14 Taken

In a flash of blue light, four somewhat inebriated, very giggly people appear on the transmat at the corner of the cabana. Jack and Donna giggle, whisper, and wave at the Time Lords on their way to bed. The evening has been perfect. Rose and the Doctor slept a couple of nights ago, so they aren't ready for bed yet, but they're enjoying the buzz they've allowed themselves to have.

Chuckling at the other couple, they decide to head out to the beach for a bit of a walk. Rose suggests leaving their shoes at the cabana. Sliding her heeled sandals off, she then kneels at the Doctor's feet to roll his trousers up. Rolling her eyes up to look at him, she sees he's giving her that suggestive grin he gets when he thinks he's about to get away with something. Taking the opportunity to goose him behind the knees, she gets to her feet when he dances away from her. Tongue firmly planted in her teeth, Rose wiggles her fingers at the Doctor and they head off down the beach.

None of them noticed one of the TARDIS doors being slightly open, or the choppy, distorted image of an older Romana trying to call out to them. Frustrated, she leaves off after watching Rose and the Doctor leave. With the TARDIS powered down, she doesn't have the energy to be heard past the doors. They'll be back in the morning. Hopefully she'll be able to get their attention then-hopefully it won't be too late.

"Hmmmmmmm…What shall I do with you?"

The voice moves away from behind Dougie, but he can't tell to where. Then he feels something brush across his chest ever so lightly. He can't stop the way his skin twitches at the almost gentle touch. Dougie tries to speak, but his body doesn't respond.

"So helpful of Romana to make note of the addition of a Tanu to the crew. It would have been more difficult to lure one of the Time Lords here, but you, you're so out of your time and telepathic; that's all that matters now." This comes from in front of him, and he feels two hands slide over his shoulders and down his arms. It is in this moment that he realises he's nude. He remembers preparing to enter the Matrix, and then a shock of sensation as he assumed he was engaging the interface, but is he in the Matrix now, and who is this woman? She doesn't sound like Romana.

"I briefly thought about taking the new Time Lady-Rose. She saw me in the Matrix when I still wasn't ready—very irritating, but the TARDIS would have seen; Romana and the Doctor would have fought me. I'm not ready for that yet. I've had to advance my plan much more quickly than I would have preferred, but then the idiot Time Lord shut the TARDIS down—perfect!" Laughing outright, she continues to move around Dougie in his complete darkness like a stalking animal.

/Okay, definitely in the Matrix, and this can not be Romana,/ he thinks to himself as he continues to catalogue sensations and variables.

"I should apologise for telling you all this, it won't make it easier…for you. The privilege I am about to bestow on you is more than anything your inferior race would have ever been able to attain on your own. You and I will soon be one. It is unfortunate that you will be lost in the process, but really, you are past your expiration date. Oh, and it will probably hurt," she says matter-of-factly.

Dougie tries to feel out with his mind, probing around himself to determine his surroundings. He must get control of the situation somehow; there must be a way that he still has influence. She isn't in his mind yet, but he can feel the vast presence of her hovering just outside his awareness. He doesn't know what she's waiting for; but so long as she's talking, he might have a chance

"Now, now…none of that," she whispers directly into his face. The brush of breath across his face, almost close enough to kiss. The mental slap throws him back into himself painfully. He would wince, but those muscles don't work either…which means he isn't blind or in the dark; his eyes are actually still closed. Shoring up his mental shielding, Dougie waits to see what she'll do next.

"Do you know the Time Lords tried to kill me three times? They have yet to succeed. Do you know why? Because I am better, I am smarter, and I have a vision no one else is capable of; but above all…I am patient—I am Pandora. You have no idea how many millennia I have waited. Helpful that the Doctor did most of the work for me. Gallifrey is gone and I survived—oh, the irony." The smugness in her voice makes it sound like it was her idea.

"Alright, I'm ready to begin. You see, I need to break your mind so that I can suppress you into nonexistence. I am not familiar with your species' flavour of consciousness yet, though; so these next few exercises will tell me how your mind works, and how best I can take it. You aren't a Time Lord, so I can't imagine you'll last long. You won't enjoy it, but I know I will. Are you ready? Good."

Out of nowhere, he feels her slam into his mind from all sides. She's a crushing force, pressing down on his barriers with all her might. In an instant, all of his focus is a razor's edge of his will against hers, fighting against any cracks she might find. He thinks he might feel a tiny loathsome tendril snake its way in, but he strikes back, stopping it and plugging the hole. They struggle like this for what feels like the longest hours of his life.

