Terry and the Doctor crept their way into the Sibylline temple, taking advantage of the group's preoccupation with their new captive. Terry could hear Donna yelling from the front door, and the redhead's words only got clearer and clearer the deeper they went inside.
"I'll surrender you in a minute." Donna spat. "Don't you dare!"
"You will be silent!" Another voice, one of the soothsayers, ordered, and Terry smiled as Donna snarled: "Listen, sister, you might have eyes on the back of your hands, but you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time I've finished with you. Let me go!"
The Doctor's lips also quirked up in amusement, and he grinned at Terry as they moved out from the shadows and into the temple. They spotted Donna instantly, tied to a stone table as a live sacrifice, while the soothsayers – all women, dressed in blood-red cloaks and dresses – surrounded her in prayer.
One of the soothsayers, the leader Spurrina, lifted a blade high into the air above Donna's head as she readied to plunge it into Donna's heart as she cried: "This prattling voice will cease forever."
"Oh, that'll be the day." The Doctor called as he leant casually against one of the temple pillars.
The soothsayers all gasped, spinning around to stare at the Doctor and Terry with wide eyes. The Doctor just stood casually with his head on his hand, his elbow propped against the pillar, and Terry grinned and waved as Donna looked over and her face lit up with relief.
"Hey, Donna. Sorry we're late, though apparently we still made it in time for the party." Terry called casually, and Spurrina said scandalously: "No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sibyl."
"Well, that's all right." The Doctor shrugged as he straightened up and began to walk casually closer to the group. "Just us girls."
The soothsayers eyed him warily as Terry walked up behind him, while the Doctor continued: "Do you know, I met the Sibyl once. Yeah, hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance the Tarantella. Nice teeth. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me."
"Who hasn't, according to you?" Terry teased, and he grinned at her.
"Are you jealous?" He asked, and Terry snorted: "Maybe if you dream hard enough; I already know you told her it would never last, and that she told you she knew that."
He laughed at that, shaking his head as he wrapped an arm around Terry's shoulders and hugged her sideways close to him.
"Well, she would, wouldn't she?" He returned, before addressing the group again as he beamed: "Isn't Terry wonderful? Looks like my angel is better at soothsaying than you lot."
Spurrina's eyes narrowed, while the Doctor finally stopped by Donna's head and he looked down as he asked: "You all right there?"
"Oh, never better." Donna answered lightly, and the Doctor added as he eyed Donna's purple dress: "I like the toga."
"Makes you look like a Roman goddess." Terry added with a cheeky wink, and Donna laughed as she said: "Thank you. And the ropes?"
"Don't like them; I don't think they go with your outfit." Terry commented, and the Doctor agreed: "Yeah, not so much."
He pointed his sonic at the ropes, easily cutting them away and freeing Donna while the soothsayers gaped in shock. Terry helped Donna sit up and get off the table while the Doctor twirled his sonic happily, and Spurrina was finally the first to find her tongue.
"What magic is this?" She demanded, and the Doctor said suddenly as he pocketed his sonic: "Let me tell you about the Sibyl, the founder of this religion. She would be ashamed of you."
He turned to look at each of the soothsayers in turn as he scolded: "All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word, hey? On the blade of a knife?"
He turned to look accusingly right at Spurrina, but she stood tall and proud as she replied sharply: "Yes, a knife that now welcomes you."
She made to attack the Doctor with her knife, but he remained unmoved as he simply stared her down and Terry counted down silently.
"Show me this man." A deep, commanding voice called, interrupting Spurrina.
Donna blinked in surprise, but Terry remained unmoved as she watched the soothsayers react instantly to turn and bow to a veiled section of the temple. The Doctor also glanced at the veil curiously, surprised by the interruption, while Spurrina lowered her knife as she protested: "High Priestess, the stranger would defile us."
"Let me see. The man and the woman gifted with sight." The High Priestess commanded, and Terry watched as something moved slightly in the shadowy veils.
