Aneres' breathing picked up as the Ood continued closing in, murder in their eyes and poison in their words. She could feel adrenaline rushing through every nerve ending while the beating of her hearts skyrocketed and her fingers twitched. Before she could register what she was doing, Aneres lunged forward and grabbed the gun from Jefferson's crewmate just as Jefferson shouted.

"Open fire!" Aneres pulled the trigger immediately, watching as bullets streamed from the gun and embedded themselves in the body of the Ood. Jefferson stared at her in shock. By the time he processed it, the last Ood had fallen to the floor, along with the guard, having been taken out by one of the Ood. Zach's voice crackled over the comm system.

"We're stabilising," He paused, "We've got orbit."

Aneres looked down at the gun in her hand, and then down at the ground where she had dropped the comm. Before she could move, Rose dove to the ground and grabbed the radio.

"Doctor? Doctor, can you hear me? Doctor, Ida, are you there?" She looked up as door 25 opened and Jefferson prepared to shoot with Aneres by his side. They relaxed, however, when Danny entered with his hands up.

"It's me! But they're coming," He turned and shut the door, "It's the Ood. They've gone mad." Aneres brought one hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose while the other took comfort in the weight of the weapon it held. She looked up at the ceiling and forced her mind to clear, focusing only on the main problem at hand: murderous aliens.

"How many of them?" Jefferson demanded.

"All of them! All fifty!" Danny shouted back. Jefferson rushed forward and pulled Danny away from the door as they caught a glimpse of the Ood on the other side of the door.

"Danny, out of the way. Out of the way!" He shouted. Aneres followed Jefferson close behind, her gun hanging by her side for the moment.

"But they're armed! It's the interface device. I don't know how, but they're using it as a weapon," Danny rambled, allowing Jefferson to pull him away from the door. Aneres raised an eyebrow and held her gun up, processing the new information as quick as a light while Jefferson started to open the door.

As soon as it opened a crack, Aneres caught a glimpse of an Ood and immediately fired two bullets. Her eye twitched as the metal ripped through the alien's skull and sent blood spraying on the walls. Jefferson flinched back, opening the door fully, revealing the rest of the Ood to Aneres. The corners of her mouth lifted. Her finger squeezed down. Ood started falling like dominos.

Aneres stared down at the corpses littering the hallway absentmindedly while her fingers fiddled with her gun. "We need to move, we won't be safe here."

Jefferson swallowed and nodded. He spoke into the comm system. "Seal door 24. Seal door 23."

"Jefferson, what's happening there?" Zach demanded over the comm. Jefferson sighed and kept staring at Aneres.

"We've got very little ammunition, sir. How about you?"

"All I've got is a bolt gun. With er, all of one bolt. I could take out a grand total of one Ood. Fat lot of good that is."

"Given the emergency, I recommend strategy nine."

"Strategy Nine. Agreed," Aneres stared at the comm in Rose's hands, "Right, we need to get everyone together. Aneres? What about Ida and the Doctor? Any word?"

"Rose had the comm, you'll have to ask her," Aneres snapped back as she knelt down and started going through the Ood's pockets. She grinned as she managed to find a few packs of ammunition and carefully stowed them in the pockets of her jeans.

"Rose, are they there?" Rose shook her head.

"I can't get a reply. Just nothing. I keep trying, but it's-" Static erupted from the comm, followed by the Doctor's voice.

"No, sorry, I'm fine. Still here." Aneres let herself relax slightly, but not so much that she would be vulnerable. She walked over and held out one of the two packs of ammo she'd found to Jefferson.

"You'll need this," Aneres whispered. Jefferson nodded and took it from her.

"Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" He asked. Aneres sighed and looked up at him.

"War," He winced and looked away. Aneres rolled her eyes. "Don't do that, it looks stupid."

"Rose, where's Aneres? Is she alright?" The Doctor asked frantically over the comm. Aneres stared at the device before ripping it out of the blonde's hand and bringing it up to speak into the mic.

"I'm here Doctor. I was just helping Jefferson here with our current dilemma," She admitted, knowing he would understand what she meant. As expected he was silent for several seconds before replying slowly.

