The angst stars up in this chapter...
Disclaimer: Any thing you recognize from the episode Vampires of Venice, is not mine, but whatever wasn't in the ep, is!
Enjoy!
-Chapter 10-
Rose, Amy, and Rory were standing in front of Signora Calvierri. Rory had used some of Guido's clothes and Rose and Amy were wearing simple dresses that belonged to Isabella, Guido's daughter whom they were trying to save from becoming what they thought were vampires.
Signora looked...well not incredibly interested at all.
"So...basically our parents are dead form getting the plague. I'm a gondola...driver, so money's a bit tight...so having my sisters go to your school for special people would be brilliant. Cheers." Rory said.
Rose was nervous. Extremely. These were possibly vampires and frankly, Rory's speech was not convincing in the slightest. If they did buy it, it would be a miracle.
The son, the one they saved the girl from, stood in front of Rose and Amy. "Have we met?"
"Well I've just got one of those faces." Rory said and Rose could have kicked him.
"I wasn't talking to you."
"They've got the same faces, which is because they're my sisters!" Rory said like he was proud of himself for figuring that excuse out. Amy fought the urge to roll her eyes. Guido told them not to speak unless spoken to, to seem more proper. Rose and Amy had both scoffed at that but agreed in the end. If this was going to work, they had to be convincing.
"Carlo, why have you brought me this imbecile?" Signora asked.
"They've got references from the king of Sweden." the servant answered.
"What? Let me see." Signora demanded, when she had the psychic paper in her hands, she smiled slightly. "Well now I can see what got my steward so excited. What say you Francesco? Do you like them?"
Francesco the vampire circled them and grinned. "Oh I do mother. I do."
"Then we shall be delighted to accept them! Say goodbye to your sisters."
Rory grabbed Amy's hands before Carlo started to pull him along. "Tell uncle...Doctor, we'll see you both soon, Ok? I'll be fine." Amy said smiling. But she didn't see what made Rory's face fall into terror.
"Clothes are on the bed, get changed and wait." Carlo told them after taking them to a room with other creepy girls standing around.
"Wait for what exactly?" Rose asked but he just left the room, along with all the other girls but one.
"Blimey, there's private education then." Amy said and Rose smirked.
"I'll bet those are the ones the Doctor met, certainly creepy enough to be and they're all dressed in white." Rose said and then looked at the beds. "Looks like we'll be in white too."
"Not for long...oh. Hey, hello. I'm Amy and this is Rose, what's your name?" she said to the last girl, who looked less creepy and much more nervous
"Isabella." she said quietly.
"Hello Isabella, we met your father earlier. He seems like a wonderful man." Rose said, sitting next to her on the bed. It looked as if Isabella was both happy and scared at the mention of her father, but didn't say anything.
"Listen, we're gonna get you out of here, but we need to know what's going on. What are they doing?" Amy asked.
"They...they come in the night. They gather around my bed and take me to a room...with this green light and a chair with...straps like a surgeon." Isabella said and Rose's expression hardened. Guido was right, they were definitely turning them into vampires, or whatever those things were.
"Can you remember what happens in there Isabella?" Rose asked calmly, taking Isabella's hand. She looked scared, and for good reason.
"No. I wake up here. But...the sunlight burns my skin like candle wax." she said quietly.
"It's alright. We have a friend who will know how to help you. Just trust us." Rose said and Isabella looked weary, but slowly nodded. Amy controlled the urge to grin. Rose had that effect on people; she made them feel like they could trust her.
Suddenly the bell tolled and Amy stood, looking around. "What does that mean?"
"You both should change." Isabella said.
"Yeah, wouldn't want to upset the crazy people." Amy mumbled.
When they were dressed, Rose found an oil lamp. "Are you ready?" she asked Amy. It was later at night now, and most people were asleep.
Amy grinned. "Find the creepy green room?"
Rose grinned too. "Exactly."
"But wait, what about the trap door?"
"We'll go there first and unlock the door. We'll have plenty of time."
"That and you want to check out the creepy room before you tell the Doctor?" Amy filled in.