The soothsayers glanced at the Doctor and Terry nervously, even while still bowing, as the High Priestess continued: "They are different. They carries starlight in their wake."
"Oh, very perceptive." The Doctor mused as he walked closer, Terry pulling Donna with her as she followed behind him. "Where do these words of wisdom come from?"
He peered at the veil curiously, trying to get a better view, and his eyes narrowed while the High Priestess answered: "The gods whisper to me."
"They've done far more than that." The Doctor noted seriously, his brows raised. "Might I beg audience? Look upon the High Priestess?"
He nodded at the veil, and they all watched in silence as two of the soothsayers walked up and slowly drew the veil aside. Terry remained unmoved, only pursing her lips while the Doctor's brows lifted even higher as his suspicions were confirmed.
Donna, however, was taken completely by surprise and she gasped audibly as soon as they saw the stone woman sitting on the High Priestess throne.
"Oh, my God." Donna murmured in horror. "What's happened to you?"
"The heavens have blessed me." The High Priestess replied, and Terry's eyes narrowed.
She kept her silence, however, while the Doctor came slowly closer to the High Priestess, reaching out a hand carefully as he asked: "If I might?"
She obliged, lifting one of her hands in a jerky, almost painful movement. The Doctor carefully knelt before the High Priestess as he gently took her hand between his own and examined it carefully.
He looked back up at the High Priestess after a moment, his brows furrowed as he asked gently: "Does it hurt?"
"It is necessary." The High Priestess answered, and the Doctor questioned with a frown: "Who told you that?"
"The voices." She answered, and the Doctor's brows shot up.
"Veni, vidi, vici." He thought to Terry in realization, and she nodded.
"Is that what's going to happen to Evelina?" Donna suddenly piped up, bringing the Time Lords back to the outside conversation.
The redhead had turned to the other soothsayers as she asked incredulously: "Is this what's going to happen to all of you?"
Spurrina lifted her robe, revealing her forearm that, too, was made of stone.
"The blessings are manifold." Spurrina stated, and Donna whispered in horror: "They're stone."
"Exactly." The Doctor answered flatly, letting go of the High Priestess as he walked back to Terry. "The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?"
He glanced at Terry and then back at the High Priestess as she answered with a question of her own: "This word, this image in your mind. This 'volcano'. What is that?"
"More to the point, why don't you know about it?" The Doctor countered sharply.
His eyes narrowed as he demanded: "Who are you?"
"High Priestess of the Sibylline." The Priestess replied loftily, but the Doctor replied darkly: "No, no, no, no. I'm talking to the creature inside you."
The High Priestess reeled back as Terry's eyes narrowed, while the Doctor continued scathingly: "The thing Terry foresaw, the thing that's seeding itself into a human body, in the dust, in the lungs, taking over the flesh and turning it into, what?"
"Your knowledge," the High Priestess gasped out in surprise and defiance, "is impossible."
"Oh, but you can read our minds." The Doctor taunted. "You know it's not."
The High Priestess began to shake, and Terry took Donna's hand in hers wihle the Doctor stated firmly: "I demand you tell me who you are."
"We are awakening." The High Priestess answered, but her voice was now no longer her own. Beneath the High Priestess's voice was a deeper, echoing one that grew stronger with every word uttered.
"The voice of the gods." Spurrina cried.
The Doctor and Donna glanced back towards the soothsayers as they sat up on their knees, rocking back and forth as they chanted in unison: "Words of wisdom, words of power. Words of wisdom, words of power. Words of wisdom-"
"Doctor." Terry called seriously, and he pulled her closer to him as he shouted at the swaying High Priestess angrily: "Name yourself. Planet of origin. Galactic coordinates. Species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation."
The High Priestess snapped her head back to face the Doctor, and her voice was completely taken over by the deeper one as she answered: "We are rising."
