The Companion Connection
By Lumendea
Chapter Fifty-Two: The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith: Down a Dark Hall
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
…..
Everything happened really fast all at once. Rose summoned her sword while the Doctor tried to pry the TARDIS doors open as the creature on the stairs shrieked. Risking a glance at the TARDIS, Rose tensed when the Doctor failed to unlock the doors. The Doctor spun towards Schreck and glared up at him.
"Really, did you have to do that?!"
"I must," Schreck spoke in a voice that was nothing like Rose expected. It was smooth and rhythmic, almost musical. "I must!"
"Must what?" The Doctor stepped forward, gently pushing Donna back to join the other companions.
"Must," Schreck repeated. "Must!" He started moving towards them.
"Uh," the Doctor glanced around, "Into the lounge!"
Everyone rushed through the door; Benton and the General drawing their pistols. The Doctor slammed the doors and sealed them with the sonic screwdriver. There was pounding and hissing on the door a moment later, but it quickly faded as the creature quieted.
"Well, that wasn't fun," the Doctor said. He turned back to the group and grinned. "Right then, everyone together. Blimey Sarah, you look lovely!"
Sarah Jane grinned at him and stepped over next to Johnny. "This is Johnny Chesterton, Doctor."
"Nice to meet you," the Doctor said with a huge grin. "Absolutely brilliant." The Doctor shook Johnny's hand and looked around at his companions. "Great to see all of you."
"Doctor?" Victoria asked. "Did you get our messages from Rose?"
"I did," the Doctor told her warmly. "In my last body actually."
Rose shrugged when everyone looked at her. "Like I told you, my timelines compared to his are a bit messy."
"This is all very interesting and touching Doctor," the General interrupted. "But an alien in the building and we have maybe an hour to fix it."
"Good to see you too Alistair," the Doctor said with a smirk. "But you are right." The Doctor paused and shifted on his feet uncomfortably. "The problem is that the alien in question is a Terika."
"And a Terika is?" Barbara asked, raising an eyebrow.
"A powerful pacifistic society who use their psychic abilities as counsellors," the Doctor said before looking at them all sharply. "They feed on the energy caused by important memories and experiences, so when they are working as counsellors and people are recounting their trauma they grow stronger while helping drain away some of the negative emotions. It is a symbiotic relationship and they are allowed on pretty much every planet in their native galaxy."
"So it was drawn here because of our shared experiences?" Mel asked. "But it trapped us!"
"Something else is going on here," the Doctor muttered, glancing at Rose.
"It kept saying must," Rose recalled with a nod. "And looked like it was in pain."
"So is it under something else's control?" Donna asked.
"I'm not sure yet," the Doctor admitted. "I can't think of any species that could override a Terika's natural pacifist instincts."
"But it could be possible?" the General asked with a stern look.
"Oh, it's possible, just not a pleasant idea." The Doctor shook his head, "Right now the Terika has activated something that is known as a 'Safety Field' in the practice. It is a force field that cuts off access and contact to the outside world to keep any outside influences from entering a session. However, Schreck's ship has to be inside of the field."
"So we split up to look for it," Benton said. "But what about the Terika?"
"He should come after me once I unseal the doors," the Doctor said, "I've got the most experiences bubbling away in my noggin. The rest of you stay in groups and try to find his ship."
"Then what?"
"Since the 'Safety Field' is up, then the ship will be open and you'll be able to see an open green panel. Inside that will be a large green button. Just press it to lower the safety field."
"That's it?" Barbara said.
"You have to find it," the Doctor reminded her, "this is a large building and the ship is about the size of a person. And it may blend in. Some Terika's work in war situations and no one is supposed to know they are there."
"Then how do we find it?" Jo asked.
"Tap anything that looks big enough three times quickly. That's the normal uncloaking method."
"Wonderful," the General said shaking his head. "Absolutely wonderful."
"Two groups then," Sarah Jane said, "Benton with me and Alistair with the others just in case."
