Chapter Ten

The Doctor stared at Rose kneeling on the floor before him. He saw the worried look in her eyes and looked up at Wormwood who was giving him a smug look.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" he yelled at him

"What's wrong, Doctor? Don't like me messing with your friends?" he said. "If I can't get the truth out of you, perhaps I can get the truth out of her."

"I'm warning you, Wormwood, torturing Rose is a very bad idea."

"Who said anything about torturing her? I'm going to give her the truth gas." Wormwood replied gesturing to a lab tech to hand him the gas mask. "Because as far as I know, Rose doesn't have any respiratory bypass system, does she?"

He took the gas mask from the tech's hands and slipped off the gag.

"Doctor!" Rose yelled at him as he slipped the mask over her mouth and turned on the gas. "I won't talk, I won't say anything! I…"

The Doctor watched anguished as Rose trailed off and her eyes glazed over.

"You bastard." He muttered.

Wormwood walked around Rose and leaned on the lab table.

"Now, Rose, you will tell me how you found this place."

"The Doctor hacked into Torchwood's database and found an email mentioning the location." Rose said in a dull voice.

"Did you know about the Torchwood under the flood barrier?"

"Yes."

Wormwood raised his eyebrow and looked back at the Doctor. Ignoring the Doctor's glare, he turned back to Rose.

"Were you responsible for the destruction of the Thames Torchwood?"

"No."

Wormwood was taken aback.

"Really, then, what happened to it?"

"The Widow destroyed it and killed all the people working there."

"The Widow?"

"The genetically altered Racnoss/Human that Torchwood had no right to create." The Doctor said angrily.

"Oh yes, I remember getting a couple of emails about that," Wormwood said nodding. "Some experiment of theirs."

He looked at Rose.

"What happened to the Widow?" he asked her.

"She kidnapped the Doctor and when Jack and I went to free him, we ended up getting in a battle and she accidentally fell on my knife and was killed."

"Okay, so then what happened?"

"The Doctor was furious that Torchwood had created the Widow and caused the deaths of innocent people, so he swore that he would put all Torchwoods out of commission once and for all starting with the one in Antarctica."

Wormwood raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, is that so, Doctor?" he said looking back at him. "So, that's why you've brought your little gang all the way out to the frozen wastelands of Antarctica?"

"Yes, because I intend to put a stop to you once and for all. You and the other Torchwoods have been a menace for far too long!"

"Oh, I beg to differ, Doctor. I believe it's you who are the menace. When you and your gang destroyed the facility at Canary Wharf, you also destroyed years of precious research and development. Research that could have been used to defend the planet from alien threats like you."

"I wasn't the one that destroyed Canary Wharf. The Daleks and Cybermen were responsible for that. You lot are the ones who brought about your own destruction. You made the Cybermen's void crossing possible with your little ghost shifts. So, if you should be blaming anyone, it should be your own people. As for being a threat, if it wasn't for me and Rose, the Earth would be overrun with Daleks and Cybermen and there would be no one left for you to protect. I have saved this world more times than I can count and it seems lately every time I turn around, you lot seemed to be involved. I considered it an honor to put the Canary Wharf Torchwood out of commission. And I won't stop until this facility and all the other secret bases are destroyed for good."

Wormwood smirked.

"How are you gonna do that, Doctor, when you are strapped down to a table?"

"Oh, little leather straps aren't gonna hold me for long. Who do you think taught Houdini all his greatest tricks? Man is a legend because of little old me. There are very few who can hold me for long. I always find a way to escape and when I do, woe to those who tried to imprison me."

"Then we must make sure you don't escape then."

"Really and how are you gonna do that?"

"Cryo-stasis."

The Doctor frowned.

"Excuse me?"

"Cryo-stasis, Doctor. We'll freeze you and put you to sleep while we figure out what to do with you. You see, I've been thinking it over and you're just too valuable to cut open and dissect. All that knowledge you have in your brain. All the things you've seen and know. All that information should be in Torchwood's hands. We just need to harvest it. Unfortunately, the technology is in another one of our labs, so we'll put you in suspended animation so we can move you without any resistance."

He looked back at Rose and took the oxygen mask off her face.

"Now, as for your charming companion. Perhaps, we can do the same for her?" he said handing it to a lab tech.

"No, leave her alone!"

"After all, she's been traveling with you for awhile; she must have a few secrets of her own stored away in her head."

"Leave her be. You can put me in suspended animation, but let her and my friends go!"

"And have them lead others here or mount an attack on their own? You must be crazy to think we would just let them walk out the front door like that."

He stroked Rose's hair.

"Now, perhaps, if we drained their minds and gave them new, specially created identities so they wouldn't remember this place, then maybe we could let them go."

"No!"

"Then, which is it, Doctor, because the only other way we will allow them to leave is in a body bag. Maybe it would be different if your friends weren't so loyal to you, but they are, which creates a problem for us."

"I want to be frozen with the Doctor." Rose said.

"No, I won't allow that, Rose."

She looked at him.

"I go where you go." She said to him.

"Aw, how sweet is that?" Wormwood said.

He bent down to her.

"Do you love the Doctor, my dear?"

"More than anything."

"Would you die for him?"

"Yes."

"Aw, how cute." Wormwood said straightening back up. "You have a human girlfriend. It's just like a real life Mork and Mindy. Well, you know we could put you both in the cryo-stasis chamber together. That way you can be together while you sleep."

"No, let her go!"

"I told you, Doctor, if I let her go I'll have to drain her mind and give her a new identity first. And if I do that, your little girlfriend will forget all about you."

"You bastard!"

"Course we could take them outside, make them kneel in the snow and blow their brains out, that's another option. But that's kinda messy; maybe we could just push them out in the snow, lock the door and let them freeze to death. So, what'll it be, Doctor? What would you like us to do to them? Seems like the only option you have is to have Rose frozen with you."

The Doctor looked at Rose who was staring up at him quietly. His hearts ached and he suddenly regretted bringing his friends along with him. He sighed knowing that there was only one option. She would have to be put into cryo-sleep with him. At least that way they could stay alive long enough to think of an escape plan once they were revived. He looked back at Wormwood who was staring at him expectantly.

"What happens to the others?" he asked him.

"Ah, well, see they work for Torchwood which means that they will be handled differently than you and Rose. You see, Torchwood generally deals with troublesome employees by draining their minds and implanting new identities so they won't remember who we are in case they want to come back and cause trouble. I'm sure that's what will become of them."

He leaned over and grinned when the Doctor glowered at him.

"See, this is why having companions is a bad idea, Doctor. If they get caught along with you, they end up suffering just as much as you do."

He signaled to the lab techs and they grabbed Rose by her arms and hauled to her feet.

"Doctor." She said as Wormwood walked over to the door.

"Oh Rose, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He said.

"I'm not afraid, Doctor, we'll be together." She said to him.

The Doctor stared at her lovingly as the door opened and two guards entered the room carrying the Doctor's clothes in their hands.

"Now, I'm going to let you get up and get your clothes back on and I want you to behave or I'll order these guards to kill Rose and then kill your friends. Got that?"

The Doctor nodded.

Wormwood took the clothes from the guards. One of them pointed his gun at Rose while the other started undoing the straps.