"Tell! Me! Your! Name!" The Doctor shouted, emphasizing each word as he stepped forward towards the High Priestess.
The High Priestess shook her head as she continued to sway, and Terry snapped sharply: "Now!"
"Pyrovile." The High Priestess cried in answer as she removed the hood on her red cloak to reveal the full stone creature underneath.
"Pyrovile." The soothsayers began to chant. "Pyrovile. Pyrovile."
"What's a Pyrovile?" Donna asked her friends warily, and the Doctor answered: "Well, that's a Pyrovile, growing inside her. She's a halfway stage."
"What, and that turns into?" Donna gaped, and Terry explained: "That thing in the villa. That was an adult Pyrovile."
"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Storm." The Pyrovile declared as it lifted the High Priestess's stone hand to point it directly at Terry.
She frowned, but the Doctor moved immediately to stand between them as he said sharply, while pulling out a yellow water pistol from his jack pocket: "I warn you, I'm armed."
Donna gave him a thoroughly unimpressed look, but he ignored it as he pressed Terry close to his back while pulling out his sonic as he ordered: "Donna, get that grill open."
Her jerked his head to indicate a hypocaust behind them, and Donna just stared at him like he had grown two heads.
"What for?" Donna asked blankly, and the Doctor ordered sharply: "Just-!"
Donna's eyes narrowed at his tone, but seeing the tight hold he had on Terry's waist as he kept her shielded behind him, she didn't say any more as she took the sonic and headed to the grill quickly.
Terry made to follow, but the Doctor jerked her back against him while he kept his eyes and pistol on the Pyrovile as he demanded: "What are the Pyrovile doing here?"
"We fell from the heavens." The Pyrovile replied darkly. "We fell so far and so fast, we were rendered into dust."
"Right, creatures of stone shattered on impact." The Doctor murmured, before his eyes narrowed and he questioned: "When was that, seventeen years ago?"
"We have slept beneath for thousands of years." The Pyrovile answered in a low voice, almost as though it was lost in thought.
"Okay, so seventeen years ago woke you up," the octor muttered, "and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourselves. But why the psychic powers?"
He let go of Terry briefly to gesture at the other soothsayers, but when she shifted his hand quickly returned to hold her close to him as the Pyrovile answered haughtily: "We opened their minds and found such gifts."
"Okay, that's fine." The Doctor said impatiently. "So you force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that, I get that, yeah. But seeing the future?"
His eyes narrowed further as he stated: "That is way beyond psychic. You can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?"
"Got it." Donna called as she hauled the grill open, and Terry informed her: "Donna, go down."
"What, down there?" Donna demanded, blanching as she pointed down into the steam, and the Doctor answered in exasperation: "Yes, down there!"
"No need to have a huffy fit." Donna huffed, and Terry sighed: "Donna, please?"
The redhead rolled her eyes but started to climb down the hypocaust as the Doctor addressed the Pyrovile once more: "Why can't this lot predict a volcano?"
He nodded once at the soothsayers as he continued, puzzled: "Why is it being hidden?"
"Sisters!" Spurrina suddenly cried as she stared at the Doctor. "I see into his mind. The weapon is harmless."
The Doctor shrugged as he let go of Terry, looking down at his water pistol as he commented nonchalantly: "Yeah, but it's got to sting."
"Angel, run." He commanded suddenly, and Terry ran for the hypocaust as the Doctor fired his pistol at the High Priestess.
The water made the Pyrovile flinch, and she stumbled back as the alien roared in pain.
"Get down there!" The Doctor ordered, and Terry scurried down the ladder into the hypocaust, landing beside Donna.
The Doctor hopped in quickly after them while the soothsayers were all distracted, landing inside the hot hypocaust beside Terry.
"You fought her off with a water pistol?" Donna asked in a mix of disbelief and delight. "I bloody love you."
