Chapter Twelve

A/N: Thank you to chocolaty and myscout14 for reviewing the last chapter.

When Rose slowly opened her eyes, squinting them against even the tiny amount of light in the room, the first thing she noticed was the smell. It was deep and earthy, as if she had been left in a garden. But she was inside, and it was certainly nothing like a greenhouse. It was similar to a cave, but still the woman knew now that it was not. That left only one other explanation. She had been taken by the Silurians.

Now that she thought about it, that explanation made perfect sense. The last thing she remembered was facing the Silurian ambassador, explaning to the reptilian figure that the human race would not simply relinquish their planet without a fight, then an emerald glow filled her eyes, and then... nothing. She had awoken deep underground, bound to a stretcher tipped up against the wall.

Tentatively, Rose tested her bonds. She had been trapped before in contraptions that would electricute a person if they tried to escape, and so she remained wary about testing them, in case they should be of similar design. However, she quickly realised that they held no charge, although they were extremely secure. 'I guess I won't be running away any time soon, then.' Rose observed, more than a little frustrated at her helpless position. 'The Doctor needs me, so does my family, and so does Torchwood, and I can't even get away to help them!'

The woman continued to struggle against the straps that held her to a metal panel, until a sound, a sound like the opening of an electronic door, reached her ears. Rose began to breathe more deeply, though she tried desperately to calm herself. 'Whoever they are, they heard me.'

Seeing it as the best option at the time, the blonde forced her body to go slightly more limp in her bonds, and slowed her breathing to a pace that she had developed over years of practice. She did not completely flop down, control her breathing to the second or clamp her eyes tightly shut, common mistakes made by many when they pretended to sleep. Every employee at Torchwood, bar perhaps the newest recruits, was well trained to appear asleep in situations such as this. Some were more skilled than others, and Captain Tyler-Smith had learnt from the best of them all.

It seemed that the instruction she had taken from her husband and father on the matter had paid off, as the creature that had entered the room did not notice anything suspect at all. Satisfied that she was not going to be scrutinised by the being, she allowed her eyes to open slightly, slitting them just so that she had a vague view of the entrant into her room.

They were a Silurian; the emerald scales were a clear indicator of this, even when the image was so blurred. She could not tell if they were male or female, not without giving herself away, and she did not even take the risk once the Silurian's back was turned. She never knew how quickly the creatures could move. 'I guess I'll just have to stay in the dark for now.' she thought, resigning herself to a lack of knowledge, although she did not enjoy the feeling at all.

Rose quickly adjusted her eyelids to be fully closed as the reptilian figure turned sharply to face her. Her heart was pounding so furiously in her chest by now that she was certain the Silurian could hear it, and she tried to take a few deep breaths to calm herself, though she could only do so in a manner that seemed she could be asleep. 'I don't think they believe me.' her mind told her, though she tried to suppress the overwhelming feeling of fear that dawned with this thought. 'But I still need to try.'

And so she remained still and silent, breathing evenly and slitting her eyelids a little on occasion to monitor the figure's progress, until eventually, the Silurian, contented with their observations, exited the room.

Once she was sure that they were well out of earshot, Rose dropped her guard and risked breathing a sigh of relief. Having risen higher and higher up the Torchwood rankings, and having become less and less involved with field work, particularly since Rennie was born, she had forgotten what it was like being in such a pressurised situation. It reminded her of the time she had spent with the Doctor, some of the most brilliant times of her life, filled with danger and pain and loss, but with such amazing excitement as well. She had forgotten how much she had missed the adrenaline rush that accompanied situations like this.

Extracting herself from her thoughts, though she was loathe to do so, Rose concentrated on trying to extract herself from her bonds as well. They were very constricting and did not seem to have any give when she tried to wriggle out of them, but she did not cease her efforts.

Eventually, after several minutes of moving left to right, up and down, trying to find a weakness in the bindings that she could exploit, she found that a few threads had begun to come loose. Gasping and smiling with both surprise and happiness at this discovery, Rose twisted her wrist as far as she could, biting her lip against the pain this caused, finally managing to find a grip on the loose threads and tugging them as far as she could, delighting as the stitches holding the strips of material together began to be unpicked.

Suddenly, the door opened once again, and Rose dropped her hand, resuming her position of pretending to be unconscious. She had made a start on trying to escape, but there was only so much she could do for now. She could see the Silurian guards standing outside the door, and she knew that there was no chance of her leaving the room unaided, even if she could manage to free herself from her bonds.

'I've done everything I can for a while.' she thought.'Now, it's all up to them.'

A/N: Please review!