Disclaimer: If I owned Doctor Who, Alex would most likely be canon.
The doctor continued to approach the girls, specifically Amy. Amy fidgeted, tugging on her restraints. There was no way in hell that she was going to be dissected. "Don't you come near me with that!" she shouted as she stared at the pointy scalpel.
The doctor lowered his mask, exposing more of his green reptilian skin. He then turned on a recording device and began speaking into it. "From the clothing, the human females appear to be more resistant to the cold than the male."
"We dressed for Rio!" Amy cried.
"Leave her alone!" the man shouted. Alex was guessing that this was the Mo Nasreen and Tony had been talking about. "You've got me!"
But the scientist seemed to be done with Mo. He lifted up a device and pressed a button, causing all of the clamps on Amy to clamp down tighter. Amy yelped and Alex watched, eyes wide, as the scientist got closer and raised his scalpel.
"Commencing dissection…"
"WAIT!" Alex screamed. "Start with me first!"
Alex waited a beat, hoping that the scientist would take the bait. A second later, he lowered the scalpel and stepped away from Amy, the latter letting out a sigh of relief. Then, she realized what Alex had said and her eyes widened and she looked over at Alex in horror, praying that she wasn't actually suggesting being dissected first.
Alex waited until the scientist had stepped a good distance away from Amy before launching into what she hoped would be a convincing argument. She wasn't quite thrilled with being dissected herself but if it saved Amy, she'd gladly suffer through it. "Amy's alright, quite enough for a routine dissection, but me? I've got something a little different."
"Alex, no!" Amy cried.
Alex ignored her. "I have these crazy mental abilities. Something attacks my mind? My brain attacks it back. It literally forces several of my body systems to shut down." By this point, she could tell that she had gotten the scientist's interest peaked.
"Shut up Alex!" Amy snapped, hoping that the girl would, for once, listen to this command.
"Don't you want to see what else is different?" Alex questioned, trying to make an encouraging gleam appear in her eyes. It must've worked for the scientist began to step forward, again brandishing that pointy scalpel.
He leaned forward to speak into his recorder again. "Dissection of the first human female shall be postponed in favor of the second human female, unknown abilities."
Amy felt tears welling up in her eyes and she began thrashing back and forth, trying to break free of her restraints. She couldn't allow this to happen. "ALEX!" she screamed frightfully.
As the scientist approached her, Alex closed her eyes and bit her lip. She was doing a good thing. She was buying them some time for the Doctor to arrive and she was also saving Amy from what was probably going to be absolute pain.
Alex bit down harder on her lip as the clamps around her ankles and legs locked tighter, keeping her still as the scalpel tore into her flesh.
The Doctor and Nasreen walked through the maze of tunnels. It seemed almost impossible to find anyone in this place. "This place is enormous and deserted," the Doctor observed. "The majority of the race are probably still asleep." He whipped out his sonic and started waving it around. "We need to find Amy and Alex. Looking for heat signature anomalies."
"But Doctor, how can this all be here?" Nasreen questioned. She looked down in amazement as they went over a bridge above a sea of magma. "I mean, these plants…"
The Doctor shrugged as they came to another tunnel. "Must be getting closer to the center of the city," he guessed.
Nasreen nodded but looked around the tunnel nervously. "You're sure this is the best way to enter?"
"Front door approach! Definitely!" the Doctor smiled. "Always the best way."
Which was a nice thought until, a second later, alarms began sounding out all around them. "Hostile life forms detected. Area seventeen."
"Apart from the back door approach," the Doctor muttered, looking all around for an approaching force or army. "That's also good. Sometimes better."
"Hostile life forms detected. Area seventeen."
"Doctor!" Nasreen cried as a door in front of her slid open, revealing several armed Silurian soldiers. They rushed out through the door as more came from the tunnel behind the Doctor and Nasreen.
"Hostile life forms detected. Area seventeen."
Oh, shut up! The Doctor thought irritably. He held up his hands in what he hoped was a non-confrontational gesture. "We're not hostile," he calmly protested as the soldiers continued to approach. "We're not armed. We're here in peace."