Terry chuckled while the Doctor grinned back as he took Terry's hand, ready to move on. Donna caught the movement, however, and she suddenly added cheekily: "What do you think, angel?"
"About what?" Terry asked blankly, and Donna teased: "He did protect you with a water pistol: don't you think he was dashing?"
Terry blinked before, to her horror, a blush appeared on her face. Both the Doctor and Donna stared, taken aback as Terry's face burnt red in a way that had nothing to do with the hot air around them.
"Sure." Terry muttered, avoiding looking at her friends uncomfortably. "He was… er…"
She trailed off, finding it incredibly embarrassing to suddenly admit she thought the Doctor was rather cool - something she'd never had a problem with before. At least, she hadn't in her previous generation.
But now, she was mortified to find that she was unable to even look him in the eye as she finished lamely: "Thanks, D-Doctor."
Mentally kicking herself for stuttering over his name, Terry quickly added as she let go of the Doctor's hand: "This way."
She quickly walked away, heading deeper inside the tunnel below the hypocaust, and missing the look the Doctor shot Donna while the redhead shrugged helplessly. Instead, Terry was too busy trying to sort out her confusing emotions, and the slowly dawning horror at the realization that maybe… her feelings for the Doctor were stronger than she'd thought.
'No, no, no.' Terry thought anxiously. 'This can not be happening. I don't love him-'
She balked instantly as the thought entered her head.
'Love? No, no, no.' She thought desperately. 'Where did that come from? No, I don't love him. Think of River!' Terry cringed. 'I don't love him, I don't love him-'
"Where are we going now?" Donna asked suddenly as she and the Doctor caught up to the preoccupied Time Lady.
She barely even looked at them as she continued to try to convince herself in her mind: 'I don't love him, I can face him normally, I don't love him, I don't-'
"Into the volcano." The Doctor answered, and Terry faltered at his voice.
'I love him.' She realized as she stopped walking abruptly. 'Oh, my God, I actually love him.'
She stood, staring at the Doctor with an ashen expression as both Donna and the Doctor looked back at her in surprise and concern.
"Terry?" Donna asked, while the Doctor asked tentatively: "Angel?"
"Yeah?" She answered, her voice cracking a little, and the Doctor's face became more worried as he stepped up before her.
"Are you all right?" He questioned in concern, and Terry shook her head.
"Terry?" He asked in alarm, but she just answered faintly: "No, let's go. This way – Appian way."
She walked on again in a daze, her mind still stunned by her recent revelation, while the Doctor and Donna exchanged looks again.
"Appian way?" Donna mouthed at him, and the Doctor shrugged before he hurried on ahead to catch up with Terry.
"Angel?" He asked her telepathically. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She answered a little too quickly, and he frowned.
"You know I don't like it when you lie to me." He complained, and she fired back as she scrambled to get her thoughts in order: "You lie all the time."
"Not to you." He answered with a frown at her. "At least, I try not to."
But far from encouraging her, his words only caused even more panic inside Terry.
"Why?" She demanded as she whirled to face the Doctor, and the Doctor seemed taken aback by her sudden fierceness. "Why do you try not to?"
"Because…" He began before trailing off uncertainly.
"Terry, what is this really about?" He asked at last, watching her closely.
She turned away at his scrutinizing gaze, but the Doctor grabbed her arm as he pressed: "Terry?"
"Spoilers."
Terry cringed at her own response, having blurted out the first thing that came to mind. The Doctor dropped her arm, frowning, and she knew he'd heard the lie. But more than that, River's catchphrase had reminded Terry of the blonde time-traveller and her guilt multiplied as she thought of her friend.
"Doctor, I'm sorry." Terry murmured evasively as she turned away. "But this isn't something you can help with."
She walked ahead again, leaving the Doctor staring after her with hurt and concern written all over his face. Donna walked up slowly, and she asked quietly: "For those of us who can't read thoughts?"
But the Doctor just shook his head and Donna gave up.
