A/N: I love all of you lovely reviewers! Knowing what people think and why, be it long words or only a couple, makes me have that nice, happy warm feeling inside. Thanks to bookEnd and Lady-Mearle especially, as I always love to see the same people coming back for more :p I've got a busy couple of days coming up, but I'll try to update if and when I can. Until then, enjoy:D

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Chapter V - Swallowed

"Name," grunted the orange man wearily. Everything about his posture screamed 'bored', including his eyes, his voice, and his messed up hair. He was wearing what looked to be an all-in-one suit of... well, Rose didn't know what. All she knew was that the question - or demand, rather - had been directed at her.

"Uh..." she fumbled. Was she supposed to give her real name, or what? For the Doctor it was easy. He was always 'The Doctor'. No questions. Okay, so there were questions, but he'd always pull off an answer without actually giving any more information. All Rose had was her name, and even that was dubious right now.

"And don't even try any funny stuff," continued the orange man, looking at the pair of Doctors - who looked rather like two naughty schoolboys - then back to Rose. He motioned to the energy field he'd just walked through. "I can put that back faster than you can say 'intruder'. Now, name."

"R-rose..." Rose stuttered at last. Honesty, her mum had told her, was always the best policy. But had her mum ever been to an alien planet? She doubted it. Not with how firmly her feet were stuck on the ground. "Tyler," she continued. "Rose Tyler."

"Fine," he grunted. "These two belong to you?"

He waved his gun carelessly at the pair again, but didn't bother with a look. They weren't worth his time.

"Uh... yeah..." she said slowly, her tongue rolling over the letters. Well done, Rose, she told herself. Really convincing. "Yes."

He snorted with contempt.

"Wouldn't admit to it so freely if I were you. They're under close observation. Disruptive behaviour - "

She couldn't help throwing them a glance.

"- And they look awful, too. Surprised you haven't shrunk them down yet."

"Oi," Rose said, before she could stop herself. Since they'd first met, she had always felt protective over the Doctor. Like he was a brother, or something. Or something, come to think of it - definitely something: not a brother, that's for sure. "Tha's rude."

The orange man's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Sorry," he said, though he quite clearly didn't mean it. "Not my job to offend. I'm just collecting details."

"And that's what the gun is for, is it?"

The strength and confidence was returning to Rose's voice heavily, and she was taking a bold risk. Both of the Doctors thought so, but neither of them said it. They'd both done stupider things in their time. Well, his time, technically.

"The gun's for them," the orange man replied coldly, waving at the pair again. "In case they act up. Wouldn't be the first time an owner lost control."

Rose, who was standing in easy sight of the Doctors, turned slightly and mouthed 'owner'? Her face crinkled up with each movement of her mouth, even though she said nothing.

They both avoided her eye contact, as if even looking at her was too much of a risky business.

The orange man sniffed to bring her attention back to him. It worked.

"Best get them packed off with the rest of the workers. You're to come with me."

"I don't understand," Rose said honestly. It was all so… alien… to her. She had never been on an alien planet before, not like this. Everything the Doctor had taken to see had been to do with Earth, somehow connected. Though, if this guy was human – of sorts – did that mean that they weren't too far from home? Where were they? When were they? She wished the Doctor had had time to explain.

The orange man frowned, and looked at her as though she were stupid. Which, Rose thought, he probably thought she was.

"They," he said slowly, his voice sneering as he pointed to the odd-looking men standing next to each other, "Will be taken to the others. Of their kind. You are to come with me. The scan revealed that you were the female of your species, are you not?"

Crumbs, they didn't really love women, did they?

"Well, yeah," Rose admitted. "But why can't they come too?"

The orange man snorted, again, and looked at her with a frown. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Depends. Where's 'here'?"

"You can't tell me you don't know where you are. It's not as if you 'fell' here by accident. It's impossible."

"Nothing's impossible with the Doctor around," Rose corrected.