But the Silurian's didn't seem to care. Instead, they lifted up a strange device, gas pouring out of it. In just a few seconds, Nasreen and the Doctor were lying unconscious on the floor.
Amy bit down on her lip, keeping her eyes shut so tight you would've thought they had been screwed closed. Her skin was puffy from crying silent, agonizing tears as her best friend was dissected.
To her credit, Alex had barely made a sound during this whole process. Other than a slight gasp or yelp, she had been completely silent. Of course, Amy could hear the knife cutting and slicing quite clearly. She now knew more about the human body than she had ever learned in anatomy and more than she ever wanted to know. She wanted to scream as the doctor calmly and methodically made his observations and recordings.
After what felt like hours, Amy heard what sounded like thread being snipped. There was a slight yelp from Alex and then silence. A few minutes later, she heard footsteps backing up and the doctor speaking into his recording again. "Second human female surprisingly normal. Commencing dissection of the first human female."
Amy flinched. No. No way was that happening. She'd kick and swear and scream before she allowed that man to come near her. She opened her eyes, exposing her bloodshot irises, watching fearfully as the scientist stepped towards her again. Just as she was bracing herself for the worst, a voice sounded out from a speaker. "Area seventeen incursion. Species diagnostic requested. Area seventeen incursion. Species diagnostic requested."
The scientist sighed and placed the scalpel down. Amy watched as he unlocked their cuffs enough to where they weren't crushing everyone's wrists. He then placed the device in his pocket and turned away, but not before Amy had picked his pocket.
"Yeah!" she called after him as he raced out the door. "And stay out!"
Once the door shut behind him, Amy quickly unlocked herself before jumping down to release Mo. "How did you get that?" he asked as he hopped down and began buttoning his shirt.
"You never picked a lizard man's pocket?" Amy asked wryly, in an attempt to get Alex to laugh or make some sound. But still, there was silence and it was beginning to get alarming. Alex made her presence known. This whole silence thing wasn't like her. Hesitantly, Amy turned to her friend. Her stomach dropped and she felt like she wanted to cry and scream and throw up.
Alex's eyes were tightly shut, her cheeks red and blotchy from crying silent tears. She was biting down on her lip so hard, Amy could see blood. But that wasn't the worst part. Alex's shirt had been unbuttoned for the dissection and Amy could see the wicked looking vertical scar that stretched down from Alex's chest to her navel. The scar was actually a long series of stiches, explaining the snipped thread Amy had heard earlier. Alex's shirt was bloody in several places and her hair had completely plastered to her head from sweat.
Amy rushed forward and quickly unlocked her. "Alex!" she cried fearfully as the girl slumped down from the board. Mo rushed forward and helped Amy catch her. Alex felt limp, alarmingly limp. The two gently lowered her to the floor.
Amy leaned over her and ran a hand through Alex's hair, surprised by how damp it was. "It's okay," she murmured, trying to calm the clearly terrified girl down. "Just relax. Everything's going to be fine." She knew this was what Alex would do if their positions were reversed and that it would work on her. She could only hope it would work on Alex.
Alex stopped biting her lip and Amy winced at how deep she had bitten it. Hastily, she buttoned the girl's blouse and wiped some sweat away. "We need to get you out of here," she deduced.
Amy and Mo carefully helped Alex to her feet, each of them wrapping one of her arms around their shoulders. "How long were you weak after your dissection?" Amy asked Mo.
"A couple hours," Mo answered. "But it'll probably be different for her than me."
Amy nodded. Mo was a strong man in his late twenties or early thirties. Alex was a young twenty-year-old girl. It would be a bit harder for her to bounce back as quickly as Mo had.
The trio slowly made their way out of the laboratory, Alex occasionally trying to break free of their help but Amy and Mo pulling her back every time. Alex still hadn't spoken yet but she was probably too weak to.
Mo, however, made up for it. "That creature," he wondered, "do you think it was an alien? Any more of them, do you think? Do you think the Earth's been invaded?"
"Don't know," Amy admitted as Alex got a thoughtful look on her face. If she was seriously thinking this over, that meant she was slowly coming back to them. "But I know someone who could have some answers. We need to get back to the surface and find him." She looked around the tunnel and spotted a wall panel. "I wonder where this leads."