Suddenly, she's gone. Slowly relaxing his hold on his defences, he's pleased to find they've held up remarkably well. He's fought mental battles before, against the Firvulag, but that was many years ago even when not counting the lost millennia. Mental sparring amongst his own Tanu was generally in the spirit of exercising one's skills. This unprovoked onslaught, with the intent to subvert him, is a completely new experience.

He can't let her win. No one knows he's in the TARDIS. They all think him free and healing in the wilds of the planet. With the TARDIS quiet, there is no one here to help him. He doesn't know who this creature is or how she took Romana's shape, but he must persevere. She wants Rose, which probably means she wants the TARDIS, too. That means she will probably try to kill everyone else. Dougie has no idea if any of that's possible, but she certainly seems confident in her abilities. And he will NOT let her hurt anyone, if it costs him his last breath.

Not completely lost in his musings, Dougie is braced for another attack, but he has no clue where she is or where it will come from next. That thought has just played through his mind as he feels the air around him heat up, the sound of flames everywhere when the flesh on his arms starts to blister. He can't move, only scream silently, locked in his mind.

During the night, Rose and the Doctor walked for what must have been miles along the deserted beaches. With three suns, it was almost never truly dark, so when the red giant set just before the twins rose, the sky was a blended cobalt and pink with gold tinged clouds—it had been lovely. So lovely in fact, they had made gorgeous, languid love in the mingled light; perfectly alone, with the waves and seabirds their only observers.

"Thank you so much for bringing us here. It's sort of like our honeymoon. First chance we've had to just…relax, enjoy each other," she tells him as she snuggles closer to his side.

"I don't know too many couples that bring friends along on their honeymoon and we had weeks afterward to ourselves," he teases her. Kissing her head as they relax on his coat, completely nude in the faint breeze, he tightens his embrace, also enjoying the moment.

"You mean the month of shagging?" she says, giggling. "This is just as nice, but more relaxing, and I like having our friends along," she teases back, the tip of tongue just visible in her smile. "Having them all here, it just feels right." He can feel that though her tone is happy, her emotions are more subdued.

"You're thinking about your mum and Pete."

"Yeah, I miss them." Rose sighs, but stays where she is. She isn't going to let an old ache ruin this time together. Flipping over so she's draped over his belly, she starts kissing her way up towards his face. "But I have you—kiss—Donna—kiss—Dougie—kiss—and…"

Tickling her to make her stop the inappropriate kissing, he teases, "I think Jack's getting enough of his own kisses, thank you. I don't need one for him on me, or anyone else's! I just want your kisses, Rose Tyler. All of them!"

Abruptly rolling over so he's resting above her on his elbows, he proves his point, snogging her breathless. They grin at each other as they regain their breath and Rose has one more concern to air.

"You're sure Dougie's okay, doing his own thing? He seemed a lot better after you talked, but I'm still worried about him."

"I'm sure he's fine; having the time of his life. Now, if you don't mind, I think you just interrupted my process, Ms. Tyler."

"Oh did I, Doctor? Well, we can't have that. Where were we? Oh yes, I think we were about…here?" She started off teasing, but by the end of her statement her voice is low and sultry as she takes matters in hand.

"Oh!" the Doctor squeaks. "I think that's a great place to start."

Now, as they approach the cabana from the beach, it's about 8 A.M local time—much too early to expect Donna and Jack to be up. Rose and the Doctor planned on showering and then starting breakfast for everyone, but those plans are immediately put on hold when they see one of the TARDIS doors open and no one around.

"Doctor? Did we leave the TARDIS open last night?" Rose asks as they get closer to the cabana.

"No, I specifically remember you closing the door after you and Donna came out to wow us," he says slowly, brow furrowed as he looks toward the their ship.

"Is there some sort of distortion at the door? I don't like this, Doctor. I'm going to go check and make sure Donna and Jack are okay."

"Yep." He's obviously distracted as he changes angles to come at the TARDIS so he can't be seen through the open doorway.

Rose hurries to the door of Jack and Donna's room in the cabana, but she doesn't need to open it as they are snoring softly in counterpoint. Snorting to herself in amusement and relief, Rose circles quietly around to the other side of the TARDIS from the Doctor.

-They're fine; snoring away- she sends him, not wanting to make anymore noise if they are about to surprise an intruder.

