Right, time to find out what the Doctor's message says! Will they find the Doctor himself? Wait and see!

Chapter 21: Found!

I must have passed out after all, or perhaps the headache grew so strong that everything else became a blur, because I did not remember seeing the repeat of the terrible scene. I came out of my trance or whatever it was only when we reached our 'base' and Martha gently lowered me onto the couch before rushing off for a cup of tea.

That lessened the headache considerably, and I realised now why the Doctor favoured it after a regeneration. Martha then began feeling my side, concluding that there was no lasting damage.

Finally, everyone was gathered for River to translate the half-human Doctor's message.

Her words confirmed what I had assumed earlier. "There's only a word and a number." She announced, her voice sad. "It says 'Goodbye, two'."

She looked around and her expression indicated that she believed it was as simple as that; a goodbye message for Rose and the real Doctor. But Rose and I thought differently.

"No. It's a code." I said quickly.

Rose nodded somewhat less eagerly. "Yeah, I think I know what it means. I know where he is."

"Where?" Sarah-Jane asked curiously.

Everyone looked towards Rose, similar expressions of puzzlement on their faces.

She obliged. "Goodbye, two. It means Darlig Ulv Stranden. Bad Wolf Bay, where we've said goodbye to each other twice. Well, me and the fully Time Lord Doctor."

"Yeah, I think the same." I agreed. "He wouldn't just tell her goodbye. Not in a situation like this."

"I hope not!" River cried. "That man can be impossible!"

"Well, let's plan a trip there, then." Mickey announced, quickly getting to his feet as though ready to leave right at that second, even though we had just been through what we had.

"How?" I demanded. "There are Xenomorphs everywhere! We'd be captured, and you know there's no guarantee that I can do what I did again."

"We know." River said, who had been explained already about our ordeal. "But there is a sure-fire way to get out of the city. Once we're out of the shield, we can use this." She held up a device I recognised: her (or Martha's) Vortex Manipulator.

"Shield?" I asked.

"There's a defence around every town and city." Martha explained. "Blocking all teleportation units. The Xenomorphs think there's no way to get out, but there is."

"So why haven't you left before?" I asked, curious.

They all shared looks and didn't respond. I suddenly understood; after the death of the Doctor, they simply hadn't had the will to.

Line

The next morning the six of us were huddled in amongst groceries and such in a courier van, heading out of London. The ride was more than slightly uncomfortable, but the very fact that we were now free of Xenomorphs and on our way, hopefully, to a version of the Doctor gave us hope.

When the van stopped at the first residence outside the city, we snuck out the back and tore off behind a few trees, waiting until it had gone on. River attached the Vortex Manipulator and set the coordinates.

"Right, now Bad Wolf Bay is really out in the open." Rose reminded everyone. "We have to hope that there aren't any Xenomorphs around when we get there."

We all nodded. As one, we placed our hands over River's and braced ourselves. The familiar blue light surrounded us, and the next thing we knew we were standing on a Norwegian beach. The sky was just as clouded as it had been every other time, the sea seemed to boil and fizz in the background.

"So," I began. "Where would he be? He's obviously not gonna be just standing down the shore."

"No." Rose, who seemed to have taken up the unofficial position of leader, agreed. "My best guess would be underground, like we've been."

"What? Under the sand?" Martha asked.

"No." I murmured, having been looking around. "Under a giant sand dune!"

Everyone turned to see what I was looking at; a huge hole large enough for a human to walk upright burrowed in to the biggest sand dune I had ever seen. It must have been twenty metres tall and had collected in-between two cliffs.

Then, a horrible hissing and clicking sound met our ears. I glanced up.

There, on the top of one of the cliffs, were two Xenomorphs. They knew. Somehow, they knew and they had been waiting for us.

To put it simply; we ran!

We slipped and slid across the sand – not the easiest ground to be running over when wearing sneakers – towards the tunnel entrance. Once inside, the thuds of the Xenomorphs jumping to the ground told us pursuit was on its way.

After a few more seconds of running, we almost ran into a huge round metal door. It actually looked like one of those doors that lead to where the money is kept in a bank. A safe door. The Doctor must be inside.

We all started banging on the metal.

"Doctor!" Rose screamed. "Doctor, it's us! Let us in!"

"Please, Doctor!" Martha added.

"There's Xenomorphs on our tail!" Sarah-Jane cried.

"Open the door!" I shouted. River pulled out her gun. Mickey went to stand next to her, his weapon also in his hands.

The aliens were upon us. The cramped conditions gave us a minor advantage, as the Xenomorphs had to stoop to avoid hitting their heads on the roof of the tunnel. But even as I watched, one slammed River into the side, where she crumpled, dazed.