"Maybe it's a way out of here," Mo hypothesized.
Amy reached out and pressed a button on the panel. A screen lit up and then the actual room behind the door. It was tiny, little more than an alcove, and was cluttered with various equipment that was all hooked up to a very lifeless looking Elliot. Alex gasped and managed to break free of Amy's grip as Mo broke away to move closer to the glass. "Oh my God, no!"
"What is it?" Amy asked as she tried to grab Alex but the latter simply leaned against the wall next to the alcove and gave her a dry look.
"It's my son," Mo choked out. "It's Elliot! What've they done to him?" He ran to the panel next to the door and tried to open it. "He's in there! We have to get him out! Elliot? Elliot, its Dad!"
"Access denied," the computer stated after one of Mo's attempts to open it. "Unauthorized genetic print." Mo's response was to start banging on the glass.
"Stop!" Amy exclaimed, reaching out to grab his arm. "Seriously, we can't get in."
"That's my boy in there!" Mo protested.
Alex sighed and began tapping on the glass with one fingernail. The two turned and followed her gaze to the various machinery hooked up to Elliot. Amy grinned once she saw her point. "Yes! Thank you Alex! These screens, they're monitoring something. I think they're vital signs. Heartbeats, pulses. Why else would he be wired up? He's alive."
Mo looked at her a little skeptically. Frankly, Amy didn't blame him. She'd probably react the same way if she were a parent. "Are you sure?"
"Trust me," Amy said. "That's what Alex over there is saying and she is one of the smartest people I know. Her word is guaranteed."
That got a smile from Alex. "Thanks Ames," she managed to croak out.
Amy let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God!" she cried, rushing forward and hugging the girl while being mindful of her stiches. "You can speak!"
"Of course I can speak," Alex retorted, albeit weakly. "I can't strain myself though. I'm trying to conserve energy." She took a shuddering breath before saying "It takes all of my energy not to fall over."
"All right," Mo said in response to Amy's previous comment. "We find weapons, get that creature from the lab and force it to release Elliot, yeah?"
Alex frowned, clearly not agreeing with this plan, but Amy nodded. "Yeah. Trust me. We'll get him out."
Meanwhile, the Doctor had just woken up but now that he knew what was happening, he'd have much rather been unconscious. He was currently strapped upright to a table and was being scanned. He cried out in pain as a female soldier in front of him conversed with the scientist controlling whatever this painful process was.
"How can they have escaped?" the female soldier angrily demanded. "This proves all prisoners should remain under military guard!"
The scientist sighed, clearly used to the soldier's ranting on this subject. "I'm sure you'd prefer to be in charge of everything and everyone Restac," he said patiently, "but we rank the same. Is there any word from Alaya?"
"No," Restac said flatly before turning to watch the Doctor wither in pain.
"It's fine to show concern, you know," the scientist gently reminded her. "She's part of your gene-chain." He looked over at the Doctor before telling him "I'm decontaminating now."
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Decontamination?" he repeated. He writhed and twisted more as that very process began. "No, no, no!"
"It's all right, it won't harm you. I'm only neutralizing all your ape bacteria."
"I'm not an ape!" the Doctor protested. He nodded over at the machinery surrounding the Silurian scientist. "Look at the scans! Two hearts! Totally different. Totally not ape! Remove all human germs, you remove half the things keeping me alive!" His back arched as a new measure of pain raced through him. "Ah!" The scientist, noticing this, hurriedly shut off the decontamination machinery.
"No, complete the process!" Restac ordered. She struck the Doctor as the type who would enjoy drowning kittens or something equally cute.
"Oh, that's much better, thanks!" the Doctor sighed, leaning back against the table. "Not got any celery, have you? No. No, not really the climate. Tomatoes, though. You'd do a roaring trade in those. I'm the Doctor." He looked over to the table next to him where Nasreen was waking up. "Oh, and there's Nasreen. Good."
"Oh, a green man," she muttered, sounding startled and amazed at the same time as she looked at the Silurian scientist.
"Hello. Who are you?" the Doctor asked Restac.
"Restac, military commander."
The Doctor frowned. That wasn't good. "Oh dear, really? There's always a military, isn't there?"
