It had been thirty minutes since the humans had ran off. The Tuell in charge was sure the virus worked and was now working on a bigger dose to unleash on the rest of the humans. The other Tuells weren't so sure the virus worked. Someone should find out. A group of them were talking about who should tell the leader, Sovaz, they were going to check to see if the humans were dead.

Finally, one stood and spoke up. "I'm going to see if I can find the humans and see if they are dead."

Sovaz turned to look at him. At first he said nothing, just stared. The Tuell would not back down.

Finally, Sovaz sighed. "Fine, if you must. But I am confident the virus worked. You will find them dead." He then turned back to his work.

The Tuell then walked off in the direction the humans went.

"My favorite place is this hill that overlooks the city. One of my favorite memories of my parents was going to that hill and watching the sunset."

"Earth sounds amazing." Conner said.

Kyleigh nodded.

"So, your parents, they're ok with you travelling with this Doctor?"

"I'm sure they would be. They died when I was young."

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right. Well, I've been talking about the Earth for a while. How long has it been?"

"Kind of hard to tell in this dimly lit cave, but I would say about thirty minutes. Maybe a little more than that. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, actually."

"Me, too." Conner stood up. "I guess their air-borne virus isn't air-borne at all." Conner held out his hand. Kyleigh took it as he helped her up.

"Which is good for us."

Conner frowned. "Unless it's really slow acting."

Kyleigh hit him. "Don't even joke about that." It was then she realized they were still holding hands; she quickly let go.

"Sorry. Now, to find a way out of here. We can't go back the way we came so," Conner took one of the torches from the cave wall. "we'll have to venture this way."

"What if that way leads to a dead end? What if there's a hole in the floor and we don't see it in time and we fall and break our necks or something?"

Conner glanced at her. "Do you always see the negative of things?"

Kyleigh didn't answer.

"You need to see the bright side of things. Everything will be all right. I promise."

Kyleigh just nodded. She stayed close to Conner, not wanting to get separated. The way they were going was a darker part of the cave. Kyleigh took a few steps into the darkness before she stopped and went back to where there was more light. Conner turned to her curiously.

"You aren't afraid of the dark, are you?"

"No. No, I'm not afraid of the dark. I'm just afraid of what's in the dark."

"I have a torch so we'll be able to see. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Kyleigh knew she was being silly. Besides, they wouldn't get out of this cave at all if they stayed where they were. She went to take a step, but stopped mid-step when the sound of footsteps echoed around them. Neither one of them had moved so who was coming?

Conner grabbed Kyleigh and pushed her behind him. What were they going to do? They had nothing to defend themselves with. They could run, but even that was dangerous. Kyleigh glanced down and saw a rock so she quickly picked it up. At least it would do some damage.

Kyleigh raised the rock just as a Tuell came around the corner. He put up his hands in surrender as soon as he saw Kyleigh held a rock.

"I'm not here to hurt you. Please, just hear me out."

"Why should we listen to anything you say?" Conner asked.

"Please."

"Conner, I'm sure if he wanted to hurt us he would have by now. Maybe we should hear what he has to say."

Conner glanced at her, then back at the Tuell. "Fine."

"My name is Vomere. I am not like the others. I don't want to kill the humans."

Conner raised an eyebrow. "And you expect us to believe that?"

"No, but it's the truth. The air-borne virus didn't work because I tampered with it. I want to save the humans."

"It could be a trap." Conner said to Kyleigh.

"Weren't you just telling me a little bit ago that I need to start seeing the bright side of things? I think we should give him the benefit of a doubt."

Conner stared at Vomere for a minute before nodding. "All right."

"Thank you." Vomere said.

"So…what now?" Kyleigh asked.

"I know the way out."

"Wait. We need the flower that grows around this mountain."

"Sovaz had us pull up all the flowers."

Kyleigh looked down as all her hope left.

"But I kept some."

Kyleigh glanced up at him. "Can you take us to them?"

"Sure." Vomere led the way as Kyleigh and Conner followed. "Sovaz saw some of the humans picking the flowers and figured they might be important. I thought I would save some just in case."

Everything just might turn out ok. Kyleigh thought.

The Doctor had been walking through the cave for a while and aside from the pit of snakes he had not come across anything, evil or otherwise. He was just realizing how big this cave was when he came upon the second fork in the road. Just like the last one he came to, there was one side lined with torches on the wall.

Why would someone take the time to line the cave walls with torches? It would save them a lot of effort to just carry a torch with them. Unless…

The Doctor glanced down the path without the torches. He was sure he had seen something, but maybe he imagined it. Shrugging, the Doctor continued on.

