Chapter Twenty One
A/N: No reviewers.
"We're going around in circles." Rory despaired, despite him being the one leading the group.
"No, we're not." Reinette was quick to argue, waving the penny still gripped in her hand, the gesture a little more victorious than her father would have liked. "I've been marking the wall everywhere we've gone. We can't have been here before."
Rory made a ridiculous sort of expression, as if he was trying to bite his lip and cheek at the same time. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides as he began to walk faster, trying to put a little distance between himself and the little girl.
"Rory, don't run off!" John exclaimed, pulling Reinette close by the arm in case she started wandering off as well. His trouble was rewarded with a furious glare, but at least she remained silent. "We've got enough people to find as it is, we don't need to split up anymore."
Reluctantly, the man slowed his pace, coming to lean against the wall with his arms crossed, looking startlingly similar to a stroppy teenager. John shook his head, gritting his teeth together to stop himself joining the argument; the task ahead seemed difficult enough without having two children to mind.
"There's got to be something." John murmured, scanning the walls around him. "There has to be some way the Silurians tell their streets apart."
"Maybe they do it the same way we do." Reinette pointed out. The two men looked at her a little blankly. "All streets look the same. That's why we have street signs."
The girl kneeled down carefully in the dirt, looking over every inch of the wall at the junction between two corridors. She was almost ready to give up when she saw a symbol.
"There's something here!" she exclaimed, pulling her father towards her. The man barely caught sight of it before his mouth went slack, the edges beginning to twist into a smile.
"It's a number." he explained, gabbling a little, wanting to get moving as soon as possible. "The Silurians have a different numerical system, but it was like a language translation for the TARDIS. That's still in my head, I suppose, because I can still read it."
"The Silurians minding us said something like that." Rory added, his face screwing up in concentration. The TARDIS translation was finally beginning to kick in, and he could not help but wonder if the machine hated him slightly for not doing so earlier. "Me and the Doctor were at Junction 16. Amy's at 19."
"This is 12." John affirmed, reading the symbol a second time to make sure he was not mistaken. "We can't be far away."
"Let's go, then!" Reinette exclaimed, already wandering off in one direction. They had not yet ascertained which direction they needed to be walking in, but the two men supposed they would find that out soon. Once again, John was shocked by how similar Nettie was to her mother; she would take action first and accept the consequences later.
It took an hour or so of walking- including retracing their steps when it turned out they had been going in the wrong direction- but eventually they came to a door, the stark white lights visible through the gap beneath it. They ought to have waited, really, planned their attack, but Rory burst through the door without hesitation, relieved to see the sleeping face of his wife still secured to the stretcher.
"Amy!" Rory exclaimed, managing to keep his voice relatively quiet. He ran towards the woman, gently shaking her shoulder. "Amy, wake up! Wake up, we have to go!"
"Leave me alone." the redhead murmured, her Scottish accent prevalent in her sleep-heavy voice. Rory could not help but smirk at that. Even in the most dangerous of situations, Amy never seemed to change.
"Amy, it's Rory. We have to get out of here." he pressed, tapping his palms gently against her cheeks. Finally, the young woman's eyes shot open, her pupils tiny as she was almost blinded by the light.
"Did you just slap me?!" the Scot exclaimed, her eyes narrowing with fury. "Did you actually just slap me?!"
"Amy, I really don't think this is the time." Rory sighed, undoing the bindings holding his wife to the stretcher. She staggered forwards, her limbs sore from disuse, then turned to face him. She looked as if she did not know whether to hit him or hug him. Eventually she chose the latter.
Reinette watched her friends reunite with a tiny smile on her face, but she could not help but wish it was her parents together instead. At least then she could shift the awful weight pressing down on her shoulders.
"Guys, we need to go." the little girl pointed out, biting her lip anxiously. "We still need to find my mum and the Doctor."
"Of course we do." Amy agreed, breaking free of Rory's embrace and wrapping her arms quickly around Reinette. "We'll find them, kid, I promise. And then we'll get out of here. Everything's going to be fine."
"I know." she answered, trying to look convinced. If she pretended that everything would end well, perhaps she could make it come true by sheer strength of will.
"That's the spirit, kid." Amy chuckled gently, running a quick hand over the girl's matted blonde hair before joining her husband as they headed out into the corridor, at least having the sense this time to check they would not face any Silurian opposition on their journey.
"Mum is going to be okay, you know." John told his daughter, bending down to press a kiss to her forehead. "I promise."
It was her father's reassurance that finally gave Reinette the confidence she had been lacking. John Smith had never lied to his daughter, not once in her entire life. Surely he would not start to do so now.
Confident that they would find her mother, Reinette clutched her father's hand, setting off to follow Amy and Rory down the hallway. All they had to do was find the Doctor, then find a way to wake her mother and get back to the surface. It could not be that difficult.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review!