The scientist then decided to jump into the conversation. "Your weapon was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city," he informed them.
"Oxygen pockets, lovely!" the Doctor nodded. Then, realizing what the scientist was implying, quickly corrected himself. "Ooh, but not so good with an impending drill. Now it makes sense."
"Where is the rest of your invasion force?" Restac demanded.
"Invasion force," the Doctor dully repeated. "Me and lovely Nasreen? No. We came for the humans you took." Ally, you mean, the Dream Lord in his mind corrected but the Doctor shoved that side of him away. "And to offer the safe return on Alaya." He paused, noticing the similarity between Alaya and Restac. Those two could be twins. In fact, they probably were. "Oh wait, you and she, what is it, same genetic source? Of course you're worried, but don't be, she's safe."
"You claim to come in peace, but you hold one of us hostage," Restac retorted. She motioned for some nearby soldiers to take position by the Doctor and Nasreen.
"Wait, wait, we all want the same thing here!" the Doctor cried.
"I don't negotiate with apes," Restac stated firmly. It was clear to the Doctor that her mind about apes, er…humans was made up and it'd be next to impossible to change it. "I'm going to send a clear message to those on the surface."
"What's that?" the Doctor asked warily.
"Your execution."
"Yes…" the Doctor nodded. How the hell was he supposed to get out of this one?
Amy, Mo, and Alex slowly walked down a tunnel. Alex was still very weak. In fact, Amy worried that Alex was possibly going to pass out. She didn't know how much blood Alex had lost during the dissection but Mo had privately told her it was quite a bit by his estimate. Also, her stitches were very fragile. If Alex made any quick, jerky movements, she risked popping them.
Amy bit her lip nervously. Of course, this was just one of the two worries racing through her mind right now. The other one was how the Doctor was going to react when he learned Alex had been dissected. Amy shuddered. There were no words, at least none she could think of, to accurately describe how pissed the Doctor was going to be when he found out. Hell, Amy wouldn't be surprised if he ripped that alien scientist's head off. She knew he was protective of Alex and vice-versa but she didn't know how far that protection went.
Well, she was going to find out pretty soon.
"We've got to find some weapons!" Mo declared, pulling Amy back to the present. There was a huff from Alex, who was none too pleased about using weapons on these aliens. She hadn't said anything since they began moving again but she was making her displeasure very clear.
Amy looked around the tunnel they were going through. On both sides were several chambers with glass panels in front of them. She carefully eased Alex's arm out from behind her neck, leaving Mo to carry all the girl's weight. "These chambers are all over the city," she observed. She placed a hand on a sensor in the wall, causing two of the chambers to light up, revealing masked and armed warriors inside.
Alex and Amy gasped. "Turn it off quick!" Mo shouted. Amy obliged and visibly relaxed as the lights went off. Mo leaned in closer, Alex slowly following him.
"They're…not moving," Alex said slowly, taking a deep breath after she said this. She inched away from Mo and sank down against the wall. Amy watched her worriedly. There was no doubt in her mind now that Alex was very weak. They had to find the Doctor and soon.
"Maybe they're asleep," Amy suggested. She inched back over to the sensor. "Let's have another look." With that, she pressed the sensor again.
"No, Amy, don't!" Mo objected. "Don't!"
The lights came on again, the warriors as still as ever, and the doors opened as well. Amy went inside one and looked around the tight space. Again, the warriors didn't move. "Amy, what are you doing?" Mo demanded. He looked at Alex desperately to see if she could stop her.
"Stop. No. Bad Amy," Alex said half-heartedly.
Mo sighed and turned back to Amy. "Get out of there!" he tried.
Amy, of course, ignored him. She looked the warriors up and down and noticed they were standing on small round discs. "Some sort of suspended animation," she mused. "I wonder what these are. The Doctor would know. The Doctor always knows."
Mo, now convinced that the warriors weren't suddenly going to spring to life and attack them, peered into the chamber. "Hey, look!" he exclaimed, pointing upwards.
Amy craned her head. Above each warrior was a tunnel, which appeared to go a long ways upward. "Wait, I've got it!" she cried eagerly. "It's how they came up to the surface. Some sort of powered transport discs. It's our way out of here."