"Are you safe?" Aneres smiled slightly.

"Yeah, for now. You?"

"Yeah, me and Ida. Hello. But the seal opened up. It's gone. All we've got left is this chasm," He explained. Aneres listened as he described it.

"How deep is it?" asked Zach.

"Can't tell. It looks like it goes down forever." Rose's eyes widened as she realized something.

"The pit is open, that's what the voice said," She said slowly. Aneres frowned, remembering that other problem they were going to have to tackle. Her fingers went back to tapping the outside of the gun as she held it, thinking everything over once again.

"But there's nothing. I mean, there's nothing coming out?" Zach asked.

"No, no. No sign of the Beast," The Doctor replied. Rose took a shuddering breath.

"It said Satan," She whispered. Aneres' grip on both the comm and the gun tightened as a stab of irritation hit her. The Doctor sighed on the other end of the comm.

"Come on, Rose. Keep it together," He murmured gently. Rose's breathing picked up.

"Is there no such thing?" There was silence for a moment, "Doctor. Doctor, tell me there's no such thing."

More silence. Aneres knew why he didn't answer. For the first time in a long time, the Doctor didn't have an answer for his companion because he simply didn't know what the answer could possibly be. And, if he didn't have an answer it meant he had no hope, nothing to cling to.

"You're wrong," The Doctor whispered in her mind. "I have a whole world to cling to, a whole universe in fact." He paused. "And if I let that go, if I let you go, then I'm as good as dead. So stay alive. Stay alive and I'll come to you."

"Promise?" Aneres murmured back. She could feel the Doctor's reassuring smiles and embraces through the connection and allowed some of the tension to leave her body.

"I promise." He replied. Aneres nodded and pulled away from the connection, slightly more at ease than she was a few seconds ago. Zach's voice crackled over the comm again.

"Ida?" No response. "I recommend that you withdraw." Again, silence. "Immediately."

Finally, Ida responded with a voice that sounded meeker than should be possible. "But, we've come all this way."

"Okay, that was an order. Withdraw. When that thing opened, the whole planet's shifted. One more inch and we fall into the black hole. So this thing stops right now," Zach ordered. Aneres nodded in agreement.

"Ida, whatever is down there is not worth risking all of our lives. Especially not when the risk involves being sucked into a black hole," The Time Lady pointed out.

"But it's not much better up there with the Ood," Ida pointed out. Zach groaned in frustration.

"I'm initiating strategy nine, so I need the two of you back up top immediately, no ar-" Aneres stiffened as Zach was cut short by a loud click. Ida had cut the comm link. Unless she was able to remove herself as an asset for fighting the Ood, they had no way to communicate with the Doctor and Ida now.

TEotOS

"What do you think?" The Doctor looked over at Ida and sighed. She was begging, pleading for any reason to defy her captain. For all he loved humans and their curiosity, it was moments like this where he really, truly wanted them to just stop.

"I think they've given us an order," The Doctor eventually replied.

"Yeah, but what do you think?" Ida demanded, desperation clearly painted across every inch of her mind, body and soul. The Doctor took a deep breath before deciding on a response.

"It said, I am the temptation."

"Well, if there's something in there, why is it still hiding?"

"Maybe we opened the prison but not the cell," The Doctor pointed out. Ida's eyes tightened with a fierce determination, one that the Doctor absolutely wanted to avoid in that moment.

"We should go down. I'd go. What about you?"

"Oh. Oh, in a second," Ida's eyes lit up, "but then again, that is so human. Where angels fear to tread. Even now, standing on the edge. It's that feeling you get, eh? Right at the back of your head. That impulse. That strange little impulse," He winced as that sensation grew in his own mind, "That mad little voice saying, go on. Go on. Go on. Go over. Go on. Maybe it's relying on that. For once in my life, Officer Scott," She stared at him hopefully, "I'm going to say retreat. Oh, now I know I'm getting old." He ignored her disheartened expression and flicked the comms back on, "Annie, Rose, we're coming back."