Rose smirked. "Maybe just a bit."
The Doctor and Rory were walking down the underground corridor, heading to the place where the trap door was.
"Right, ok. I'll go in first, if anything happens to me, go back." the Doctor said.
"What happened? Between you and Amy. You said she kissed you?" Rory asked.
The Doctor stopped walking and turned to face Rory. "You want to do this now? Now?"
"I have a right to know, I'm getting married in 430 years." Rory said and the Doctor didn't say anything right away.
"She was stressed, I was stressed, plus the whole fact of the aphrodisiac, which was the whole reason it happened...so she kissed me."
"And you kissed her back?"
"No I kissed her mouth."
"Funny."
"Rory...it was the aphrodisiac that Jack accidentally gave her. If you should be upset with anyone, be upset with him! And if you're going to be jealous of anyone, be jealous of him because really he'd be the one that would want to kiss Amy. But back to the point, she kissed me because I was there, that's what the chemical does, and it would have been you. It should have been you." the Doctor said.
"Right yeah, so it was chemicals then...that does make me feel better. But who is Jack and why would he give Amy an aphrodisiac?"
The Doctor grinned. "Unfortunately, that's just Jack. It was really meant for Rose, but Amy drank it. He thought he was being funny because Rose and he are...well I suppose they're best friends."
"Right, and how did Rose feel about the kiss by the way?" Rory asked.
"Oh. She was...too fine about it. She thought it was hilarious that Amy assaulted me. Apparently it's funny that a woman would do that to me." he was still a bit bitter about why it was so funny to her. Well, he'd show her exactly how unfunny it was later. That thought made him smirk to himself.
Rory couldn't help but laugh slightly. "Yeah actually, I see why she thought it was funny." he said and chuckled.
The Doctor frowned. "Well Jack Harkness flirted with your fiancée, I wouldn't be laughing. He can be...well let's just say that Jack has a way of getting around. With everyone. So laugh about that."
"Wait, what?"
"Oh, don't worry, he flirts with Rose all but constantly." the Doctor admitted and even Rory caught the little undertone of jealousy in his voice.
"About that...is Rose your-" Rory started but he was cut off by a gust of wind blowing out the torches.
"Can we please go see the vampires now?" the Doctor whispered, eager to avoid that subject. He actually had no idea what they were precisely, but then again, he didn't know if there was a word that fit what they were.
"There we go." Rose whispered as she unlocked the grate covering the well.
"Let's go." Amy said and they started out of the courtyard.
"Out of bed so late?" Carlo said as they reached the door.
Carlo was much, much stronger than he looked. He dragged both Amy and Rose down to the basement, where Signora and the creepy girls were waiting.
"Psychic paper. Did you really think that would work on me?" Signora said as the green lights flickered on. "Where are you from?" she asked as two of the girls brought out two wooden chairs with wrist straps.
"Mother this is pointless, let's just start the process." Francesco complained.
"Hold your tongue! I need to know what these girls are doing in a world of savages with psychic paper. Who are you with? I scarcely believe your idiot brother sent you. What are you doing in my school?" more girls hooked IV bags to hooks above the chairs.
"Ok I'll tell you. I'm from Ofsted." Amy said.
Signora just laughed. "Put her in a chair first."
"Have you heard of me? Because I think I've heard of you. Been to your planet recently?" Rose asked maliciously. She had a good idea of who these aliens were, and they weren't vampires. She had been trying to piece together everything, and frankly, it was a bit more difficult than the Doctor always made it seem. The water, the too fresh skeleton that she saw in the cabinet that she hadn't told Amy about, the fangs...and then there was the blood thing. Along with the little machine she noticed on Signora. Perception filter type of thing from the glance she got of it. It was a long shot, but maybe she could piss them off an delay them long enough for the Doctor to get there. Or at least enough so she could figure out exactly what they were, she only had a guess now.
Signora frowned and hissed. "You don't dare know us human child."
"I must say, the human disguise looks so much better than that nasty thing you call a body."