"Good, you take care of that and I'll find our friend and see if I can't' figure out who is controlling him and why."
"I'm coming with you space man," Donna said stomping after him.
"Donna-"
"If you're careless and that Schreck or whatever gets you then we won't know it!"
"She's right Doctor,' Rose said stepping forward, "I'll go too."
The Doctor looked like he wanted to argue, but seemed to accept that he'd never win. "Fine then, Donna and Rose with me and the rest of you find that ship. Once you do, go outside and wait." He held up his hand to avoid any arguments, "I mean it!"
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and unsealed the door. He opened them carefully to reveal the empty main hall. "Interesting," he muttered stepping outside. "Let's try upstairs first."
Donna nodded and turned and to give a wave to the other companions before following Rose and the Doctor up the stairs.
"You look wonderful Rose," Donna said after they were on the next floor.
"Thank you," Rose said with a smile. "I should have known that my being in a dress would result in problems."
"Now you sound paranoid," Donna remarked with a chuckle.
"Donna, the universe loves throwing aliens at me," Rose said. "So yeah, I am a bit paranoid."
The Doctor chuckled and caught Rose's hand with his. She smiled at him, "I'm glad you came. It made Sarah Jane very happy."
"Even though there's an alien?" the Doctor questioned.
"Schreck was already here," Rose said with a smile. "Besides, it just wouldn't be a Companion Club reunion without an alien. We'll fix this, have the wedding, and all laugh about it later."
The trio stopped in the hallway as a horrible screaming sound echoed down it. "What's the plan?" Donna demanded.
"I need to get close enough to it to start psychic contact," the Doctor said, "Hopefully I can disconnect Schreck from whatever is controlling him."
"I wonder if Schreck is his real name?" Donna mused quietly.
"I doubt it," the Doctor replied. "It isn't a Terika name and it's the surname of the actor that played the vampire in Nosferatu, which I suppose makes sense given that he lives on drawing energy out of other creatures. It just normally isn't violent or harmful."
"A psychic vampire," Donna muttered. "Lovely thought, thank you so much for that space man."
Rose chuckled and shrugged, "I've never seen that movie."
The Doctor paused and turned to look at her. Very seriously he said, "We'll have to fix that."
"Oi," Donna snapped, "Plan your next date later, deal with the psychic vampire now."
"She's right," Rose said to the Doctor with a smirk.
"I know what you two get up to when he drops me off to see my family," Donna said knowingly.
The Doctor smiled and shook his head. They turned a corner as another loud snarl echoed down the hallway. 'We're getting close," the Doctor said.
"Any ideas on how to get close?" Donna asked.
"No, I've never seen a Terika act like this," the Doctor admitted. "In reality, I'm not completely sure what he might be able to do. Just stay close to me and hopefully, the others will find the safety field control soon."
Sarah Jane tapped the altar three times and waited, but nothing happened. She supposed that making the ship look that way would have been too obvious. Turning, Sarah Jane saw Jo running through the room, tapping anything roughly her size.
"I wonder how the General's group is doing?" Victoria said out loud, "Hopefully better than us."
"Alistair took the lower levels," Sarah Jane said, "That's more along the lines where I'd hide a ship."
Benton was watching the doors of the large room with a wary look. He kept adjusting his small radio in hopes that the General would find the ship and shut it down.
"Don't worry so much John," Jo said pleasantly. "The Brigadier, I mean the General, can look after himself. The Chestertons, Tegan and Mel can manage I'm sure."
"We've checked everything in this room," Ace announced with a huff. "Next room. I bet it is in a storage room somewhere out of the way where there wouldn't be a risk of anyone tapping it."
"Maybe," Sarah Jane said. "But it isn't like people wander around tapping things."
"Children do," Jo said with a wistful smile. "I remember when-"
"Now's not the time, Mum," Henry Jones said with a fond smile. "So, is it always like this when all of you are together?"
