A/N: new chappie! enjoy!
Chapter 26: A Patch of Earth
"'Restricted Access'," Olivia read the sign on the metal gate as Amy and the Doctor stared at the machinery beyond it. "'No unauthorized personnel.' Well, we can't get in."
"Oh, Liv, don't you recall?" the Doctor smirked, reaching into his jacket pocket. "We've got Sonics."
He aimed his Sonic Screwdriver at the lock which sparked as it unlocked, making the girls jump.
"That is breaking and entering!" Amy hissed.
"What did I break?" the Doctor shot back as he opened the gate. "Sonicing and entering. Totally different."
"And I'm sure a jury of our peers would see it the same way," Olivia muttered as Amy headed past the gate but the Doctor looked behind them, making her stop and call, "Well, come on. Doctor?"
"You're sure Rory'll catch us up?" he called to Amy before waiting a moment and turning to head after the girls. "We should stay together."
"He'll be fine," Amy insisted as they headed deeper into the construction site.
They made their way into one of the buildings and Olivia held tightly to the Doctor's hand as she felt a hum through her feet. She wasn't sure what it was but she was sure it wasn't human. She frowned as she watched the Doctor pull out the blades of grass from his jacket and examine them before simply holding them, twiddling them in his fingers.
"What about now?" the Doctor asked Amy. "Can you feel it now?"
"Honestly I've got no idea what you're on about," Amy replied blankly, but stopped when the Doctor stopped in the hall, making both girls look to him in wonder.
"The ground doesn't feel like it should," he explained, strolling ahead again and Olivia frowned in disbelief when he bit on one of the blades of grass in his hand, Amy next to them.
"It's ten years in the future," Amy recalled. "Maybe how this ground feels is how it always feels?"
"Good call, but no it doesn't," he replied as he handed the blades of grass to Olivia who took them with a frown then looked around in wonder when she realized there was a siren blaring from somewhere. He pulled out his Sonic and snapped it open to look at it as he said, "Hear that? Drill in start-up mode. After waves of a recent seismological shift and blue grass."
He stopped again, tucking his Sonic away before taking the grass back from Olivia and shoving it into his mouth before he spit it back out, making Olivia frown and cringe in disgust as Amy stopped in front of him, witnessing the scene as well.
"Oh, please!" Amy laughed. "Have you always been this disgusting?!"
"That would be a question for Liv," he replied, throwing the grass he'd just tried to eat away and looked at her. "And judging by the look she's giving me I'd say…no."
"Yeah, the disgusting thing is fairly recent," Olivia nodded as the Doctor looked ahead again to walk forward as Amy chuckled and followed him.
"What's in…" he turned a corner to reveal a huge room and a woman looking at computers as he finished, "…here?"
The Indian woman looked up and whipped off her glasses as the three entered.
"Hello!" the Doctor grinned as they headed toward her.
"Who are you?!" she demanded. "What are doing here?! And what are you wearing?"
"I dressed for Rio," Amy replied, irritably as the Doctor reached into his jacket.
"Ministry of Drills, Earth and Science," the Doctor announced, holding the Psychic Paper up before tucking it away again as he examined the equipment. "New ministry, quite big, just merged. There's a lot of responsibility on our shoulders. Don't like to talk about it. What are you doing?"
"None of your business," the woman replied as the three reached her, looking at the screens in front of her.
Olivia stepped up to one of them as the woman stepped away from the computers and the Doctor watched Olivia for a moment before looking back at the readings on the screens, Amy stepping back to let them examine them.
"What are these readings from?" Olivia asked, not looking away from the screens.
"Under the soil," the woman replied, moving something in the middle of the room.
"The drill's up and running again," an older man called from the door, but Olivia didn't look away from the computer to look at him as he approached, the Doctor kneeling to the floor where there was a huge patch of dirt and Amy leaning on the of the machines on the other side of the room. "What's going on? Who are these people?"
"Amy, Olivia, the Doctor," Amy introduced as the Doctor picked up some dirt to examine it and Olivia remained at the computers. "We're not staying, are we, Doctor?"
"Why is there a big patch of Earth in the middle of your floor?" the Doctor questioned no one in particular.
"We don't know," the woman replied heading back to the computers. "It just appeared overnight."
"Doctor," Olivia called, catching his attention and he looked up at her in wonder as she looked to him over her shoulder and she shook her head. He recognized the look and the gesture as he stood.
"Good…right…" he began as he hurried toward Olivia to stand next to her, ordering, "You all need to get out of here very fast."