But Mo wasn't focusing on that anymore. "Even better, weapons," he said, reaching in and taking some kind of gun with a dish on it from one of the soldiers. "Come on, now we can fight back."
Almost reluctantly, Amy reached out and grabbed the other gun. She frowned, noticing there were only two. She gazed over at Alex, who gave her a look that translated as Do I even look like I can hold a weapon, much less want to? Amy nodded slightly and came out. She and Mo carefully maneuvered Alex's arms back around their shoulders and set off.
"Which way now?" Mo wondered.
"Door at the end," Amy advised. It made sense, seeing as that was the only proper door in their immediate surroundings.
"Are you sure?"
Amy shook her head. "No."
She separated from Alex and walked ahead to open it. Once they were all through, they all stopped dead in their tracks. They were now standing on a balcony overlooking a large chamber. Warriors in glass cases stretched as far as the eye could see. Alex felt a burn go through her stomach and she was pretty sure it didn't have anything to do with her dissection.
"Wow," Mo breathed.
"Yeah," Amy said.
"We don't stand a chance," Mo remarked.
Amy looked over at Alex who, while trying to look strong, looked more exhausted and weak. "We have to find the Doctor," Amy said, more to Alex than to Mo.
Luckily for them, the Doctor was getting closer. He and Nasreen were currently being escorted somewhere. As they went through a large garden, the Doctor told Nasreen what he knew about the Silurian's.
"These must be the only ones awake," he theorized, looking around the soldiers escorting them. "The others must still be in hibernation."
"So, why did they go into hibernation in the first place?"
"Their astronomers predicted a planet heading to Earth on a crash course. They built life underground and put themselves to sleep for millennia in order to advert what they thought was the apocalypse, when in reality it was the moon coming into alignment with the Earth."
Restac and the scientist, who by now the Doctor knew as Malohkeh, stopped in their tracks and stared at him in amazement. "How can you know that?" Malohkeh asked.
"Long time ago, I met another tribe of Homo Reptilia," the Doctor told them. "Similar, but not identical."
"Others of our species have survived?" Restac breathed. Amazingly, she sounded hopeful…almost human.
The Doctor winced, not liking what he was about to tell them. "The humans attacked them," he answered grimly. "They died. I'm sorry."
Within an instant, Restac's entire demeanor changed. She glowered and spat "A vermin race!" She twirled on her heel and led them on through the gardens into a large round structure and then into an elaborately decorated circular-shaped room. A long table sat in the middle of the room with rows of benches flanking the walls.
"You're not authorized to do this!" Malohkeh argued.
"I am authorized to protect the safety of our species while they sleep," Restac calmly retorted. Apparently, she was used to others challenging her authority.
The Doctor looked around the room. It was rather impressive. "Oh, lovely place," he complimented. "Very gleaming. Ally would love this."
"Who's Ally?" Nasreen asked. "Is it that Alex girl?"
The Doctor frowned at her word choice. That Alex girl…those words weren't becoming of Alex. "Yes," he answered slowly.
Nasreen, sensing she had said something wrong, quickly backtracked. "Of course. Right!"
Restac, growing bored of this conversation, jumped in. "This is our court and our place of extermination."
It was utter coincidence that Amy and Alex happened to be right outside a door on the other side of the room when this sentence was uttered. Upon hearing that, Amy ran through the doorway, gun held aloft, even though she had no idea how to shoot it. "Let them go!" she shouted, aiming her gun at Restac.
"Amy Pond, there's a girl to rely on," the Doctor laughed as Mo came through the doors behind them, also brandishing a gun.
"You're covered both ways," Amy informed the soldiers, "so don't try anything clever, buster."
The Doctor almost smiled…until Alex stumbled in through the door behind Amy.
Amy didn't even have to turn around. She knew exactly who was there based on the Doctor's expression. His brow furrowed, his eyes flashed dangerously, and overall, he looked absolutely terrifying. He ran past all the guns still aimed at him and over to Alex, who had now collapsed to the ground.
