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The reception was now back in full motion again, Alice smiled with joy as she watched her older sister, who was currently on the dance floor and with Lance. Her eyes began to wander over to the bar catching a glimpse of the mysterious man who called himself 'the Doctor' who had shown up with Donna earlier. He also seemed to be interested in her big sister for a moment. Alice just couldn't make the man out, well he was a little strange of course but not in a bad way. He didn't look harmful, yet there was just something else nagging at her about him, but for the life of her she couldn't figure it out. Yet she saw something in those eyes, that he's suffered a lot in his life. They made him look a lot wiser for a man his age, a man that has witnessed too much, which made Alice's heart go out to him a little.
With Alice still gazing at the man, who even hadn't noticed somebody was watching him, which is something she's thankful for not being caught out just yet. Which wasn't that surprising to hear he hadn't really. Because her staring at was him was apparent, and she continued to do so. As he now asked a man beside him if he could borrow his mobile phone, they give it to him, and he slides on a pair of square-framed glasses that made him look a lot more attractive, or Alice could even say a little foxy. 'For goodness sake girl control yourself,' Alice thought and shook her head, as she sees him browsing through the mobile.
Now finally finished, he gave the phone back to its owner and now just realised somebody's eyes were on him, the eyes of a young woman with flaming red intricately done up hair. When a person gets typically caught staring at another person, the reaction would be to blush with embarrassment usually. Still, this young woman was facing him head-on with determination, not breaking eye contact as she offered a friendly smile.
Only for him to return it rather forcefully. It instantly dissolving from his features soon as he turned away and replaced with sadness. Alice followed the trail of his eyes to a dark-haired man and a blonde woman dancing, she's thrown backwards slightly over the man's arm. With a harsh swallow becoming much more unhappy than he already was, hurriedly turned away.
Before she knew it Alice's legs were guiding her towards him, "I'm going to tell you a few things," she now leaned against the bar beside him, with a rather misleading grin, "The whole point of a party is to let your hair down and have some fun and not look like they've got the weight of the entire world on their shoulders."
He looked back at her complete lost for words on how to respond to her.
"But, I'm not going to judge you for it," she casually responded with a small shrug, "Some people like to party and some people don't, well in your case maybe it's something you're not bothered about. So, maybe it wouldn't kill you, to try and pretend that you're enjoying yourself for Donna's sake she's your friend after all ."
"She's not my friend," he returned a little more bitterly than he meant to. Yet the way she was looking at him it was like she's just received the best news of her life today.
With another harsh swallow, he turned away wanting to ignore her. As he catches sight of a man with a camcorder in the corner of the room, filming the wedding reception.
"Finally he speaks!" she laughed, noticing the look on his face.
"Uh...well," he cleared his throat awkwardly, before continuing to speak, "I've only just met Donna quite recently."
"So can I ask is 'the Doctor' your actual proper name?" she asked with air quotes.
"Yes, it is."
"Oh, come on you can't be serious?"
"That's my name end of discussion," he bit back moodily.
"Hey, alright no need to get all defensive," the young redhead retorted, her eyes narrowing into slits, "Whatever personal issues you're dealing with right now, don't start taking them out on somebody you've just met."
"Sorry," he responded with a slight flinch.
Her emotional state changed with a flick of a switch, now offering a beaming smile, "I'm Alice by the way," she held out her hand but he stared back with a rather uncertain expression, "Alice Noble, the bride's sister...of course. Most people call me Ally, but I'm not bothered either way," but he just continued staring at her hand, "Ya know when somebody offers their hand, you're supposed to shake it. My hands are clean so don't worry about germs or anything.
With a shake of his head, a look of embarrassment spread across his features as he gave the young woman's hand a shake. Quickly letting, he gazed at the redhead for a couple of seconds before muttering, "Uh, excuse me."
Alice watched him wondering towards the cameraman. That made her question what the Doctor was doing over there. But with a shrug of her shoulders, there was not a much younger man around her age now attending the bar with a flirtatious smile she ordered another fruity cocktail. Now having been served her drink, Alice took a long sip savouring the taste, once downing it completely and putting it down.
"Thanks, handsome," she thanks him with a playful smile. He returned the smile in she offered an amorous wink back. After that, she went in search of her older sister, but couldn't find her anywhere.