This might have been a very stupid thing to say. Signora and Francesco both hissed and bared their fangs and within seconds, they were around her and Signora had her throat. "Start the process. As much as you can." Signora said to the girls. "Your tricks won't work on me child. And I'm afraid you won't receive the honor we bestow on your sister. I think her first taste will be of you. The last thing your pitiful human eyes will see is your own blood." she stepped back and Francesco grabbed Rose's hands and held them tightly behind her back.
Signora walked around Amy's chair. "Make sport of me will you? Tease me as if I were your dog? Well this dog has bite, girl." she said.
"Doctor!" Amy screamed and Signora bit her neck.
Rose watched as Amy's eyes glazed over. She wished she could think faster. If she twisted out of Francesco's slacking grip, they were faster than her and knew the building, while she didn't. She could maybe make it to the court yard, but if the Doctor wasn't there that was pointless. And then there was Amy. She couldn't just leave her. Suddenly the other girls started filling out. It looked as if they were going to leave her and Amy alone in the room.
That would have been brilliant, but the doors had very thick iron locks and she was without a sonic screwdriver. She looked at Amy, who looked more awake now, and then at her foot very pointedly. Rose shook her knee slowly, hoping Amy would understand she wanted her to kick Signora's knee, where the machine was clipped to the dress.
Amy watched as Rose motioned with her knee and looked at her. Rose wanted her to knee Signora? That wouldn't work, she was sitting down. Then she saw Rose look at her foot, then wiggle her knee. It clicked. Kick the knee. Amy had no idea why, but it must have been a plan Rose had come up with.
"So...what happens to me now?" Amy asked.
Signora smiled evilly and walked closer. We drink you dry, and then fill you with our blood. It changes you, morphs you...until your humanity is but a dream...now faded."
"Or you die, that can happen." Francesco said smiling.
"And if I don't?"
"Then there are 10,000 husbands waiting for you under the water." yep, Rose knew what these things were, or at least she hoped she did. Amy just had to kick...
"Yeah, sorry, I'm kind of engaged." Amy said and kicked her as hard as she could just above the knee, hoping that would work. But she hadn't just felt fabric, she felt something harder, like a metal box.
Francesco jumped to restrain Amy and Rose didn't move. She saw Isabella come around the other side and hide around the corner of the wall.
Signora moved back part of her dress to reveal the machine clipped to her dress. Rose couldn't help but grin slightly. Signora's image flickered and Amy saw her change into an insect-like body with a fish head. Rose knew what they were. But Signora pressed a button and her human image returned. She was so rubbing it in the Doctor's face that she had figured it out first.
They heard footsteps and clashing and both Signora and Francesco ran off. Rose grinned and Isabella came out to help her with Amy's restraints.
"She bit me!" Amy said shocked still.
"You said you would be saving me, but it looks like I am the one saving you." Isabella said and Rose saw a tiny smile.
"Sorry about that, plan went a bit wrong. But now we know they aren't vampires." Rose admitted.
"Yeah, how did you know where the box thing was?" Amy asked.
"When she moved I saw the impression under her dress. I know what they are. Their planet is...well gone. They aren't the only ones I've met."
"What are they? They look like fish." Amy asked.
"They're from Saturnyne. Call themselves Sisters of the Water, or Brothers too I guess. I never thought I'd see another one of them." Rose explained as they made their way up through the halls. "Their planet is destroyed but it was still really far away, they shouldn't be anywhere near here. Remember Jack's place? The perception filter? That's what they're using to walk around looking like humans."
"You are speaking nonsense." Isabella said, a bit nervous.
"It um...well it changes what you see. Like magic." Rose explained in terms that hopefully wouldn't scare Isabella more; the poor girl had had enough of being scared for awhile.
"Oh! That makes sense. But why did they run off and leave us alone?" Amy asked.
"No idea, but I believe it has something to do with the boys...oh!" Rose said, they saw the Doctor and Rory down the hall. "Doctor!" Rose called.
"Rory!" Amy called, she had never been so happy to see him in her life.