"Ally!" he cried, sinking down next to her. He placed her head in his lap, noticing how damp her hair was. And that wasn't all. The skin under her eyes was puffy from crying, there was a deep gash in her lip from where she had bitten it hard, still oozing blood, her skin was deathly pale, and she was breathing heavily, as though the whole process of collapsing to the floor had been the equivalent of running a five-k.
"What happened?" he questioned, moving one hand through her hair and placing the other one to rest on her side, his fingers inadvertently touching her stitches.
Alex yelped at his touch there. The Doctor frowned and hesitantly tapped the spot lightly. When Alex's face twisted in pain, the Doctor frowned and moved both his hands to the bottom of her shirt. He pulled it up enough to see the stitches running down Alex's abdomen. Slowly, he fixed the shirt, his eyes never leaving Alex's, though a part of her wished they would. They were dark pools of black, absolutely no mercy in them.
"What. Did. They. Do. To you," the Doctor stated lowly. His entire body was shaking with rage. A burning sensation ran through his veins, filling him with enough fury to rival his one decline into madness as the Time Lord Victorious.
He gently eased Alex's head to the floor and stood. He whirled around, the ends of his jacket flapping. Everyone literally took a step back as they saw his expression. The Doctor looked murderous. His eyes were so black you could literally see your own terrified reflection in them. His lips were pressed into a thin line, nearly disappearing completely.
"What did you do to her?!" he shouted at Malohkeh. The scientist, thankfully, had the decency or conscience one to look apologetic and guilty.
The Doctor marched across the room. Everyone backed up out of his way, even Restac, who was watching everything with a guarded expression. Of course, Amy had no doubt she was secretly scared as well.
The Doctor backed Malohkeh into a corner of the room. Despite the multiple guns, no one attempted to stop him. In truth, they weren't sure what he would do if they tried that. "You dissected her," the Doctor spat out. It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes," Malohkeh answered, albeit hesitantly.
"WHY?!" the Doctor roared, his voice seeming to shake the entire room.
"Scientific purposes. It was part of the decontamination."
Amy closed her eyes and hissed slightly. Oh shit. Lizard boy had just made a big mistake.
"Scientific purposes?!" the Doctor repeated. "What the bloody hell does dissecting a young, able-bodied girl have to do with decontamination?!"
But he didn't give Malohkeh a chance to answer. Instead, the Doctor slammed him back into the wall, pressing an arm over his throat. It didn't make contact, but the point was clear nevertheless. "You have no idea how much trouble you are in," the Doctor hissed in Malohkeh's ear. "You dissected someone I care for very much. You tortured her and made her suffer through something that should never have occurred."
"Doctor," Alex mumbled as she tried to raise herself up on her elbows.
"You made her bleed out," the Doctor continued, not hearing her. "I should really do the same to you."
"Doctor!" a faint voice cried out before the Doctor could tell Malohkeh just how long it would take the warriors to scrub the scientist's blood off the walls. The Doctor stiffened and leaned away slightly from the petrified Silurian.
Alex's breath hitched as she struggled to sit up. She winced as a wave of sudden pain hit her but she was determined to see it through. "Doctor, please!" she called. Her eyes were watery and her voice shaky. "Please stop! Before you do something you'll regret! Please!" With that, Alex all but toppled back onto the floor.
Though he was turned away from them, everyone could tell that the Doctor had been affected by Alex's words. His posture was stiff and guarded. Suddenly, the Doctor released Malohkeh, muttering an almost inaudible apology before making a beeline back towards Alex. He knelt down next to her and ran a hand through her hair. It was shocking how quickly his personality had changed all because of one girl. Instead of the mad lunatic they had seen, there was now a calmer, gentle person before them.
Amy, deciding to get things back on track before Restac had the chance to truly absorb what had just happened, called out "Now let them go, or I shoot." Restac began to move over to her. "I'm warning you!"
But Restac ignored her. Instead, she reached out and disarmed Amy, pushing her to the ground.
"Don't you touch her!" the Doctor called out.
"And you," Restac nodded at Mo. Within an instant, he was disarmed as well.
"Alright Restac," Malohkeh stepped up. Amazingly, being threatened by the Doctor had struck a chord in him. He was amazed by how much the non-human male cared for the young female. It was obvious he really loved her. "You've made your point."