"Best news I've heard all day," Rose said, her voice slightly muffled. The Doctor waited, knowing Aneres would say something sooner or later.

"Be careful, that's all I ask." He smiled, the trust his Tether had in him never failed to bring a smile to his face. She knew now that he would always come back to her, she just wanted him to be careful.

"Of course, darling. I'll see you soon," The Doctor replied. Aneres didn't reply, but he knew she heard him. He could feel her mind get a small burst of happiness and hope. He turned his attention back over to Ida. "Come on, let's go back to the capsule."

Their walk back to the capsule passed almost entirely in silence, with the two of them gazing at the majesty of the civilization they had discovered as opposed to speaking. However, Ida was soon overcome with another bout of curiosity and looked over at the Doctor.

"So, Aneres is your…?" She trailed off, not wanting to mislabel the woman.

"She's my wife, for lack of a better human term. Though, I suppose soulmate would work," The Doctor replied. Ida frowned slightly.

"And who's Rose?"

"She's my traveling companion. I find people, friends, and I bring them in my ship for trips around the universe," Ida's eyes widened at his explanation.

"And she's human, but you and Aneres are not?"

"Indeedly doo. We're Time Lords, the last of them actually," The Doctor admitted. Ida's eyes darkened in pity.

"Is that why you take companions? Are you two lonely?" The Doctor shrugged.

"I don't know about Aneres, we traveled a lot just the two of us when we were younger and she never took on a companion. I've always been the one to do that," He admitted. Ida nodded as she listened. "I think she is though. Lonely, I mean. We lost a lot, many years ago, and she doesn't cope with it the same way I do."

"Did you guys ever-" The Doctor immediately knew what she was going to ask and cut her off.

"What's strategy nine?" He asked. Ida blinked at him knowingly, but allowed the subject change.

"Open the airlocks. We'll be safe inside the lock down. The Ood will get thrown out into the vacuum."

"So we're going back to a slaughter?"

"The devil's work." The Doctor grimaced and kept walking, trying his best to justify what was happening. Ida did the same, despite knowing it was wrong. Thankfully, they were spared from further discussing it by their arrival at the capsule. They stepped inside and secured themselves.

"Okay, we're in. Bring us up," Ida ordered into the comm system. Jefferson's voice came through a few seconds later.

"Ascension in three, two, one," Just as the capsule started to rise, it stopped and darkness engulfed the base.

TEotOS

Aneres cursed under her breath as the lights were extinguished. That frustration quickly died like a flame starved from oxygen, however, and left her terrified once more as the grumbling roar from before echoed through the base.

"This is the darkness. This is my domain," The Ood appeared on monitors, echoing the voice's words menacingly, "You little things that live in the light, clinging to your feeble suns which die in the night like candle flames."

Zach's voice echoed over the comms, cutting the other voice off. "That's not the Ood. Something's talking through them."

"Only the darkness remains," Aneres shivered as she felt the darkness pressing against her like air that was too thick to breath. Like smoke, choking her lungs.

"This is Captain Zachary Cross Flane of Sanctuary Base Six, representing the Torchwood archive. You will identify yourself." The voice's laugh reverberated through the base at Zach's order, the sound similar to rocks grinding against each other.

"You know my name."

"What do you want?" Zach demanded. Aneres didn't move, she barely even breathed. Instead, she listened for that was all her body was allowing her to do.

"You will die here. All of you. This planet is your grave," The voice growled, now sounding like fire when it whooses out of a flamethrower. Toby started rocking back and forth again. Jefferson, Rose and the other guard followed Aneres' example and barely moved.

"It's him. It's him. It's him," Toby whispered. The Doctor's voice crackled over the comm again.

"If you are the Beast, then answer me this. Which one, hmm? Cos the universe has been busy since you've been gone. There's more religions than there are planets in the sky. The Archiphets, Orkology, Christianity, Pash Pash, New Judaism, San Klah, Church of the Tin Vagabond. Which devil are you?" He demanded, not about to let this thing think it had the upper hand. No, he would undermine it until it ceased to be a threat in their eyes.

"All of them," The voice replied coldly. The Doctor scoffed.