Instead, she walked after Terry, catching up to the Time Lady and – in an effort to change the subject and cure another of her curiosities – she asked: "But tell me, angel, if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it all right for us to stop it?"
"No." Terry said absently, and Donna pressed: "But why not?"
"It's still a part of history." Terry explained, and Donna protested: "But I'm history to you. You two saved me in 2008."
Terry glanced at her in surprise, but Donna continued: "You saved us all. Why is that different?"
"Some things are fixed, some things are in flux." Terry explained, her tone kinder now as she focused on Donna. "Pompeii is fixed, Donna."
"How do you know which is which?" Donna demanded, starting to frown.
Terry glanced at the Doctor, before quickly looking away as she answered quietly: "Because that's how we see the universe."
Her voice became melancholy again as she told Donna: "It's not as bad for me, because, for some reason, most of the way I see the universe revolves around the Doctor. I see his past and future, or what could be of his past and future."
Donna blinked, surprised, while Terry continued: "I don't know why it's limited in that way, but I think I find out at some point – or, at least, I hope."
The Doctor was watching silently, while Terry went on: "But for the Doctor, it's different."
"How?" Donna asked, glancing back at the Doctor.
Terry closed her eyes as the Doctor explained flatly: "Every waking second, I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That's the burden of a Time Lord, Donna."
Donna blinked, falling silent in thought, while the Doctor turned away. And Terry remembered his future, his wedding with River, and how it had to happen. If not, all of reality would be lost.
'I guess I wasn't lying.' She thought to herself gloomily. 'I can't tell the Doctor, not ever… not when I know his future.'
She stared after the Doctor as he started to walk away again, when Donna demanded: "How many people died?"
"Stop it." The Doctor said sharply, and Terry warned: "Donna."
"No, Terry." She answered as she looked at the two Time Lords. "Doctor, how many people died?"
"Twenty thousand." The Doctor answered at last, his voice sharp as he whirled on the redhead.
But Donna stood her ground as she questioned: "Is that what you can see, Doctor? All twenty thousand?"
She stared at both Time Lords right in the eye as she questioned: "And you think because you see it as set in stone, that it's all right, do you?"
Terry pursed her lips. She knew Donna meant Pompeii, but for some reason, it felt as though she was speaking to Terry directly. But Donna didn't know that sometimes, there just wasn't anything they could do about the future. A small alteration, yes, but…
And Terry sighed as she thought about River, and then about what was about to come. The terrible choice that the Doctor would face.
A deep roar suddenly echoed through the tunnels from behind them. Terry tensed while Donna whipped around in alarm, and the Doctor muttered: "They know we're here. Come on."
He reached for Terry's hand, but she visibly backed away with an alarmed expression and he dropped it quickly. With heavy hearts, he instead ushered them all down the tunnels once more, Donna hurrying after the Doctor while Terry struggled to maintain her composure.
She needed to focus on the now… or that's what she kept trying to tell herself. Needless to say, it wasn't working too well, but Terry shoved all of her other thoughts aside roughly as they heard another roar far behind.
The trio ran out at last to find they were at a small entrance that led down into a large cavern filled with Pyroviles. The Doctor gestured for them to all crouch down low, and he led the way as the trio quietly snuck deeper inside the cavern, sticking to the outskirts and away from the Pyroviles.
Terry glanced back as they heard the roars getting closer, accompanied by heavy footsteps, and she tugged on the Doctor's jacket to indicate a large boulder they could hide behind. He took her silent suggestion immediately, ducking down behind the boulder, and he peered around it as Terry led Donna to join him in hiding.
"It's the heart of Vesuvius." The Doctor murmured as he watched the Pyroviles wandering about the stones and around small lava rivers. "We're right inside the mountain."
"There's tons of them." Donna whispered in horror, but the Doctor had focused on something else and he wondered: "What's that thing?"