"Amy!" he called and he ran towards them.
"Quickly go through here!" Isabella said as the boys caught up with them. She led them to another underground corridor and the Doctor soniced the door once everyone was in.
"They're not vampires! Rose figured it out!" Amy said.
"What?" the Doctor asked, she had figured it out? Before him? He probably wouldn't admit it but that made him want to kiss her more than he already did. He really shouldn't be thinking about that now though, they were technically supposed to be running for their lives.
Rose grinned. "Saturnyne." Rose said.
"No!" the Doctor said, shocked.
"Yes! Sisters of the Water!" Rose said happily, like it was the most exciting and wonderful thing in the world.
"Classic!" he said and was grinning just as madly as she was.
"What is wrong with you people? They're aliens. Evil aliens." Rory said.
"Oh my god, Amy! I forgot, I'm so sorry." Rose said and rushed over to check her neck.
"They bit you?" Rory asked horrified. "Here I'm a nurse." he said, taking over for Rose.
They heard the aliens breaking threw and the Doctor took Rose's hand. "Come on, we have to move. It's not infected."
"How would you know?" Rory asked as he took Amy's hand and ran after the Doctor and Rose.
"I'm the Doctor!"
"You've never been to medical school!"
"Not the first time someone's said that!" the Doctor yelled back.
"Oh she was nice, tough too." Rose said, talking about Martha.
"She's married Mickey now actually I think they have a kid."
"No! Oh that's wonderful! Why didn't you mention that before?" Rose asked happily, she was so glad Mickey married someone as good as Martha.
"What are you talking about, run faster!" Rory said utterly confused as to why everyone else was not terrified of the vampire aliens that wanted to kill them. Amy just covered up a laugh as they reached the exit.
"Right, let's go. Everyone into the boat!" the Doctor said and them he saw Isabella not leaving and shielding her eyes. "Oh...come on, run!" he said, going back to help her.
"I can't!" she said and was dragged back as the door slammed shut. The Doctor pounded on the door and suddenly spasmed as a massive wave of electricity shot through him.
"Doctor!" Rose screamed and she ran over as his body fell to the ground.
"Is he dead?" Amy asked.
"He's breathing..." Rose said, but he wasn't waking up. "Doctor please, wake up, this is a really bad time."
Suddenly he shot up and let out a long breath. "What no kiss?" he asked.
She just grinned. "After you kick their alien asses. Now come on, we have to hurry." she said pulling him up.
"That's just not fair." he said. "I'll be expecting that kiss. I believe you owe me two now."
Rose chuckled. "Oh really? How do you figure?"
He shrugged. "You weren't waiting." he said, she saw the look in his eyes that told her he had been worried when she wasn't there.
"I'm sorry. How 'bout much, much more than two...?" she said quieter so that Amy and Rory didn't hear.
His eyes seemed to darken. "I thought you said no distractions. You do know that will very much distract me now."
She grinned. "I thought of it more as an incentive. But one more thing...I'm coming with you."
He was about to agree when he thought about it for a second. "No. Absolutely not."
"Doctor you are not stopping me."
"You are not going to waltz in there with me. They're dangerous. And they definitely will not be happy with me."
Rose rolled her eyes. "Oh like that's new. And they don't like me either. Plus I figured it out before you so I deserve to come."
"Rose, no. And that was my next guess anyway so I would have figured it out soon enough."
"I'm coming." she said defiantly.
"Rose. Listen to me. I'm just giving her a chance to surrender. No fighting yet, not if they are willing to live peacefully. Just wait with Amy and Rory at Guido's house. I'll be back soon, I promise."
Rose pursed her lips. "I'm going next time. No matter what. Even if it's a bloody Dalek, I'm coming too."
He bit his tongue. "I will see you soon. Guido, can you let me off here?"
Rose sat at the table in Guido's, drumming her fingers. "I'm going to kill him for leaving us here. Not like we're gonna accidentally hit a button and blow up Earth." she said and Amy looked like she agreed.