"What, then you're the truth behind the myth?"

"This one knows me as I know him. The killer of his own kind," Both Aneres and the Doctor tensed at that particular title. The Doctor didn't let it stop him from speaking, though.

"How did you end up on this rock?"

"The Disciples of the Light rose up against me and chained me in the pit for all eternity." Aneres tried to think back on her teachings at the Academy, hoping they had at least discussed a group known as the Disciples of the Light. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind.

"When was this?" The Doctor asked.

"Before time." Aneres' mind went blank at that reply. It seemed the Doctor's did too, as he was only able to reply with,

"What does that mean?"

"Before time."

"What does before time mean?"

"Before light and time and space and matter. Before the cataclysm. Before this universe was created." Aneres shook her head, every fibre of her being telling her how absolutely wrong that was.

"That's impossible. No life could have existed back then," The Doctor argued. The voice chuckled again.

"Is that your religion?"

"It's a belief," The Doctor snapped. Aneres shuddered as the voice spoke again, yet somehow far more menacingly.

"You know nothing. All of you, so small. The Captain, so scared of command," Zach winced from his place in the control room and looked down at the ground in shame.

"The soldier, haunted by the eyes of his wife," Jefferson paled and squeezed his eyes shut as his fingers turned white with their iron grip on the gun.

"The scientist, still running from Daddy," The Doctor looked at Ida as she trembled and teared up.

"The little boy who lied," Danny curled in on himself with a barely audible whimper.

"The virgin," Toby flinched and looked down.

"The lost girl, so far away from home," Rose gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, "The valiant child who will die in battle so very soon."

"And the vengeful mother who bathes in the blood and fury of war, hatred and misery," Aneres let out a shuddering breath as her eyes filled with tears. Her eyes squeezed shut as the voice let out a harsh laugh resembling the sound of someone chewing on gravel and tears made their salty tracks down her pale cheeks mockingly.

"Doctor, what does that mean?" Rose asked softly, barely audible over the comm.

"Annie, Rose, don't listen," He said, his voice a gentle croon over the comm system. Rose clenched her hands together tightly.

"What does it mean?" She repeated, praying for the Doctor to tell her it was going to be okay. But, the voice spoke first.

"You will die and I will live," It declared simply. Aneres shook her head, and looked over at the monitor which forced a scream from her throat. A horned beast was roaring at her, with eyes of fire and horns the size of redwood trees. She backed away until she ran into the wall and sank to the floor while breathing heavily.

Danny was the first to speak. "What the hell was that?"

"I had that thing inside my head," Toby whimpered. Rose stormed over to the Time Lady and ripped the comm from her hands again.

"Doctor, what did it mean?" She demanded. Aneres brought her hand up and bit on her finger harshly, the pain stunning her back to reality.

"What do we do? Jefferson?" Danny looked around desperately as he spoke. Aneres took several deep breaths and ignored the stinging in her finger.

"Captain? What's the situation on strategy nine?" Jefferson demanded. Aneres slowly stood from her place beside the wall.

"Zach, what do we do?" Danny begged. Aneres walked back over to the group, checking her gun over all the while.

"The planet, the orbit, the black hole. Everything's true," Toby muttered. Aneres stopped just short of the group to listen in.

"Captain, report," Jefferson ordered. Aneres waited for Zach to speak.

"We've lost pictures, Mister Jefferson," The Captain finally admitted. Aneres shook her head and ran her free hand down her face. Rose took that opportunity to turn back to the comm.

"Doctor, how did it know all of-" Ida cut her off.

"Did anyone get an analy-" Zach interrupted her.

"Jefferson," Finally, the Doctor silenced everyone.

"Stop." Rose opened her mouth again, only to feel someone's hand hit her upside the head.

"He said stop," Aneres snapped with a harsh glare. Rose opened her mouth to retort, but the words died in her mouth when she actually looked at Aneres closely. She looked awful. Blotchy cheeks, white tear stains cutting across them, and a clear intent to hurt someone or something before this mess was over. Rose looked down at the ground, annoyed at the slight bite of shame that went through her.