"Why?" the woman asked as Amy stepped toward the patch to stare at it.
"What's your name?" Olivia asked her as she and the Doctor both worked at the computers.
"Nasreen Chaudhry," she replied.
"Look at the screens, Nasreen," Olivia instructed. "Look at your readings."
"It's moving," the Doctor murmured.
"Hey!" the older man called, heading toward the three. "That's specialized equipment! Get away from it!"
"What is?" Nasreen asked of what Olivia and the Doctor were talking about.
"Doctor," Amy called from where she knelt next to the hole. "This steam, is that a good thing?"
The Doctor and Olivia turned to look at it, the Doctor stepping around it to pace and Olivia remaining next to the equipment as he admitted, "Shouldn't think so. It's shifting when it shouldn't be shifting!"
"What shouldn't?!" Nasreen questioned him, trying to get an answer as Amy stood tall again.
The ground suddenly shuddered, making them all stumble but they stayed on their feet as a strange sound came from the patch of Earth.
"The ground, the soil, the Earth, moving, but how? Why?" the Doctor continued, unfazed and still pacing.
"Earthquake?" Amy guessed.
"Doctor, it's going haywire!" Olivia called and he raced to her side.
"What's going on?" the man questioned.
"Doubt it," the Doctor finally answered Amy's question. "Cause it's only happening under this room."
At that moment four more patches opened up, making the five in the room gasp and stare at them.
"It knows we're here," the Doctor explained. "It's attacking."
"The ground's attacking us," Olivia realized, running to the Doctor as he held his hand out to her and she took it to stand next to him.
"That's not possible!" Nasreen argued.
"Under the circumstances, I'd suggest…run!" the Doctor replied.
He shot off toward the door as he gripped tightly to Olivia's hand, and she held her hand toward Nasreen as she ran after them. Nasreen instantly caught up, gripping Olivia's hand and the Doctor dragged them to the door, but they soon realized they were missing two people. The three whirled around to see the man kneeling on the ground and Amy trying to make her way past the patches surrounding her.
"Tony!" Nasreen called in panic.
"Stay back, Amy!" the Doctor shouted. "Stay away from the Earth!"
They all watched as Amy jumped over one of the holes, making Olivia gasp in fright as Amy bent over Tony to help him up. The floor gave way beneath her feet and she screamed as she was suddenly knee deep into the Earth.
"Amy!" the Doctor shouted as he shot off toward her, Olivia and Nasreen right behind him.
"Doctor, help me! Something's got me!" Amy shouted before she screamed again and fell deeper into the Earth, now up to her thighs.
"Take my hand!" the Doctor ordered her, kneeling in front of her as he held his hand out and she instantly grasped it, his other hand gripping her arm to attempt to pull her out as Nasreen and Olivia helped Tony stand to make their escape toward the door but they stopped to watch the Doctor and Amy.
"Doctor, the ground's got my legs!" Amy shouted, grabbing his hand and he tried to pull her out. "Don't let go."
"Never," he assured her.
"Hold on, Amy! I'm coming to help!" Olivia called, taking a step forward.
"No!" the Doctor shouted, making her freeze and stare at him. "Olivia! You stay right where you are!"
"Doctor, what is it and why is it doing this?" Amy questioned, panting out of panic.
"Stay calm. Keep hold of my hand. Don't let go," he urged before looking over his shoulder to call, "Your drill, shut it down! Go! Now!"
Olivia watched Nasreen and Tony head for the control room before looking to the Doctor and Amy, feeling useless. She refused to be useless. She made a step toward the two but stumbled as the ground quaked, making her give a shout of surprise.
"Olivia! Don't!" the Doctor shouted.
"But I can help!" Olivia shouted back.
"And who's gonna help you if you get sucked in, eh?!" he shouted over his shoulder. "I can't be in two places at once, Olivia!"
"Can you get me out?" Amy panicked further as he looked back at her.
"Amy, try and stay calm," he urged again, panicking himself as he felt her being sucked further into the ground. "If you struggle it'll make things worse. Keep hold of my hand."
The ground was pulling her further in, now past her waist as he held onto her arm and hand, struggling to keep hold of her and pull her out.
"I'm not gonna let you go," he growled, as if assuring her and meeting the challenge the ground was putting to him. He tried pulling harder, both struggling before his hand slipped and he fell back, making her scream, but he quickly moved back to grab her hand, laying on his stomach.
"Doctor, it's pulling me down!" Amy called in a panic. "Something is pulling me!"
