softly, she always was a bit of fun when she was half asleep, he should have just considered himself lucky she was mostly coherent this time, "Well then, I'm sorry."
"S'ok," she slurred.
He smiled, kissing the top of her head before closing his eyes, letting the sound of her breathing and her hearts beating lull him into a peaceful sleep.
A/N: I tried to portray Rose's shifting feelings in terms of the Professor, she finally seems to have gotten over seeing the Professor as an imminent threat, but the idea that she could be is still there, though not as prominent, only coming out in times of crisis like the Doctor facing such a foe. Hopefully though, that'll all be settled now that she's seen just how far the Professor is willing to go to protect her for the Doctor.
And, it was brought to my attention that I'd written Zach as 'African American,' sorry for that. I'm an American and I always feel like I'm being 'politically incorrect' if I write black. But I went checking online about what to write in a non-American setting and I've gone back and fixed that, replaced it with 'black.' Thanks for pointing it out! I know I'm probably going to overlook something, like writing couch instead of sofa or flashlight instead of torch and other things, so if you see something like that, feel free to let me know and I'll fix it :)