He pulled out a monocular, peering through to examine a strange box-like construction in the corner of the cavern, while Donna commented dryly: "Oh, you better hurry up and think of something. Rocky fall's on its way."
"That's how they arrived." The Doctor realized, ignoring Donna as he stared at the box. "Or what's left of it. Escape pod? Prison ship? Gene bank?"
"Escape pod." Terry confirmed, while Donna wondered: "But why do they need a volcano? Maybe it erupts, and they launch themselves back into space or something?"
Terry shook her head while the Doctor breathed: "Oh, it's worse than that."
Donna frowned as she wondered: "How could it be worse?"
There was another loud growl from behind, and the trio glanced back towards the tunnels as Donna whispered anxiously: "Doctor, Terry, it's getting closer."
"Heathens defile us." Lucius's voice suddenly cried from a ridge in a corner of the cavern.
They jumped and then quickly glanced up to see the man standing tall behid a few open flames amongst the rocks as he shouted down: "They would desecrate your temple, my lord gods."
"Come on." The Doctor ordered, quickly urging them down towards the cavern bottom.
"We can't go in." Donna protested, even as Terry grabbed her hand and pulled, and the Doctor pointed out: "Well, we can't go back."
Donna frowned, but she quickly followed them as the Doctor took the lead while Lucius shouted: "Crush them. Burn them."
"Doctor!" Terry called in warning as a Pyrovile rose up from the ground before them.
The Doctor screeched to a halt as it roared in anger, but the Doctor swiftly shot it with his water pistol, causing it to rear back as it hissed in pain instead. The trio took the opportunity to run through the cavern, the Doctor leading them towards the Pyrovile escape pod.
Lucius saw their intended path, and he shouted triumphantly: "There is nowhere to run, Doctor, Storm, and daughter of London!"
Terry pushed Donna behind her as the trio backed into the escape pod, while the Doctor stood in front as he held his water pistol threateningly.
"Now then, Lucius." The Doctor called. "My lords Pyrovillian, don't get yourselves in a lather. In a lava?"
He glanced at Terry hopefully, and was gratified that she was giving him a 'Are you serious?' look. At least she wasn't ignoring him.
"All right, no." The Doctor noted as Terry raised a brow and gestured for him to hurry up, and he turned back to Lucius as he called: "But if I might beg the wisdom of the gods before we perish. Once this new race of creatures is complete, then what?"
An enormous Pyrovile entered the cavern at last, its footsteps causing the ground to tremble, and it hissed as it came up next to Lucius who called back smugly: "My masters will follow the example of Rome itself. An almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilisation."
"But if you've crashed," Donna protested, "and you've got all this technology, why don't you just go home?"
"The Heaven of Pyrovillia is gone." Lucius answered darkly, and the Doctor frowned as he questioned: "What do you mean, gone? Where's it gone?"
"It was taken." Lucius answered sharply, and Terry made a slight face. "Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for a new species to rise."
"Yeah, I should warn you," the Doctor called sarcastically, "it's seventy percent water out there."
"Water can boil." Lucius retorted. "And everything will burn, Doctor. Just as Gallifrey burned, Storm."
He leered down at Terry, who frowned at him. The Doctor also frowned, glancing back briefly at Terry before turning back to Lucius as he called: "Then the whole planet is at stake. Thank you."
He tucked his pistol away as he finished: "That's all I needed to know. Terry."
She was already pressing the button to open the escape pod door, and she called: "Donna."
The redhead went inside quickly, Terry and then the Doctor following immediately after them. Terry looked around at the circuit boards that were lining the pod walls as the Doctor swiftly locked the pod door behind them with his sonic, ignoring Lucius as the man cried: "You have them, my lords."
"Could we be any more trapped?" Donna sighed as she looked around the tiny pod, but the Doctor was more interested in looking at the circuit boards with Terry.
The temperature inside suddenly increased dramatically thanks – Terry guessed – to the Pyroviles breathing fire onto the pod. Donna noted a little sarcastically: "Little bit hot."