"Stay calm," he urged. "Just hold on. If they can just shut down the drill…"
She was up to her shoulders in it now as she screamed, "I can't hold on!"
Olivia felt tears come to her eyes as she stomped her feet in frustration. There had to something she could do to help, but being stuck in one spot only left her with watching the scene unfold before her.
"What's pulling me?" Amy shuddered as she questioned the Doctor, only her head and arm above the hole now, tears in her eyes. "What is under the Earth? I don't wanna suffocate under there."
"Amy, concentrate," he pleaded with her. "Don't you give up!"
"Tell Rory…" Amy trailed off, whimpering in fear before she was pulled from the Doctor's grip and into the Earth.
"Amy!" the Doctor shouted as her hand slipped from his and she was gone. "No!"
All he could say was 'no' as he tried to dig through the Earth but he knew it was no use as he stood and pulled the Sonic from his jacket to scan the patch. Olivia slapped her hands over her face and sobbed into them, staying where she was as the Earth stopped quaking. She heard Nasreen and Tony return and looked up to see them hurrying toward the Doctor, making her uproot herself from her spot and rush toward him. As he lowered the Sonic he turned just in time to catch Olivia as she threw her arms around him and he felt her sob into his shoulder, silently as he held her.
"Where is she?" Nasreen asked him.
"She's gone," he replied, feeling Olivia jerk with a sob. "The ground took her."
"Theta, I'm sorry," Olivia shuddered as Nasreen went to examine the computers. "If I hadn't distracted you—"
"Don't, Olivia," he ground out, pushing her away enough to stare into her eyes. "Don't start saying this was your fault. It could've been you, then it would've been worse because I'd be even angrier than I am now. So don't."
Olivia bit her lower lip but nodded before lifting her hands to stroke his cheeks, keeping his gaze as she whispered, "We'll get her back, Theta. I know we will."
"Is that what happened to Mo?" Tony asked, drawing their attention to him before the Doctor began pacing and Olivia headed toward the computers to examine them with Nasreen. "Are they dead?"
Olivia bit her lip again as she examined the screens, trying desperately to stop the tears gathering in her eyes from falling as Nasreen looked to the Doctor who still paced next to the patch of Earth.
"It's not quicksand," he replied, making Olivia look back at him as he still paced. "She didn't just sink. Something pulled her in. It wanted her."
"The ground wanted her?" Olivia frowned in wonder as he looked to Nasreen.
"You said the ground was dormant," he recalled, still pacing. "Just a patch of Earth when you first saw it this morning and the drill had been stopped."
"That's right," Tony nodded as the Doctor looked to Olivia and she seemed to realize what he had in that moment.
"But when you re-started the drill the ground fought back," Olivia breathed, keeping the Doctor's gaze and he nodded to her.
"So, what? The ground wants to stop us drilling?" Nasreen frowned sardonically to Olivia as the Doctor pulled out his Sonic and knelt next to the patch to scan it again. "That is ridiculous."
Olivia stepped up to the patch to watch the Doctor work, ignoring Nasreen's comment and frowning in wonder when the dirt moved slightly and gave a rumble until the Doctor lifted his Sonic, snapping it open to see the results of his scan.
"I'm not saying that, and it's not ridiculous, I just don't think it's right," the Doctor replied before leaning his forehead on his hand and laughing softly, "Of course. It's bio-programming."
"What?" Nasreen scoffed as Olivia nodded as if she should've known as well as he tucked the Sonic away.
"Bio-programming!" he called again as he jumped to his feet, clapping as he shouted, "Clever!"
"Bio-programming is using bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects," Olivia explained to Nasreen and Tony.
"It's mainly used in engineering and construction, mostly jungle planets, but that's way in the future, and not here," the Doctor explained, making Olivia smile at his gestures and words as he still paced. "What's it doing here?"
"Sorry, did you just say 'jungle planets'?" Nasreen wondered if she'd heard right.
"You're not making any sense, man!" Tony snapped, making the Doctor stop and look to him with a frown.
"Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense," he replied. "You're just not keeping up."
Nasreen crossed her arms in front of her with a scoff as Olivia held a hand up to silently tell him to calm himself. He glared at her but she only raised a brow at him and he rolled his eyes before turning back to Nasreen and Tony.
"The Earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack," he explained.
"Yeah, even if that were possible—which, by the way, it's not—why?" Nasreen questioned.
"To stop you from drilling," Olivia replied before the Doctor took over again.
"Ok, so we find what's doing the bio-programming, we can find Amy, we can get her back," he explained before he glanced around then ordered, "Sh! Sh! Have I gone mad? I've gone mad."