"Really again?!" Alice asked with a sigh of disbelief. Then spotting her mum to ask if she'd seen her big sis, "Mum, do you know where Donna has got to?"
"The last time was when she was dancing with Lance," she replied before leaning in to have a whiff of the alcohol on her youngest daughters breath, "Are you drunk young lady?"
"God, mum! I'm a grown woman I can drink as much as I want it's a party."
"Well don't drink too much more you know what happened last Christmas you were hungover in bed all day and had your Christmas dinner in bed."
"You're a real help sometimes mum," the young woman returned sarcastically.
"Of course dear," she gives her daughters cheek a loving pat with her hand not having noticed the manner of her response. Made Alice sometimes wonder if she was their daughter.
Suddenly the Doctor came bursting through the crowd, shouting, "Get away from the tree!"
Donna comes dashing in after him shouting as well, "Don't touch the trees!"
Alice began to frown trying to understand what the hell was going on.
"Get away from the Christmas trees, everyone get away from them!" the Doctor insisted as he continued to shout at everyone, trying his best to move the crowd away.
Alice went to approach her sister, "Donna what the hell is going on?"
"No time to answer that right now. Just try and get people away from the Christmas trees!" Donna pleaded to her little sister, who saw the fear in her sister's eyes as her hand firmly grasped her arm.
Even though she still didn't have the foggiest what was going on, she could understand her sister's frightened expression so with a quick nod Alice insisted she help her.
"Thanks, sis!" she dragged Alice towards a group of little children and help her move them away from a Christmas tree, "Oi, Lance don't just stand there!" Donna screamed at her fiancé, "Tell everyone to get away from the trees!"
"Stay away from the trees!" Alice heard the Doctor yelling once again.
She could practically hear her mother babbling on in utter frustration about the strange man in question, "Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot! Why? What's a Christmas tree gonna..." at that moment her voice trailed off in surprise, "oh!"
Alice didn't know if what her eyes were seeing is real or just a figment of her drunken stupor. Trying to find it in her disbelief that the baubles from the Christmas trees were dancing about.
The whole room began to chatter excitedly, before suddenly diving around the room and making tiny explosions.
"Fuck!" Alice cursed under her breath, throwing herself to the floor, narrowly missing one that almost got her.
"Ally! Ally where are you?!" she hears Donna screaming frantically for her, the young woman popped her head up to witness her older sister and Lance hiding beneath a table from protection of the small explosions.
Everyone chatters excitedly until they start dive-bombing around the room and causing small explosions. Everyone starts screaming and running for cover. Donna pulls Lance down to hide under a table with her. The Doctor runs over to the DJ's stand. The Santas are lined up opposite. Now having seen Alice she gestured for her to join her and Lance. Charging over, she catches the Doctor out the corner of her eye running towards DJ booth. Finally reaching them she sat squashed between them both Donna holds onto Alice like a vice.
"Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?" the young Noble shouted over the explosions only to get interrupted by the Doctor before her sister could even reply.
"Oi! Santa! Word of advice: if you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver..." he spoke through a microphone, "...don't let him near the sound system."
She sees him pointing a small silver stick in his hand with blue shining light on its end and holds it against the amplifiers, emitting the most horrendous screeching noise-making everyone covers their ears. It suddenly stops and Alice gets pulled up onto her feet by Donna who keeps a tight hold on her hand.
Glancing about the room, Alice sees everyone now getting to their feet. Donna has now let go of her sister's hand, went to assist two children called Connie and Michael, the young redhead stormed towards the Doctor, who she finds gathering things from the strange-looking Santa's that had blown to pieces.
"You are going to tell me what the hell is going on?!" Alice firmly insisted, glaring daggers at him with arms folded across her chest. But it seemed he was clearly ignoring her and she snarled quietly to herself. One of Alice's pet peeves was that she hated to be ignored, "Excuse me! It's rude to not answer someone when they're talking to you!" she hollered.
But again she got no response from him and was on the verge of swearing when he finally looked her way and spoke, "Look at that - remote control for the decorations," that's when she realised it wasn't her he was talking to as Alice followed his gaze towards her older sister letting out a small noise of aggravation. That man was heading for a slap, "But there's a second remote control for the robots," he was examining the head of one, "They're not scavengers anymore. I think someone's taken possession."