"Oh!" The Doctor murmured as he looked at the circuits and then at Terry. "The energy converter takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix, which welds Pyrovile to human. Now it's complete, they can convert millions."
He looked at her in horror, and she nodded sadly.
Donna, not knowing what was wrong, asked quickly: "But can't you change it with these controls?"
"Of course I can," the Doctor replied impatiently, "but don't you see?"
He looked at Donna as he told her seriously: "That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano. There is no volcano. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power. They're going to use it to take over the world."
"But you can change it back?" Donna asked desperately, looking between the two Time Lords.
"We can invert the system, yes." Terry said sadly, and the Doctor agreed morosely: "It would set off the volcano, and blow them up. But, that's the choice, Donna."
She looked at them, uncomprehending, and the Doctor finally explained: "It's Pompeii or the world."
"Oh, my God." Donna gasped, her eyes filling with tears as she finally understood.
The Doctor meanwhile went on with a tight throat: "If Pompeii is destroyed then it's not just history, it's me. I make it happen. That was why it was fixed."
He stared at Terry, his eyes filled with sorrowful understanding, and she whispered: "I'm sorry."
"No." He answered softly. "No, I would do it, I would, but…"
He trailed off, and Terry shook her head.
"No," she argued quietly, "you have to."
His gaze hardened, and without another word, he turned and started to work on the circuit boards, changing them up and sonicing them as he readied to blow up the mountain.
"Doctor," Donna said cautiously, "the Pyrovile are made of rocks. Maybe they can't be blown up."
"Vesuvius explodes with the force of twenty four nuclear bombs." The Doctor replied flatly. "Nothing can survive it."
He pressed a lever, before taking a deep breath and looking back at his companions.
"Certainly not us." He whispered, his eyes bearing into Terry's.
"Never mind us." Terry answered, and Donna nodded.
But the Doctor's eyes filled with some unreadable emotion at her words, and he suddenly leaned forward… and pressed a kiss onto Terry's lips. Her eyes widened as he molded his lips to hers, before they fluttered shut and she responded instinctively though cautiously.
His lips were warm against her own and soft, softer than she'd imagined they would be, as they caressed hers gently. The sweet kiss wasn't long, but it definitely wasn't quick before it ended as the Doctor finally broke away.
He leaned back slightly to stare right into Terry's eyes as she stared at him wide-eyed.
"What was that?" She asked faintly, and he answered in a serious tone: "Just in case."
With that, he turned and placed his hands on a lever in the centre of the stone controls, his posture tense but determined. Terry remained stunned, as Donna looked at her, and Terry was unnerved by how unfazed Donna appeared to be by the Doctor's sudden kiss.
The redhead merely looked at Terry sadly, as one who was about to face certain death would, and Terry began to shake her head as the Doctor placed both his hands on a lever in the middle of the console.
'I can't do this.' She thought desperately as the Doctor steeled himself. 'I can't deal with this, I can't. I need to think, and to do that while they look at me like they're about to die, when I know they won't-'
Donna placed her hands over the Doctor's, giving him a look that showed her silent solidarity in his decision. They then looked back at Terry, and she made a decision, unable to bear the despondent but determined looks in their eyes.
"Doctor, listen-" Terry began, when she suddenly started to glow.
"No, not now!" Terry gasped, while the Doctor's eyes widened.
"So, you will survive." He murmured, his voice filling with hope, and Terry looked at him sharply.
"So will you." She told him firmly as she placed her glowing hands over Donna's.
She pushed down, hard, and Donna and the Doctor followed her movement when they felt the pressure. Terry's eyes met the Doctor's as the volcano rumbled and the pod rattled as the mountain exploded.
"Remember, Theta." She thought just before she disappeared from the pod. "Remember what I said earlier about changing one person's world, remember to save them… and don't you dare think that you'll get away with that kiss!"