"Doctor—?" Olivia frowned.
"Sh! Sh! Silence! Absolute Silence!" the Doctor ordered, holding a finger up and making her stare at him with wide eyes but she obeyed. The three watched him in wonder as he stepped over the patch to stand with them and he asked Nasreen, "You stopped the drill, right?"
"Yes," Nasreen replied, as if he should know.
"And you've only got the one drill?"
"Yes," Nasreen drawled again.
"You're sure about that?"
"Yes!" Tony hissed.
"Doctor?" Olivia called, cautiously but received a finger pressed to her lips, firmly, making her frown at him as he looked around the room. He hopped over the patch again and laid down on the floor to press his ear to the ground.
"So, if you shut the drill down…" he trailed off for a moment before finishing, "…why can I still hear drilling?"
Olivia frowned as she knelt down to touch the floor, Tony and Nasreen both leaning closer to the patch to listen as well.
"It's under the ground," Olivia realized, staring at the Doctor.
"That's not possible," Tony argued as the Doctor shot to his feet.
"Ok, you guys really have to stop saying things like that," Olivia warned as she stood and headed toward the computers, the Doctor using his Sonic on them before she began typing at the keyboards.
"Oh, no!" Nasreen called, rushing toward them to stop them, Tony right behind her. "What are you doing?!"
"Hacking your records," Olivia replied, not looking away from the screens as she typed the Doctor gently pushing Nasreen back. "Probe reports, samples, sensors…"
"Good," the Doctor nodded, watching her work. "Just unite the data, make it all one big conversation."
"Alright, dear, let's have a look…" Olivia murmured in concentration before standing tall. "So, we're here and this is your drill hole."
"21.009 kilometers," the Doctor nodded before looking to Nasreen and Tony as they looked at him. "Well done."
"Thank you," Nasreen replied cautiously. "It's taken us a long time."
"Why here, though?" the Doctor asked. "Why'd you drill on this site?"
"We found patches grass in this area containing trace minerals unseen in this country for…twenty million years," Nasreen replied.
"The blue grass!" Olivia recalled.
"Oh, Nasreen," the Doctor smiled, patting the woman's shoulder. "Those trace minerals weren't X marking the spot, saying 'Dig Here.' They were a warning. 'Stay Away.' 'Cause while you've been drilling down, somebody else has been drilling up."
"Doctor, look at this," Olivia urged, typing at the computer before drawing their attentions to it.
"Oh…beautiful," the Doctor murmured before explaining, "Network of tunnels all the way down."
"No, no," Tony objected, gesturing to the screen. "We've surveyed that area."
"You only saw what you went looking for," the Doctor replied before something started beeping on the screen, catching their attentions.
"Oh…what…what are they?" Nasreen wondered as they all looked to three glowing dots on the screen.
"Heat signals," Olivia replied, reading the screen then frowned and typed at the keyboard. "No…wait. Dual readings…hot and cold. That…doesn't make any sense. Now they're moving…fast. Doctor—"
"How many people live nearby?" the Doctor asked Nasreen and Tony.
"Just my daughter and her family," Tony replied. "The rest of the staff travel in."
"Grab this equipment and follow me," the Doctor instructed before grabbing Olivia's hand and pulling her toward the door.
"Why?" Nasreen called. "What are we doing?"
The Doctor wheeled around again to march back toward them, still dragging Olivia with him and she felt his grip tighten on her hand as he replied, "That noise isn't a drill. It's transport. Three of them, thirty kilometers down. Rate of speed looks like about one hundred and fifty kilometers an hour. Should be here in…ooh…quite soon."
"Twelve minutes," Olivia replied, doing the math as he rattling off the numbers.
He turned to head back toward the door, leaving the two to gather the equipment and still dragging Olivia with him as he called, "Whatever bio-programmed the Earth is on its way up…now."
Olivia looked up at him and knew he was angry because whatever was coming up must have been what had Amy…at least they both hoped. She let him drag her through the building as she concentrated on using their telepathic link, and when he stopped dead to stare down at her, she felt him respond to her touch to his mind.
"Theta…" she tried, their eyes locking and he gave a nod that he'd heard her. "Amy's ok. I know she is. We'll get her back."
He took in a slow breath and she gave a smile when he nodded before lifting her hand to kiss it. The moment was lost when they both heard Nasreen and Tony hurrying toward them and he turned to lead them out of the building.
"Thank you, Liv," she heard his voice in her mind as he dragged her behind him. "You always know just how to calm me down. It's one of the many reasons I love you."