He doesn't answer, but nods at her. Holding up his hand to keep her in place, he reaches forward and slams the other door open, dropping to a crouch.

The console room is still on standby lighting, and is completely empty. Abruptly, a distorted and choppy image of a very distressed older Romana crackles into view. They can see her lips moving, but can only pick up every few words.

"Doctor!—-trapped—in the—"

"Who's trapped? We're only catching a few words. Go more slowly," he tells her as he returns to his feet.

"Dougie—-Matrix—-Lured—-Pandora!"

"Oh my God, Doctor," Rose breathes. "We have to get to him."

Romana vehemently gestures in the negative.

"Trapped—-power up—-TARDIS—-help—Pandora—trap you—enter—-Matrix"

"Shit! Shitty, shit, shit!" the Doctor blurts out, pulling at his hair while pacing. "Think, think, think! See Rose, this is exactly why I never shut Her down. Something always happens!Always...And I wore a tuxedo last night! What was he even doing here?"

"Well, just boot Her back up. Can't you do that?"

"Of course, I can, but it will take at least 24 hours for Her to fully reintegrate the interface. She isn't…here right now. That's why I was running all the diagnostics on the mechanicals. It works better when She's not everywhere during it."

"Like starting up in Safe Mode," Rose points out.

"What? Oh, yes, heh, yes it is exactly like that, my clever Rose," he spares her a quick smile before he resumes his pacing and hair tugging.

"Doctor—-isolate?" Romana suggests.

"What? Oh…Oh! Of course…you're brilliant, you are!" The Doctor starts hopping around the console grabbing a couple of items, and then half falls, half runs down the steps leading to the under-console.

Following him, Rose grabs his regular tool kit on the way. He's going to need it and she doesn't want to have to go back for it.

"Doctor, what are you isolating?" she asks, following him down the stairs.

"Romana's suggestion is to isolate the Matrix relays. They are powered on a completely separate system, so I should be able to cut their power for a few moments. So long as I reestablish power in, ummm…48.265 seconds, the crystals won't lose their integrity."

"That isn't much time, Doctor."

"Oh, it's plenty of time. Can get loads done in nearly a minute…Ouch!…The outage will disconnect the coronet, which has a built in safety feature to pull the user out during a power failure without sustaining brain damage." Looking over his shoulder at the striated and shifting Romana, he asks, "I assume you tried to enter?"

"Yes—-blocked"

"You know, if you'd succeeded while she's in control, she'd have you, too," he says to her while he's fiddling with a handful of wires, but he looks at her over his specs as he finishes.

Romana shrugs. "Maybe—-maybe not."

As the Doctor moves one more relay and plugs the newly rewired mass in, there's an enormous shower of sparks, and a groan from the TARDIS as the cloister bell tolls twice.

"No, No, NO! Rose, my offset spanner and the expanding clamps, now!"

Handing him the tools, he frantically starts undoing what he just did, but the new connection has fused and he must break it apart. Levering the spanner under the bundle of smoking sparking wires, he jams it in. With a ferocious effort, he cranks it apart, but not before there's another surge that shoots him tumbling out from under the console and right through Romana, a good two meters across the room.

"Doctor!" Rose cries, throwing herself toward the smoking, slightly singed, and frighteningly still form. Just as she reaches him, he twitches and moans, flopping over onto his back.

"Doctor! Oh my god! Are you alright? You scared me," she tells him as she runs a light hand over his brow. He doesn't appear to be burned anywhere.

"Yeah, the uh…relays were unresponsive," he manages after a moment.

"Unresponsive? That didn't look unresponsive," she replies, checking him over for injuries. His fingertips might be a bit cooked, but otherwise he seems fine, if a touch toasted.

"Feedback. Shouldn't have done that if the power was going through them properly, instead it fed back through the same relays, crossing polarities…BLAMMO!" he shouts, throwing his hands in the air before he lets them fall back to his sides where he's still laying in the floor. "Oh, I hurt."

"But, I don't understand how…"

"Pandora," Romana says simply.

The Doctor goes rigid under Rose's administering hands.

"Doctor, what? What is it?"

"It hadn't occurred to me it could be her….mmmmuuuhhhnnn," he groans. "Oh, this is not good; nope, not good at all. Pandora has access to systems right now that the TARDIS would normally be inhabiting. Currently we are only running on mechanicals, and she has figured out how to use the TARDIS' pathways to get control of them."

Eyes getting huge, Rose feels her hearts flutter. "Can she fly the TARDIS?"