He followed the torches for a bit longer until he came to a more open part of the cave. The first thing the Doctor noticed was the aliens gathered there. The second thing he noticed was what appeared to be a make-shift lab. There could be a reasonable explanation for why a group of aliens were gathered in a cave with different mixtures on a table. Or, the Doctor was right and whatever is going on started here.

Glancing around, he saw no sign of Kyleigh. Maybe she wasn't here. Well, one way to find out what was going on was to make his presence known.

"Hello there." The Doctor said as he walked up to the group of aliens.

They all turned to look at him.

"How did you get in here?"

"I walked in. So, what you got going on here?" The Doctor walked closer to the table with the beakers of liquid.

"That is none of your business." One of the aliens said, blocking the Doctor from getting any closer to the table.

"People are getting sick and dying so I'm making it my business."

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"

"I am Sovaz. And you, Doctor, are about to join those humans you are trying to save. I've already killed the two who were here."

The Doctor's mind instantly went to Kyleigh. Was she really dead? How would he tell Rose that he wasn't able to save her best friend?

He didn't have time to think about anything else as Sovaz threw a vial at the Doctor's feet.

"Now die, Doctor." Sovaz laughed.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's not going to work."

"Of course it is. I've tested it."

"Maybe. But it's not going to work on me because I'm not human."

"You look human."

"They just look Time Lord. Now, what did you do with my friend?"

"You'll meet your friend soon enough. Kill him."

The Tuells closed in on the Doctor. "Well, I would love to stay, but I have places I need to be and people to see." With that, the Doctor turned and started running.

This was a fine mess he had gotten himself into. The Doctor wasn't sure what he was going to find here, but he had no idea that a group of aliens would be making a virus to kill the humans. Luckily the vaccine Trent made seemed to be working. They just need more flowers, the flowers he had no idea where to find.

Then there was Kyleigh. He wasn't going to believe she was dead until he found a body. Kyleigh was smart so he was sure she was around here somewhere.

The Doctor stopped when he ran to part of the cave without any torches. He turned around and noticed the Tuells weren't coming any closer. The fear on their faces was clear, but what were they afraid of?

"Well, come on, then. What are you waiting for?" The Doctor asked.

None of the aliens made a move towards him. They talked amongst themselves, asking who would go. None of them volunteered. In the end, they decided to leave him, saying he was as good as dead anyway. The group then turned and left.

The Doctor stared after them with much confusion. What was it about the dark that had them so afraid? Well, now that he wasn't being chased he could look for Kyleigh. The Doctor grabbed a torch from the wall and continued on.

Kyleigh listened as Vomere explained why he was doing all this. He had no qualms with the humans and enjoyed their company very much. When he found out what some of the Tuells were doing he convinced them he wanted the humans gone as well. Vomere got in so he could stop this.

"I wasn't able to stop the virus from being spread, but I was able to stop it from being air-borne." Vomere explained.

"So we're safe, right?" Kyleigh asked. "We aren't infected?"

"You're safe."

"But now you're cover is blown." Conner said. "I'm sure Sovaz has noticed your long absence. He'll be wondering why you haven't come back yet."

"I wouldn't have stayed undercover for much longer. Some of the others were getting suspicious of me. I guess I was asking too many questions."

Kyleigh stopped, glancing around. The other two stopped when they noticed she was no longer walking with them.

"What's wrong?" Conner asked.

"I thought I heard something."

"Don't wander too far in the dark." Vomere said.

Kyleigh looked at him. "Why? What's in the dark?"

"Let's hope you never find out."

The three of them continued on their way. Conner and Vomere talked about the different things that were on their planet. There was another city that was next to a beautiful waterfall and at night lights of different colors shined bright throughout the city. There was a festival held once a year celebrating the city's founding. The festival lasts for days and there is much food, drinks, and games.

"I've always wanted to go. The festival is starting in just a few weeks." Conner said.

"Maybe we could go there some time." Kyleigh said. "I show you Earth and you show me this city. It sounds wonderful."

"Yeah, it would be wonderful." Conner smiled at her.

Kyleigh smiled back.

"Hey lovers, we're here." Vomere said.

Kyleigh blushed as she turned her attention straight ahead.

Kyleigh was amazed at what she saw. When Vomere said he saved some of the flowers she was thinking maybe about ten, no more than twenty at least. Here, she was sure there were over one hundred. They weren't just picked and thrown on the ground either. They were replanted in pots.

"Vomere, I think you just saved the humans." Kyleigh said.

Guest: Thanks for your lovely review. I'm glad you are still enjoying the story. Reviews are much appreciated and they keep my motivation up. ^_^