Restac stepped up to him. "This is now a military tribunal," she told him. "Go back to your laboratory, Malohkeh."
The two hissed at each-other, though what they were saying had to be left up to imagination. "This isn't the way," Malohkeh said as a soldier poked him in the back with a gun. Rather reluctantly, he left, but not before giving the Doctor and Alex another apologetic look.
The second he was gone, Restac ordered "Prepare them for execution!"
Within just a few seconds, the soldiers had the whole group chained up to a pair of columns on one side of the room. Alex, however, had simply been moved to sit at the Doctor's feet. Based on the way she was acting, Restac figured she couldn't get up even if she wanted to.
"Okay, sorry," Amy apologized. "As rescues go, didn't live up to its potential."
The Doctor smiled a little at her. "I'm glad you're okay." He then glanced down at Alex, who looked she was hovering between consciousness and unconsciousness.
Amy followed his gaze and bit her lip. "Will she be okay?" she asked worriedly.
"I think so," the Doctor said hesitantly. "When get back to the TARDIS – which we will – I'm going to have to run a bunch of tests on her and fix her up. I think she lost quite a bit of blood."
"I tried to stop her," Amy said. "But she insisted. She even told him about her mental abilities. That sealed the deal."
"She was trying to protect you," the Doctor deduced. He looked down at the girl and felt a bunch of confliction run through his mind. He liked that Alex was so willing to help others but he hated how selfless she had been at that moment in Malohkeh's laboratory.
Amy nodded, grateful that Alex had sacrificed herself to save her but also slightly mad with her too. Alex could've died after all. "So…" she said slowly, looking around the room. "Lizard men?"
"Homo Reptilia," the Doctor corrected her. "They occupied the planet before humans. Now they want it back."
Nasreen, hearing the conversation, jumped in. "After they've wiped out the human race."
Amy nodded but her eyes were a little wide in shock. "Right. Preferred it when I didn't know, to be honest," she muttered.
Nasreen looked over at Restac and the soldiers. The soldiers were all lined up in a firing squad, multiple gun barrels staring them down, but they were making no move to shoot. "Why are they waiting?" she wondered quietly. "What do you think they're going to do to us?"
The group watched as Restac turned away from them and nodded off to someone on the other side of the room. A second later, a large holographic projection appeared in front of them. On the screen, they could see Rory, Ambrose, and Tony standing around, talking quietly. "Who is the ape leader?" Restac demanded.
"It's them!" Ambrose squeaked, rushing closer to the screen. "How are they doing that? How do they know that we're in here?"
"Who speaks for the apes?" Restac repeated.
The group on screen looked at each-other, talking quietly amongst themselves again, before Rory stepped forward. "I speak for the humans," he said. "Some of us, anyway."
"Do you understand who we are?" Restac asked.
"Sort of," Rory nodded. His confident face fell slightly and he added "A bit. Not really."
"We have ape hostages." Restac calmly informed them. She apparently zoomed out the image for Rory, Ambrose, and Tony's faces turned to ones of alarm and shock.
"Doctor! Amy! Alex!" Rory shouted. He then noticed that Alex wasn't tied up like the others and was actually sitting on the floor, looking rather weak. "What happened to Alex?" he demanded.
However, before the Doctor could attempt to explain Alex's dissection – and he had no clue how to do that without making Rory become murderous as well – Ambrose jumped in. "Mo!" she cried, looking at her husband in relief. "Mo, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, love!" Mo called. "I've found Elliot! I'm bringing him home!"
"Amy, I thought I'd lost you!" Rory cried, moving his focus away from Alex. He figured he'd get answers at a more appropriate time.
"What, cause I was sucked into the ground? You're so clingy!" Amy teased but she quickly winked at him.
"Tony Mack!" Nasreen cried.
Tony grinned at her. "Having fun down there?"
"Not to interrupt," the Doctor jumped in, "but just a quick reminder to stay calm."
"Show me Alaya," Restac demanded. Alex, despite nearly being out of it, was listening attentively. Under Restac's soldier persona, she caught a bit of worry and emotion in her words. Clearly, this Alaya was important to her. "Show me, and release her immediately unharmed, or we kill your friends. One by one."