"Everyone just stop," The Doctor waited until the comms were silent, "You want voices in the dark? Then listen to mine. That thing is playing on very basic fears. Darkness, childhood nightmares, all that stuff."

Danny hid his face in his hands. "But that's how the devil works."

"Or a good psychologist," The Doctor shot back over the comms. Ida's voice was heard next.

"Yeah, but how did it know about my father?" She whispered, completely terrified.

"Okay, but what makes his version of the truth any better than mine, hmm?" Everyone froze at that and felt their minds begin to calm, "Cos I'll tell you what I can see. Humans. Brilliant humans. Humans who travel all the way across space, flying in a tiny little rocket, right into the orbit of a black hole, just for the sake of discovery. That's amazing!"

Aneres smiled down at the comm adoringly. This was the man she loved, the man she had been destined for since her birth, the man she would never leave and he was being just so amazing she thought her heart might burst. Not even the feeling of Rose's eyes on her, glaring holes through her body, registered in that moment. Only a spark of joy that was doing wonders in lighting up their seemingly hopeless situation.

"Do you hear me?" The Doctor asked with a very audible smile, "Amazing, all of you. The Captain, his Officer, his elders, his juniors, his friends. All with one advantage. The Beast is alone. We are not. If we can use that to fight against him-"

BANG. Aneres' smile dropped as the cable in the shaft snapped and dropped down the shaft, taking every chance of retrieving the Doctor and Ida with it. She ran forward to the door and watched as the gleaming cable disappeared into the dark while Ida and the Doctor shouted over the comm.

"The cable's snapped!" Ida screamed.

"Get out!" The Doctor ordered. Static resounded from the comms for several moments.

"Doctor, we lost the cable! Doctor, are you all right? Doctor!" Rose shouted, not giving a damn in that moment whether or not Aneres might cuff her again. Static continued. And continued.

Finally, Zach spoke up. "Comms are down."

Aneres gritted her teeth and forced herself to go back to their connection. "Theta? Theta are you alright?"

There was no response for a few seconds. Then there was a soft groan. "Yep, we're fine, love. The capsule is destroyed though."

Aneres let out a sigh of relief. "I don't care about a hunk of metal you idiot."

The Doctor's mind was overcome with feelings of fondness. "Yeah, but I'm your idiot."

Aneres blushed despite the situation. "Yes, yes you are, you impossible man. Do you and Ida still have air?"

"Ida says we have fifty-five minutes of air, so we'll have to figure something out in less than that," The Doctor admitted. Aneres frowned.

"That's not much time at all, especially since we'll still need to find time to pull off whatever plan we come up with."

"Hey, I believe in you. Now go, be amazing and find us a way out." The Doctor closed the connection at that point, leaving his Tether with a slight smile and a spine that had new strength behind it. She turned away from the shaft to see Jefferson speaking into the comms.

"Captain? Situation report."

"It's the Ood. They're cutting through the door bolts. They're breaking in." Jefferson jerked his head towards Door 25 as Zach spoke. Aneres took the hint and went over, wincing at the sight of Ood right outside the door with their own bolt-cutters. She looked back at Jefferson and nodded.

"Yeah, it's the same on Door 25," Jefferson admitted. Rose frowned at the door and stared at Jefferson.

"How long's it going to take?" She asked slowly. Jefferson sighed and looked back at her.
"Well, it's only a basic frame, it should take ten minutes." They heard another bolt shatter, "Eight."

"I've got a security frame. It might last a bit longer, but that doesn't help you," Zach said as he tried finding something in the control room that might help out. Rose took a deep breath and looked at their entire group.

"Right. So we need to stop them, or get out, or both." Danny nodded emphatically.

"I'll take both, yeah? But how?"

"Thinking. It's what humans are best at and it's what we're going to do right now, except you have an even bigger advantage," Aneres walked back to them as she spoke, "You have a Time Lady who knows how to use a gun, some of this hardware, and has natural telepathic abilities. So, let's figure this out. What do we need first?"

"Power," Rose piped up. Aneres nodded, shoving away her feelings of distaste for the woman in the name of survival.