Then, like a miracle; the creaking and groaning sound of a door that hasn't been opened for months. The metal door slid inwards enough for us all to fit in one at a time. A hand beckoned.

"Come on! Come in! Quickly!"

Martha grabbed River and pulled her inside. Sarah-Jane squeezed in, as did Rose. I followed and then reached out to grip Mickey's sleeve and drag him inside, too, as he was still trying to shoot the Xenomorphs.

The second that we made it, the Doctor slammed the door shut again. A Xenomorph claw appeared in the crack between the door and the wall, but with an incredible shove from the Doctor, it retracted the hand. He re-locked it, then leaned against it, panting.

We all stared at him and his…well, I don't know what you would call it. Half-laboratory, half-living room, half-bedroom. That was because it was just one quite large room, where all the walls and ceiling were fitted with the same metal as the door.

Half-built devices scattered tables, the floor and the bed, glowing liquids were stacked on a shelf along with what appeared to be a miniature TARDIS model, clothes were strewn everywhere and about twenty cups of tea with only the dregs in them were scattered around the room.

In short, it appeared the Doctor had gone to pieces.

He came over to stand in the middle of the room, looking at us all and running a hand through his hair.

"Well, yes…um…as you can see…um…it's a bit messy." He started hurriedly trying to pick up some of the clothes.

"Doctor." Rose said.

"Honestly, you'd think I'd clean up more often. I don't know…I just sort of…let go…"

"Doctor." She repeated, her voice breaking somewhat.

"I'm glad you've all come, of course, it's just…well…I don't know how much I can-"

"Doctor!" she finally screamed.

He looked up and his face showed all the emotions that the Doctor normally didn't: fear, guilt, love, more guilt, shame.

She ignored it all and went to embrace him in the tightest of hugs, while we all watched on with mixed emotions ourselves. I was feeling a combination of joy and hopelessness.

The Doctor, to my relief, returned her hug and planted a kiss on her forehead. (remember, this is the human Doctor, so their relationship would be even stronger and more open than the Time Lord Doctor).

"It's good to see you, Rose." He said quietly, before turning to the rest of us. "And all of you as well!" his eyes rested on me and his face, for the first time, split into a huge grin. I was reminded painfully of my Doctor waiting in the TARDIS, probably worried sick about me. "Talia! You've come, too! I thought you must have disappeared as I had!"

He pulled me into a hug, too, which I returned, but knew I had to explain things soon. I waited until he had properly greeted all the others before I said, "Doctor, a lot of things have been happening. For starters, I'm not the Talia you know."

And so I launched into an explanation of who I was and how I had gotten here. The others joined in with clarifying points or to add descriptions of what has happened since I arrived. Finally, I explained my plan to rid the world of the Xenomorphs.

"So, what do you think?" I asked at the end. "Do you have a way to help us?"

Considering the state of the room, I wasn't holding up too many hopes.

I was right. "If I had a sonic screwdriver, it would be no problem." The Doctor said sadly. "But at the moment I don't have the equipment to build anything sonic, let alone a screwdriver."

Just like that, it was over. All our hopes, all our plans had just been crushed.

We all sat down on clear parts of the floor and fell silent.

"Hey, don't do that." The Doctor said quickly. "I'm sure we can think of something. Just because I can't build a sonic, doesn't mean there's nothing we can do."

"Do you have a computer?" Martha asked without much enthusiasm.

"Uh…yes."

"With internet?" River added.

"Yes. It's hooked up to a subwave network."

My ears pricked up. "This network wouldn't happen to be created by Harriet Jones, would it?" when everyone looked at me strangely, I muttered, "Never mind."

"What good is a computer going to do?" Sarah-Jane's voice sounded as though she had completely lost hope.

I looked over at Rose and saw that her mind was working overtime. "Well, we know that the Xenomorphs have a psychic network running over the whole of Earth. That's how they show the…you know what…every day."

The Doctor was nodding. "Yes and…" he turned to each of us in turn, finally stopping on one. "Mickety-Mick-Mickey! You still a whiz on a computer?"

"Sure are, boss." He said, standing up.

"Reckon you could tap into the psychic network?"

Mickey was at the computer in a second, which was a laptop. "It'll take me a while, but I reckon I can!"

"Great!" The Doctor cried. "While you do that, I'm going to use this…" he went and lifted up a huge satellite dish and dumped it on the bed. I hadn't even noticed it before, as it was in a corner. "And a few other things I've got lying around here to get the sound into the network! We can do this!"

Can they? More will be explained about how next chapter! Now, I'm putting a poll up on my page that I'd really like you all to participate in as to (in a few chapters, once Talia gets back home) whether or not Donna should be brought into it?