"Rose, you need to calm down. Maybe they'll just surrender and everything will be all good." Rory said and everyone, including Guido, gave him a look. "Alright fine, just being optimistic." He said, holding up his hands.
"Rory, that never happens. Never. Any alien that is trying to take over Earth has their version of a good reason and they believe in it. They're not going to back down just because some bloke walks up and tell them to." Rose said leaning back.
"But it's the Doctor, not some bloke." Rory said.
"Yeah, but they don't know that." Amy said like it was obvious.
Suddenly the door opened. "Hello! Miss me?" the Doctor said and no one replied. "Right...well Amy let me see your neck.
The Doctor sat down in front of her in the empty chair and examined her with the sonic screwdriver. "Yep, you're fine, just like I said. Open wide." he said and popped a candy into her mouth. Then he shut his eyes tightly. "I need to think. Come on brain, think, think, think!" he said pounding the table.
"If they're fish people, it explains why they hate the sun." Amy said and the Doctor put a hand over her mouth.
"Stop talking. Brain thinking."
"Their planet's gone and they want to make a new race, that would take a lot of water to sustain fish people, more than Venice has." Rose said.
"Sh. Stop talking. Brain thinking." he said and covered her mouth too.
"It's the school thing I don't get." Rory said.
"Ah!" he said and looked at Amy who rolled her eyes and covered Rory's mouth.
"I say we take the fight to them." Guido said.
"Ah-ah-ah!" he said and Rory covered Guido's mouth.
Rose rolled her eyes and began licking his hand. He mad he a face at her but she didn't stop.
"Her planet dies so try run threw a crack in space and time, end up here. Then she closes off the city and starts changing people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool. Got it. Then what? They come from the sea they can't survive on land..." he paused because the things Rose was doing with her tongue to his hand was very, very distracting. "Rose please." he begged. She needed to stop that or else he would really not finish what he was saying, much less stop the evil people. She raised her eyebrow and stopped. "Thank you. She said...what did she say... I will bend the heavens to save my race." Rose began kissing his hand now which was almost worse so he moved his hands to their heads and made them nod. "Bend the heavens...bend...the heavens... She's going to sink Venice."
"That's what I said!" Rose said loudly and crossed her arms over her chest, was he really never going to listen to her?
"It was actually...Doctor, Rose literally just said she was going to need a lot more water. Not even three minutes ago." Rory said and Amy bit her lip to keep from grinning. She could tell Rose was just getting more and more annoyed with the Doctor.
"She's...she's going to sink Venice..." Guido said shocked.
"Not to mention restart her bloody race. And I'll bet once she has enough of those babies, she'll move on and try to conquer more places too." Rose said crossing her arms.
"But...you can't repopulate somewhere with just women...you'd need blokes." Rory pointed out.
"She's got blokes." Amy said.
"Where?"
"In the canal. She said, 'There are 10,000 husbands waiting in the water'." Amy said, badly mimicking her voice.
"Only male offspring made it here. She's got 10,000 children waiting for mum to make them some compatible girlfriends. Ew. I mean, I understand being around a bit but...that's...that's...ew."
"Yeah...that's seriously messed up." Rory said.
All of a sudden, there was clattering and banging from the floor above. "The people upstairs are very noisy." the Doctor said.
"There aren't any people upstairs." Guido said.
"I knew you were going to say that." the Doctor mumbled.
"Aren't we on the second floor?" Rory said as The Doctor took out the light and Guido crossed himself.
The girls from the school broke through the glass and the Doctor kept them back with the light while using the sonic screwdriver in them to break the perception filter.
"What's happened to them?" Guido asked, terrified by the creatures that were girls.
"There's nothing left of them. They've been completely converted. Blimey, fish from space have never been so...buxom. Ok, move!"
"Buxom? What are you on about?" Rose asked.
"It was a joke! I wasn't actually commenting on...never mind." he said and grabbed her hand as they ran downstairs.
Amy and Rory ran as fast as they could out the door and the Doctor and Rose followed. Almost as soon as the Doctor was out, the door slammed shut. "Guido!" Rose shouted.