"Yep, without light we're sitting ducks. So," Aneres grabbed the comm from Rose, "What can you do for that Zach? You've got the entire hub around you, you're our man."

"There's nothing I can do. Some Captain, stuck in here, pressing buttons," Zach muttered. Aneres slammed her palm to her face and massaged her temples slowly. Rose gasped.

"That's what the Doctor meant. Press the right buttons," She said, grinning down at the comm.

"They've gutted the generators," Zach trailed off as he realized something, "But the rocket's got an independent supply. If I could reroute that. Mister Jefferson? Open the bypass conduits. Override the safety."

Jefferson frowned but walked over to a panel and started entering codes. "Opening bypass conduits, sir."

"Channelling rocket feed in three, two, one. Power," Aneres cheered as the lights turned back on along with Rose, Danny, and Jefferson.

"Yes! Amazing Zach!" She shouted into the comm. Rose nodded excitedly.

"Let there be light!" Danny shouted with a grin. Aneres clapped him on the back and turned back to the comm.

"Now, Captain, is Strategy Nine still in play or are we a no go with that one?" She asked. Jefferson spoke up.

"Not enough power. It needs a hundred percent," Aneres nodded and shifted her to-do list slightly.

"Okay, so we need an escape now. Zach, see what you can do to figure that out and you, Mr. Jefferson, need to find a way to slow the Ood down for the moment and help Zach if you can," The two men shouted affirmatives and Aneres turned to Rose, Danny and Toby. "Rose, I need you to talk to Toby, see what he knows about the Pit, and Danny, you're gonna help me with the Ood."

Rose nodded and pulled Toby to the side, knowing better than to act up right then. Danny looked over at Aneres and returned her grin as she started asking him various questions.

TEotOS

Ida sighed and stared at the pile of cable in front of her before turning to the Doctor. "I have an idea."

He raised an eyebrow. "To get back up?"

Ida shook her head. "No, to get down. We've got all this cable, we might as well use it. The drum's disconnected. We could adapt it, feed it through."

"And then what?" The Doctor demanded. Ida scoffed and gestured at the chasm.

"Abseil into the pit." The Doctor stared at her blankly.

"Abseil. Right." Ida rolled her eyes at him and started gathering the cable.

"We're running out of air with no way back. It's the only thing we can do. Even if it's the last thing we ever achieve." The Doctor glared at her as his hands clenched.

"I'll get back. Aneres is up there." Ida looked up with a smile.

"Well, maybe the key to that is finding out what's in the pit," The Doctor pondered it for a moment before shrugging.

"Well, it's half of a good plan," He admitted. Ida raised an eyebrow at the Time Lord.

"What's the other half?" She asked.

"I go down, not you," The Doctor decided. Ida glared at him darkly, but knew she wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise. And so, they started gathering cable by the armfuls and adapting it.

TEotOS

Aneres watched Jefferson as he typed away on a keypad and muttered to himself, "Open junctions five, six, seven. Reroute filters sixteen to twenty four. Go."

She nodded in approval and turned back to Danny. "Sorry, continue."

"So, there's all sorts of viruses that could stop the Ood. Trouble is, we haven't got them on board," Aneres frowned.

"What if you didn't use a virus? What if you took out how they're functioning as a group?" Danny's eyebrows flew up at her remark.

"Like, use their telepathy somehow?" He asked. Aneres nodded, causing Danny to let out a breath and type away at the computer for a few seconds. The both of them grinned as the screen displayed the word 'affirmative' in rather large font.

"Oh, my God. It says yes. I can do it. Hypothetically, if you flip the monitor, broadcast a flare, it can disrupt the telepathy. Brainstorm!"

"Which would permanently incapacitate the Ood," Aneres sighed, "It's a good thing they're already brain dead or I don't think I could ever go through with this. Can you do it from here?"

"No, but I'd have to transmit from the central monitor. We need to go to Ood Habitation," Danny admitted. Aneres drummed her fingers on the table for a few seconds with a frown before turning to Jefferson.