"Never mind all that, you're a doctor - people have been hurt," Alice and Donna scanned over the room with concern for those who were hurt.
Before the young Noble spoke up, "Sorry but far as I'm concerned you have to earn that title," she glared questionably at him, "But maybe he's not that kind of Doctor."
"Nah, they wanted you alive, look," he threw a bauble at her but she instantly batted it away, sending it back in his direction earning a glare from him in return after avoiding it, "Hey, will you be careful!"
All she did was offer a glare moodily at him, "Oh, I do apologise! Maybe it was because you tried throwing a bomb at my sister!"
"Well, they aren't active now!"
"Then maybe warn somebody next time you do it!"
"Maybe if you let me explain myself then I could have!"
"Oi! Will both of you shut up!"
Alice and the Doctor both almost jumped out of their skins from Donna as both turned in sync to meet her narrowed eyes.
"Sorry, Donna," the two apologised to her.
With a shake of her head, Donna continued, "All I'm saying - you could help."
But the Doctor wasn't paying the slightest attention holding the robots head against his ear, before muttering to himself loudly, "Gotta think of the bigger picture... there's still a signal!" he suddenly exclaimed almost making Alice jump before he went running off.
Donna about to follow after him gets stopped by her mother, "Donna..." Alice could heat how frightened she was, "Who is he? Who is that man?"
But it seemed Donna couldn't answer it for her as she went chasing after the Doctor as Alice, her mother and Lance stared after her.
Donna doesn't have an answer for her. She follows the Doctor, leaving Sylvia and Lance staring after her.
Alice debated with herself for a moment whether to follow after them or not but if she wanted answers she had to follow them and get those answers. But what annoyed her most was that Lance had followed along with her as well and finally reached the Doctor and her sister just to hear him say, "I've lost the signal - Donna, we've got to get to your office, H C Clements. I think that's where it all started," the Doctor suddenly noticed Lance, turning to ask him, "Lance - is it Lance? Can you give me a lift?" he darts off before he's even answered. Making Alice think that he likes to do a lot of running about.
She continued to follow after them only for Donna to pull her back by the arm, "Alice, stay here and keep a close watch on mum...you'll be much better off here."
"If you think I'm staying here then you're wrong," Alice insisted sternly, "And you can't convince me to either."
Donna stares at her sister for a moment letting out a sigh of defeat and nodded. The young Noble returned a grin, before both the sisters went following after the Doctor along with Lance. Soon they arrived at HC Clements, darting inside the building and into the department Donna worked in. Alice hadn't visited her sister's office before as she's been too busy with her studies into becoming a Doctor. They followed after him to a computer.
"This might just be locksmiths, but H C Clements was brought up twenty-three years ago by the Torchwood Institute."
Alice thinks she's heard or seen that name somewhere before, but can't remove for the life of her where, so she might as well ask instead "Who's Torchwood?"
"They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf," the Doctor informed the young redhead woman and her sister who both stared back blankly at him, "...Cyberman invasion," the younger frowned and the older tilted her head in confusion, "Skies over London full of Daleks?"
"Oh, we were in Spain," Donna responded, as Alice nodded recalling going there during her break from University with her family.
"They had Cybermen in Spain."
"We were out scuba diving," the young Noble told him simply.
"That big picture, Donna - you keep on missing it," he goes to another computer, "Torchwood was destroyed, but H C Clements stayed in business. I think... someone else came in and took over," he tried to explain giving the monitor a whack, but it doesn't do anything, "The operation."
"But what do they want with me?"
Stepping away he turned to give Donna his full attention, looking straight into he questioning eyes, "Somehow you've been dosed with Huon energy. And that's a problem because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS."
Alice's frowned at just hearing the word TARDIS wondering what in Gods name that it could be.
"See? That's what happened. Say... that's the TARDIS," the Doctor grabbed a mug from nearby now showing Donna, "And that's you," he now gets a pencil with his other hand and showed her, "The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised and WHAP!" he suddenly shouts making the sisters jump as he dropped throws the pencil inside the mug, "You were pulled inside the TARDIS."
"Hang on a second, you're not an alien are you?" Alice slowly began to ask, as the Doctor now looked at the young woman. Off from the look in his brown eyes gave her the answer she wanted without him even having to say it and with that, she just nodded, "Okay...uh, we've got that out the way. Also another thing," she takes the mug from him her fingers accidentally grazing his hand, waving it about before him, "Why telling are you telling my sister she's a pencil in a mug?"