"Stay away from the door!" they heard Guido shout back.
"What? No, I'm not leaving you! What are you doing?" the Doctor yelled, trying to sonic the locked door, but it wasn't working. "Guido!"
They didn't hear anything back for a few moments. Then Rose understood. "Oh my god. The gun powder! He's going to blow them up! NO!" she shouted and banged on the door. The Doctor had realized this just seconds before.
"Amy, Rory, run!" the Doctor shouted. "Rose! We have to go." he said and pulled her from the door.
"He's going to kill himself too!" she protested.
"It's too late, Rose. Please hurry!" he said, pulling her along and finally she relented and they dove to the ground. The Doctor covered her as best he could and the house exploded in a massive amount of fire, sending debris everywhere.
He took his arm off of Rose as they stood up. Rose looked at the fallen house. She didn't say anything and the Doctor took her hand. Amy and Rory joined them, Rory's arm around Amy.
"Rosanna's initiating the final stage." the Doctor said.
Amy nodded and her head cleared. "We need to stop her. Come on!"
"No, no. Get back in the TARDIS." the Doctor said, turning to face them.
"You can't stop her on your own." Amy protested and the Doctor just stared her down. He wanted to let her stay, to have her with him because he knew what he had to do. But Rory had been right before when he said he made people want to impress him and he made them a danger to themselves. He could also see the nearly pleading look in Rory's eyes. And Amy needed to be kept safe.
"We don't discuss this. I tell you to do something, Amy, you do it. Huh?"
Amy was fuming. She didn't say anything and she stormed off towards the TARDIS.
"Thank you." Rory said before running to catch up with Amy.
"Yeah...your welcome." the Doctor said, not sure if Rory heard him.
"You're not doing that to me. Doctor, there is no way I will just go back the TARDIS." Rose said strongly. He held her face in both of his hands.
"Please. Rose please, just go back to the TARDIS with Amy and Rory. Do it for me."
Rose removed his hands. "No. I did that last time. This time there is no way I'm leaving you."
"Rose, yes you will. You can't be around when this goes down, it's too dangerous. And I'll just get distracted. Amy and Rory went back. You should too." He felt a random burst of panic setting in. They had nearly gotten blown up and Rose had been right at the door…and his brain seemed to only focus on that fact. And he panicked.
Rose glared at him. She couldn't believe he was saying this. Not one bit. "Like hell I will. Doctor what don't you understand about I'm not leaving you? That mad woman is trying to sink a city. And she can just as easily bite your head off as she can mine. You sent Amy back for whatever reason, but you are not telling me what to do."
He pursed his lips. "I'm sorry." he said and she relaxed slightly.
"Right, then come on-" she started but she didn't get to finish, because he used his sonic screwdriver on the vortex manipulator that she had forgotten to take off. In an instant she was gone.
Someone screamed and he took off without another thought.
Rose sucked in a breath as she landed back in the console room of the TARDIS. It took her a moment to refocus. Then she was furious. Worse than furious. He had sent her away! Like she was some child!
She tore off the vortex manipulator and let it crash to the floor, probably breaking but she couldn't care less, she hoped it was broken. The TARDIS hummed softly, like she was trying to calm Rose down. It didn't work.
"He sent me back! He didn't even bat an eye, he just flicked his wrist and sent me home!" she yelled and the TARDIS hummed again. "So no, I'm not going to relax!" she stormed off to the doors and when she tried to fling them open, they were locked. "No." she said and pulled harder. "No no no! Let me out! TARDIS, let me out!" but she didn't even hum back.
The Doctor must have soniced them shut. He had sent her off and locked her up. It was unbelievable! How dare he send her to her room like she was some helpless child...like he had any right at all to do so! No. This could not be happening. This went so far beyond protectiveness, this was controlling and she was not going to let this go. She was not the same nineteen year old girl that he needed to guide and protect from everything that threatened her. She was older, and she knew bloody well how to watch her own back in trouble.
There was no way out. For the first time since she stepped foot inside, she felt trapped inside the TARDIS.