"I love you too, Theta," she smiled before the link faded and they were silent until the Doctor led them outside and they hurried down the trail to Tony's daughter's home.
"How can something be coming up when there's only the Earth's crust down there?" Tony questioned as they hurried down the trail.
"You saw the readings," the Doctor replied.
"Who are you two, anyway?" Nasreen question as they lugged the equipment after them. "How can you know all this?"
Something red flared in the sky making them all stop and stare.
"Did you see that?!" Nasreen asked as they all still stared at the sky, seeing a web of red lights flaring in the sky.
"No, no, no!" the Doctor chanted.
Olivia looked to him with a frown before he let go of her hand and reached into his jacket to pull out a slingshot, making her eyes widen before he lifted a rock from the ground and used the slingshot to shoot the rock at the sky. The red webbing hissed and fizzed when the rock hit it and Olivia frowned up at it again as the Doctor tucked away the slingshot and she instantly pulled out her Sonic to aim it up where he'd hit it.
"Energy signal originating from under the Earth," she reported to him, using the telepathic interface as she still aimed her Sonic at the sky, the sonic waves making it go red with glowing red veins all around the area. "We're trapped."
"Doctor!" they heard Rory call and Olivia looked to him to see him hurrying toward them down the street from one of the houses, a woman and a boy hurrying after him. "Something weird's going on here. The graves are eating people."
"Not now, Rory!" the Doctor called, still staring at the sky as Olivia still scanned it. "Liv, what else are you reading?"
"It's an energy barricade," Olivia reported. "Invisible to the naked eye."
"We can't get out, and no one from the outside world can get in," the Doctor explained.
"What?" Rory blurted before thinking for a moment then added, "Ok, what about the TARDIS?"
"The what?" Nasreen questioned.
"Uh, no, those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits," the Doctor replied as he waved to Olivia that she lower her Sonic, and when she obeyed, the red of the barricade faded to become invisible again. "With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got nine and a half minutes."
"Nine and a half minutes to what?" Rory asked, looking to his watch.
"We're trapped and something's burrowing towards the surface," Nasreen explained for the three that hadn't been with them and Olivia felt her stomach turn when she noticed Rory looking around for someone, and she knew who.
"Where's Amy?" he asked, making the Doctor look to him.
"Get everyone to inside the church," the Doctor ordered Tony and Nasreen instead of answering Rory's question, making Olivia sigh as she stepped toward Rory, resigned to the realization that she was going to have to tell Rory what had happened as the rest of them grabbed the equipment and headed toward the church.
"Rory," she called, drawing his attention to her as she tucked her Sonic away then placed her hands on his shoulders to meet his gaze. "We'll get her back."
"What do you mean 'Get her back'?" Rory questioned, glancing around at the people that passed them before he looked back at her, demanding, "Where's she gone?"
Olivia sighed as she wrapped her arm around one of Rory's to pull him with her, following the group to the church.
"The Earth took her," Olivia explained, making Rory stare at her with wide eyes as they hurried along.
"How?" Rory questioned. "Why didn't theDoctor stop it?!"
"He tried, Rory!" Olivia snapped defensively, shoving him away so they could face each other as they stopped walking. "I watched him! He tried!"
"Well he should've tried harder!" Rory yelled an inch away from her face as she only glared back at him, standing her ground until she felt a hand on her arm and looked up to her right to see the Doctor staring at Rory. She stepped back and let the Doctor stand face to face with Rory as she took in a deep breath to calm herself.
"I'll find Amy," he assured Rory, meeting his gaze evenly. "I'll keep you all safe, I promise."
Rory gave a soft scoff and Olivia sent a glare to him but the Doctor placed his hands on Rory's shoulders, urging, "Come on, please. I need you alongside me."
Rory only stared at the Doctor for a moment before the Time Lord stepped away, seeing his answer in the man's gaze and Rory looked to Olivia as she headed after the Doctor but he caught her arm before she was out of reach.
"I'm sorry…I yelled," he murmured. "It's not your fault. Either of you."
"It's alright," she nodded, looking up at him as he let go of her arm and she placed her hand on his shoulder to look him in the eye. "We'll get her back, Rory. I swear to you, we will."
A/N: another reason it took me so long to get to this is because i wasn't sure if i should have Olivia being sucked into the ground along with Amy and experience everything from that point of view, then I realized that would've been WAY too much for the poor Doctor. he's already dealing with losing Amy to God knows what, i couldn't take Liv from him too. reviews?