"Jefferson? Have you found a way out?" Jefferson turned to face Aneres and gave her a sharp nod.

"Just about. There's a network of maintenance tunnels running underneath the base. We should be able to gain access from here."

"Ventilation shafts!" Rose piped up with a grin. Aneres' frown deepened as Jefferson shook his head no.

"Yeah, I appreciate the reference, but there's no ventilation. No air, in fact, at all. They were designed for machines, not life forms," Rose's smile dropped while Aneres let a stream of curses fly through her mind. Then Zach spoke up over the comm.

"But I can manipulate the oxygen field from here. Create discrete pockets of atmosphere. If I control it manually, I can follow you through the network." Aneres almost screamed with delight, but settled for bouncing up and down as she spoke back through the comm.

"Alright so we'll go down into the shafts and you'll just make the air pockets follow us?" She reaffirmed.

"That's correct ma'am," He paused, "After all, you wanted me to push some buttons."

"Zach you are pushing all the right ones right now so keep it up!" Aneres walked back over to where Danny was downloading a flare onto a chip. "We need to get to Ood Habitation as quickly as possible, if you could get a route going that would be great."

"You got it," Zach replied before the comm was silent once again.

TEotOS

Ida stepped back to admire their work with a grin. They had managed to wrap the cable around a drum and attach the other end to the Doctor, who was already making his way over to the chasm.

"That should hold it. How's it going?" The Doctor sighed and looked back over at her.

"Fine. Should work. Doesn't feel like such a good idea now," He admitted before looking forwards again and stepping onto the rim of the chasm. "Hmm, there it is again. That itch. Go down, go down, go down, go down, go down."

Ida watched as he shivered uneasily. "The urge to jump. Do you know where it comes from, that sensation?" The Doctor looked over, "Genetic heritage. Ever since we were primates in the trees. It's our body's way of testing us. Calculating whether or not we can reach the next branch."

"No, that's not it. That's too kind. It's not the urge to jump. It's deeper than that," A deranged grin spread over the Doctor's lips, "It's the urge to fall!"

Before Ida could say anything in response, the Doctor was already careening into the chasm in a free fall. His body was singing with delight as he dropped through the air, but was sorely disappointed when his descent was halted. The Doctor looked up at Ida as she pressed on the brake of the drum.

"Are you okay?" She shouted down. The Doctor nodded as best he could and gave a thumbs up.

"Not bad, thanks. The wall of the pit seems to be the same as the cavern, just not much of it. There's a crust about twenty feet down and then nothing. Just the pit," He looked around carefully before making eye contact with Ida again, "Okay, then. Lower me down."

Ida took a deep breath and nodded while slowly releasing the brake on the drum. "Well, here we go then."

TEotOS

Aneres winced as the Ood started on the last bolt in the door. She looked back down at the deck plating she was currently lifting and tugged as hard as she could with Jefferson and Toby. Rose looked over her shoulder and noticed Danny wasn't ready yet.

"Danny!"

"Hold on! Just conforming," He shouted back while tapping the monitor frantically. Jefferson let out a breath of relief as they fully removed the panel.

"Dan, we got to go now! Come on!" Jefferson shouted. Danny nodded and grabbed something from the monitor before running over.

"Yeah!" He held up an orange chip to the group with a grin, "Put that in the monitor and it's a bad time to be an Ood."

Rose beamed at Danny, as did Aneres, but it was the blonde who spoke, "We're coming back. Have you got that? We're coming back to this room and we're getting the Doctor out."

Aneres and Jefferson shared a look, knowing the probability of getting back there was low. With that in mind, it was only due to her immense faith in the Doctor that pushed Aneres to go through with their plan.

"Okay. Danny, you go first, then Aneres, then you, Miss Tyler, then Toby. I'll go last in defensive position. Now, come on, quick as you can!" Everyone nodded at Jefferson and started clambering into the tunnel quickly, each praying this would work.

Wow, another one! I don't have much to say other than that and that my cat is so cute when she naps on my stomach and I hope you all are staying safe and healthy. Oh, also please review with questions, comments or concerns! Bye bye!

-Angel