"Actually this is pretty calm," Sarah Jane admitted. "No explosions or screaming yet and only one alien. I guess the universe is being nice."
"Well it is your wedding day," Rani said with a grin. "The universe should be nice."
"Come on," Luke said with a sigh. "Ace is right. We've covered this room. Let's move on."
Benton nodded and carefully opened the door and glanced down the hall. "Alright, it's clear."
Ace rolled her eyes and moved past Benton and towards the next door. Sarah Jane chuckled and shook her head. She motioned for the others to follow her to the next room. Jo, Luke, Rani, Clyde, Henry, Santiago and Benton all followed. This was going to be a long hour.
The Doctor kept trying to track the source of the howls and shrieks from the Terika, but Rose had the sense that it was managing to lead them in circles. This was an interesting feat since the building wasn't really that large, just built like a maze.
"Maybe we should split up?" Donna suggested.
"No," the Doctor said. "You're both human and have no defence against psychic attack." He looked back towards the main stairs, "I don't want either of you getting close to this thing alone."
Rose nodded and turned to look down one of the side hallways. It was a bit darker and had signs of ongoing restoration work. The old warning of 'the blonde dies first' repeated in her head. "Maybe this way."
"Why that way?" the Doctor asked.
"We're looking for a psychic vampire right? This way is darker and spookier."
"Is spookier a word?" Donna asked.
"Yes, it is," the Doctor said with a nod. "Well, I can't argue with that." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a flashlight. "Come on then."
"Finally," Donna muttered. "Something useful in your pockets."
Rose shivered as they stepped into the section being renovated. There was no heat and it was strangely cold for the summer. Of course, her dress didn't help matters at all. They heard another scream, this one much closer, and Rose called forth her sword.
"That won't do much," the Doctor said.
"I saw that earlier," Rose muttered. "How does it do that?"
"It's complicated," the Doctor said with a sigh, "But Terika physiology has been altered over the last five thousand years to make it possible for cell's of the same genetic makeup to rapidly heal and remerge. Their brains are highly advance to the point that they can survive this."
"So they can't be killed?" Donna gasped.
"Oh they can be killed," the Doctor said with a shrug, "An electric surge through the body limits the cell's ability to communicate and reform. Or you can just cut them up and take the pieces far apart."
"I'm worried about how you know that," Donna muttered.
"Nothing like that!" The Doctor defended. "The Terika were not always peaceful and got into some trouble using their abilities to pose as gods. Fortunately, it was discovered that distance was an issue when they tried to reform."
"That sounds familiar," Rose said with a frown.
"Mythology on Earth," the Doctor replied with a chuckle. "You lot attract aliens and the Terika have only followed their psychic healer path for a thousand years."
"I hate it when you do that," Donna said with a sigh, "Just turn everything I know about Earth upside down."
"That's why I don't study history," Rose said with a chuckle, "I always suspect alien interference," Rose grinned, "And I know that he was around somewhere."
The Doctor suddenly stopped and frowned. The Doctor motioned for them to stay still and took a step forward. "I know that something is hurting you," the Doctor called out. "I can help you. I know that you don't want to hurt anyone. It is against everything you've ever worked for."
Rose heard something to the right and turned towards it, raising her sword. Then there was a push against her head, but it wasn't real. She groaned and stumbled back. Vaguely she heard Donna call for the Doctor and felt the redhead catch her.
"Rose!" she heard the Doctor shout.
Her vision blurred for a moment and she felt weightless. Rose forced her eyes open. She was lying in the hallway alone. Forcing herself up, Rose stood with shaky legs and leaned against the wall.
"Doctor?" she called, "Donna?!"
"Hello Rose Tyler," a smooth male voice said behind her.
Rose turned and blinked in surprise. A tall man a little older than her with brown hair and green eyes was standing at the end of the hallway in the light. He was smiling widely at her, "So nice to finally put a face to a name."