"Oh! No, no, no. Thank everything that's holy, no. Once the TARDIS is powered back up, She'll fill all those pathways completely. No, but she can keep us from helping Dougie."

"Is that why Romana isn't clear, because of Pandora?"

"No, actually that's my fault, too! Dammit! With everything shut down, Romana is having to bounce her holographic capabilities between the physical cameras, and they are all on standby. That's why she looks like she's all bits and pieces. Sorry," he says directly to Romana, who shrugs again.

With another groan and a wince at the singed fingertips he now notices, the Doctor stands and makes his wobbly way up the stairs to drop bonelessly onto the jump seat. Rose follows him, asking if he needs anything; but he just shakes his head before letting it fall it into his hands. Rose drops down onto the seat next to him as Romana transitions to upstairs.

Turning the situation over in her head, Rose starts having an idea. "Okay, so we can't interact with Dougie telepathically, right?" Rose asks both of them.

Romana nods her head as the Doctor replies with a muffled, "Right."

"Can we interact with him physically?" Rose asks, thinking furiously.

Romana starts to frantically shake her head, and the Doctor's own snaps up with an alarmed look and a similar negative on his lips.

"No, wait. I don't mean to unhook him and drag him out. That would leave him brain dead." Nods on both sides from the Doctor and Romana at Rose's assumption.

"Do you think he could hear us though, if one of us went in and told him what to do? Could he receive instructions?"

Romana is still as she thinks, and the Doctor is staring at Rose with the look that means his eyes are on her, but his mind is spinning a million miles an hour elsewhere. Blinking, his eyebrows shoot up into his hairline.

"Brain!" he blurts out.

"Brain? Yes, he has one…I don't…"

"No, no, no! The Matrix! It's like a huge brain…The crystals are like neurones and the inter-dimensional pathways the axons…and what does Dougie do so well? He heals brains! His race is uniquely skilled at it, in fact. Their methods are completely unlike anything any other species has ever developed. He might not only be able to get himself out, but he…could get rid…of Pandora," the Doctor emphasises. "He could just burn her out of the Matrix entirely!" Leaping to his feet in his excitement, he grabs Rose and swings her around. "Oh, my brilliant Rose, you; you're impressive."

Romana waves at them to get their attention. She doesn't look as confident as the Doctor though, which dampens Rose's enthusiasm a touch. Pointing at her throat, she deliberately says, "Torc," and shakes her head in a negative.

"Oh, you don't know!" the Doctor begins excitedly. "Dougie met the Sidhe! There was a little misunderstanding where they nearly fried his brain, but in compensation, they not only fixed the damage, but made him fully operant! For all intents and purposes, he's a Lené or more, now. He no longer wears his torc. It will make him infinitely stronger, and I bet that Pandora has no idea, what she actually has in her hands." A slow toothy grin spreads over the Doctor's face at the thought of finally being rid of this parasite.

Romana is wearing a stunned expression as she mulls over the new data. Nodding slowly, she smiles at the Doctor and Rose as well, now agreeing that they may have a plan.

"I don't think Dougie has any idea what he's capable of yet, either, Doctor," Rose points out. "I'm going to go get Donna."

"What? Why? You know how bellow-y she gets when she's woken up early. Especially after the one they tied on last night." The alarmed look on his face at the thought of dealing with a rampaging Donna on top of what has already happened is comical. /It'd had the makings of a really spectacular day just on hour ago, too,/ he thinks to himself with a sigh.

"Because we only have one non-telepath in the group. How strange a sentence is that?" Rose says, making her way to the infirmary, wanting to be ready with the hangover remedy.

Heading out through the TARDIS doors, cure in hand, she smiles at the Doctor on her way by. "I'll be back in a mo," she says, walking in the direction of Donna and Jack's room where she knocks softly.

"WHAT? Go away!" Romana and the Doctor soon hear from the safety of the TARDIS. After more muffled talking and then another, "WHAT'S HAPPENED? Bloody aliens! Always needin' help. Fine, FINE, yes I'm comin'. Move, you lump. There had better be a magic pill and coffee when I get out of the shower!" A slamming door notifies everyone that Donna has left the bed.

Looking over at Romana with a pinched expression and much paler than a moment before, the Doctor says, "Told you…bellow-y"

Romana only nods, a very amused expression sometimes visible on her face.

A/N: Only two chapters left after this one. I hope you've enjoyed this story and thank you for sticking with me. Enjoy!