As soon as she'd said it, she knew she shouldn't have. Apart from the obvious held-in gasp from at least one of the men behind her, the orange man instantly tensed, tightened his grip on his gun and brought it up to look at Rose. He didn't aim his body so he could fire, but it was quite obvious that he could at any moment. The smoothed, rounded edge of the barrel looked as though the only thing that would be coming out of it would be a laser.

"You don't own them at all, do you?" he accused, anger rising in his unfamiliar voice. "I could tell, just by looking at you. You rely on them. You're nothing without them. Human scum."

"That's enough!" the first Doctor interrupted suddenly. He had been watching the entire scene, convincing himself that Rose was all right and that she had everything under control. But she was being held at gunpoint and no one, nothing, no matter how high-and-mighty they thought they were would ever get away with hurting her like that.

He stepped forward, towering over the little orange man. But the man didn't flinch. He merely shifted the aim of his gun and jabbed it into the chest of the first Doctor. He felt the cold metal through his cotton t-shirt. But better him than Rose.

"Get back," spat the orange man, revulsion and disgust evident in his voice. "Get back! Or I'll blast your guts all over the walls!"

"No you won't," said the First confidently, smiling. "You don't have the authority to. You would have done it already. And I bet that gun of yours isn't even loaded."

For a second, a flicker of fear passed over the orange man's face. It receded quickly, but it was too late. His bluff had been called, and there was nothing he could do.

"One move, and you're both dead," he said harshly, his eyes glinting with malevolence. "I can't kill you, but if you even try to get out of here, you'll be dead before you even take your next breath. The worms will see to that."

It was a threat the Doctor didn't particularly want to test. Not with Rose involved.

"But you must admit, you are being a bit of an idiot," came the second Doctor's voice. He was talking to the orange man, looking amusedly from the gun to his face. "You can go back to your superiors and tell them to send someone competent down to deal with us. All we want to do is talk."

"Tough," snapped the orange man, reeling from the insult. "You aren't visitors here, Doctor," he sneered the name with disdain, "You're prisoners. My orders were to collect the girl. You may not care about your life, but if you want to see her live – and I take it you do – then you'd best be following our orders. And don't think I won't be telling them about what happened in here, either."

He lowered the gun, but put a grip of iron around Rose's forearm. He pulled her along with him.

"Come on," he growled as she stumbled over her feet. "You're coming with me."

"Rose!" cried the two Doctors simultaneously.

"Don't you dare hurt her," barked the First, his eyes blazing with fury again. "If you do, I'll – "

"You'll what?" cut in the orange man. "Yell me to death? Sorry, I make the rules here. And she's coming with me, hurt or not."

He'd pulled her beyond the wall of energy and was reaching for the credit-card device to replace the dangerous rays. All around, the ant-worms were taking a very keen interest in the little crowd, keeping their beady little eyes on the two men left behind. They couldn't have escaped. It was hopeless.

"Rose!" cried the Second, desperate to try none the less. He ran towards them, but one of the worms suddenly launched itself into the air towards the Doctor. It landed on his arm, lifted its head and looked as though it would sink its venom-filled teeth into his arm like a vampire. He shook it off with surprising force, and it fell to the floor, a little confused.

But the orange man looked at him and sneered.

"That was just a warning. One bite off them, and you'll be dead in less than half an hour. Slowly and painfully, I hope."

The second Doctor swore, his eyes dark and angry. Rose, the grip on her arm tightening furiously, looked at him with pleading eyes. She didn't know what to do.

"I'll find you," he assured her, their eyes meeting. "Hold on, Rose. I'll come for you."

"Touching," laughed the orange man, his eyes mocking. "Have fun."

He waved the card again, and the wall of energy rose up instantly. The noise from the outside died away. The two Doctors were left together, panting with the situation.

They watched as Rose was dragged away. She kicked at one of the worms that approached her, its teeth bared, and it fell back into line with the rest of them. But that movement earned her a slap across the face from the orange man from his free hand, and when she looked back to the Doctors in their energy field there were tears in her eyes. Her mouth was open, and she was obviously crying out for them. And then, she disappeared in to an opening in the dusty wall of the massive cavern, taken along against her will.