"Yes, a 4H pencil, pretty much sums her up."
Alice scoffed putting down the mug and shaking her head, "My you must be a right charmer when comes to the ladies Doctor," she offered ironically.
He stared at the young woman with his mouth slightly ajar before shaking the insult off and continued by changing the subject, "Lance?" the Doctor turned to ask the man, "What was H C Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?"
"I don't know, I'm in charge of personnel," Lance returned getting all defensive, Alice could say he probably took it a bit too personal for her liking, "I wasn't project manager."
But the Doctor had seemed to just ignore it as he held the silver thing that Alice had seen earlier on, aiming at the monitor and made the display instantly appear to whatever he was in search of. Which were 3D plans of the building. But Alice couldn't help but be curious and have a closer look at it.
"What is that thing you're using?" Alice nodded to the sliver object in the Doctor's hand.
"It's called a sonic screwdriver," he responded with a grin, flipping it up in the air and then catching it.
She raised an eyebrow at him and asked, "Who are you trying to impress with that exactly?" he only but responded with a shrug, turning back to the computer, it was rather entertaining for Alice as she watched him.
"Why am I even explaining myself?" Lance asked as he paces behind the sisters and the Doctor. This made Alice roll her eyes, "What the hell are we talking about?"
"They make keys, that's the point. And look at this..." the Doctor pointed at the screen as they all gathered around him "...we're on the third floor."
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To say Alice was a patient person you'd be wrong as she tapped her heeled shoes against the floor as they waited for the lift to show up. Another thing she also hated was waiting.
"Where's this lift supposed to be taking us?" she asked the Doctor out of interest.
"Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?" he replied, directing the question to either Lance or Donna. The lift had now arrived and the doors pinged open and the stepped inside and inspects the controls, "Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked 'lower basement'?"
"Oh, come on that's easy!" Alice voiced loudly, making her sister and Lance jump and the Doctor stare back at her. Without even bothering if the Doctor gave her any indication, "It's like in one of those spy movies where they have to press a mysterious button that takes them to a secret hidden floor. Am I right Doc?"
"Uh..." he was a little stunned by this at first before shaking his head and continuing, "Okay, as I was saying there's a secret floor."
"I love it when I'm right," Alice offered with a smug grin, "I'm exceptionally clever you see," she tapped her temple, as Donna rolled her eyes for her little sister showing off, "So if there's a whole secret floor. Why isn't it on the plans?"
The Doctor did nothing but stare at her for a few seconds before agreeing with a nod, "I didn't see it on the official plans," he turned back to frown at the buttons, "So what's down there, then?"
"Maybe there's a reason why it's called a secret floor," Alice offered with a roll of her eyes.
"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?" Lance inquires and Alice looked at him as if to say 'is this guy being serious or what?'
"No, I'm showing you this building's got a secret floor," the Doctor looked at him, in the same manner, she just had.
"It needs a key," Donna pointed out.
"I don't," the Doctor shrugged without care and pointed his sonic at the lock, "Right then, thanks you three, I can handle this - see you later."
"No chance, Martian," Donna tells him rather sternly, "You're the man who keeps saving my life, I ain't letting you out of my sight," she gets in the lift with him.
"And wherever my sister goes I go," Alice adds, joining them inside the lift with a smile standing between them both, sliding her arms into theirs.
"Going down," the Doctor offered with a sigh and pressed the button.
"Lance?" Donna asked her fiancé pointedly.
"Maybe I should go to the police."
"Inside."
The was about to protest but didn't get the chance to as he peered down at the floor and meekly dragged his feet inside the lift to stand beside Donna.
"To honour and obey?" the Doctor tells Lance.
"Tell me about it, mate."
"Oi!" Donna glared at the Doctor, just as Alice goes to give him a hard slap on the arm.
"Ow!" he moaned wincing from pain, "Why did you hit me for?" he glanced over at the young Noble rather taken aback for having been hit by her.
Just as the lift doors closed with, she replied nonchalantly with a shrug, "Not sure. Maybe because I felt like you deserved it."
"That's Ally for you Doctor," Donna tried her best to burst out laughing, "Right little firecracker she is."