"No!" Ambrose shouted. Alex frowned.
"Ambrose…" Rory warned.
"Steady now, everyone," the Doctor said, remembering how he had almost screwed everything to bits when he threatened Malohkeh. Not that the man hadn't deserved it, of course.
"Ambrose, stop it!" Tony scolded. He tried to pull Ambrose away from the screen but Ambrose wasn't having it.
"Get off me, Dad!" she cried, pushing him away. She turned to look back at Restac. "We didn't start this!"
"Let Rory deal with this, Ambrose!" the Doctor called.
Ambrose ignored him and simply glared at Restac. "We are not doing what you say anymore. Now, give me back my family!"
"Who is this chick?" Alex muttered up to the Doctor.
"Ambrose, Tony's daughter," the Doctor replied.
"I got that much," Alex said. She turned back to look at the screen and then at Restac, who was absorbing Ambrose's words. "But she certainly isn't helping matters."
The Doctor was about to ask what Alex thought of Ambrose and if she shared his suspicions about the girl when Restac's words cut through any process of thought. "No," she said, glaring at Ambrose. She turned to the soldiers. "Execute the girl!"
A/N: *jumps behind desk to avoid any sharp objects* So...I had Alex get dissected. Yes, I know, how evil of me! The idea for that came when I was reading 'Linked Through Time' by LizzeXX. I was stunned that she had her OC get dissected and I wondered what it would be like if Alex also got dissected. Poor Alex. :( And who thought the Doctor's Oncoming Storm moment was epic? If Alex had been completely out of it, the Doc probably would've ripped Malohkeh's head off and the warriors probably would've spent a while scrubbing all the blood off the walls. :( Good thing Ally calmed him down though! But, I will admit, she's not out of the woods yet...dissection on a human being? Not pretty. :( But on the bright side, the original chapter will be up on Thursday with a LOT of Dalex fluff to make up for this! :D
Notes on reviews...
TheGirlWhoWaited - Yep, Alex got dissected. :( And he IS hopeless without Alex, isn't he? You have to wonder how he spent 900 something years without her. :)
ShadowTier - You were right [don't you love when that happens? :)] about Alex getting dissected and the Doctor nearly losing it. Don't worry, I'm putting my all into the moment they get together. :) Glad you're looking forward to the original chapter!
Gwilwillith - Thank you!
ElysiumPhoenix - No, Alaya's still getting killed off. :( And I can promise Alex's reaction to it will be good. :)
SopherGopherroxursox - Okay... *winks* Glad you like the ship-name! ;)
Timey-Wimey Somn-Like Lass - Glad you're excited for those bits! Though the idea about Alex meeting almost all the Doctor's is still in the planning stages, I will say that the first three Doctors will be a bit wary and suspicious of her, but also intrigued, like he is with River Song, a few of them will have crushes on her, and that the companions are going to have a lot of fun teasing their Doctors about her! :) Yes, Rory dies. :( But he comes back again, so it all works out. :) Vincent will be intrigued by Alex and don't worry, he will like her! Not very many people hate her, except the Daleks and the odd alien. Not even River, who really just tolerates her. Ooh, 'The Lodger' is a FUN episode! Out of the two of them, Alex will act the most normal, but her trying to explain the Doctor's various comments does come off a bit strange. :) No, Alex won't play soccer but there is a cute scene where she and the Doctor play ANOTHER sport! Oh, good thought...obviously can't say what happens in those episodes, but I think you'll like it. :)
rycbar15 - Now you know what I meant about the furious part. :{ Yeah, I don't really like 'Hungry Earth' because there's not a lot you can do with it, but I plan on tweaking it around a bunch for future stories. :)
jesterlover - Yeah, the Doc about killed Malohkeh, didn't he? Good thing Alex calmed him down though. :)
pennyintheair1234 - I'm glad you like how I fit Alex in! Oh, wow, I think that too whenever I watch older episodes. I was watching 'Let's Kill Hitler' earlier today and my mind was mostly focused on what Alex would say or do if she was there! :) Glad you adore the story!
Thank you to those that reviewed and to those who favored/followed this story. Now, I have to go study for a map quiz in history tomorrow. :( Please review and see you tomorrow!