The second Doctor was still stood at the wall of the cage, his breath broken and his eyes flaring. He had failed to protect her. He'd let her go.

The First wasn't doing much better either. He was hating himself, all of himself, for not being able to control his actions, his emotions. If he hadn't have threatened the man, called his bluff, perhaps Rose's fate would be different. Perhaps all of their fates would be different. But he felt as though he'd killed her. Again. She was all on her own, thanks to him and his stupid big mouth.

They stood in silence, each thinking and wondering about what to do next. Their different brains and ideas were working cumulatively towards the same idea – escape. But neither said anything. They just watched life fall away at their fingertips.

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If either of the Doctors had had the nerve or sense to address the situation formally, the conversation might have gone something like this.

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"You," accused the Second, his voice obviously angry even though he was trying to keep it calm. The First could always recognise that voice, whether he was in his own self or watching the man he would turn into. "You are the biggest idiot in the world. The universe."

"At least I tried something," he retorted angrily. There was nothing else to do. "At least I tried to save her."

"You didn't try to save her," laughed the Second, turning around to glare at the First. "You just wanted to feed your ego. Thought you could handle it."

The First would have argued, but something in it was true. And the Second must have known it, because he used to be him.

"If you'd have kept quiet," the Second continued, rounding on his predecessor, "She wouldn't be in the mess she is now. She'd have everything under control and she'd probably have saved us all."

"I know that. But that's a lot of confidence in someone you don't even know."

"I do know her!" the second Doctor shouted back. "I know her as well as you do. Better, because at least I can think about her with a clear mind."

"Oh, and what's that supposed to mean? You throwing words around as insults again?"

"You know exactly what it means," the Second said darkly. He slipped his hands the pocked of his brown overcoat and frowned, deep and hard. "You were the idiot that broke the rules."

"She wanted to come with me," the First replied strongly. "You know her. She wouldn't have taken no for an answer."

"That's not what I was getting at," the Second countered. "And you know it. You're always so full of yourself, Nine. You never took the time to think about the consequences of your actions. It's amazing she's still alive."

"Oh, so we're on to number-name basis now, are we?"

The Second glared. "You crossed a line," he said, his voice relaxing a little. He needed to keep control. "You wanted her to give you things that no human is capable to give you."

"That's not true," he lied harshly. "I want to keep Rose safe and happy. I want to show her the stars, and the universe. And I don't want to do it alone."

"No," agreed the Second, his eyes flashing. "And you're so convinced you are, aren't you? So convinced that the Time War was the last ending. That there's no hope, and that you're the only one who can save us all. You just don't want to accept the truth."

"What truth?"

"That you fell in love with her. You let your heart take over and it almost got us all killed."

The accusation hit him like someone had just kicked him in the chest, winding him. It had met its target.

"I didn't," he stumbled. "I couldn't even if I'd wanted to, anyway."

"I was you, you stupid idiot. I could feel it, in here," the Second tapped at the left part of his chest with his hand. "Stupid enough to get a crush on the one woman you had to leave alone. It's just as well I died for her. It cleared my mind to your stupidity."

The First's face darkened and his eyes looked like they would flash electricity. It was a strange conversation to be having, confronting himself like this.

"Okay," he admitted bitterly. "I'll admit it. I loved her. Still do. But I didn't fall in love with her, and because of that, no one's in any danger. You can't tell me you don't feel the same way."

"Have you seen where we are?" the Second retorted. Uh oh, sarcasm. He supposed this is what happened when someone pushed one of his buttons. He took a steady breath to calm himself, and when he next spoke, his voice was calm and cool. "And no, I don't feel the same way," he said, looking the first Doctor straight in the eye. "She's a human. That's it."

"You know better than that," scoffed the First. "She knows things – "

"No," the Second cut across firmly. "She's just another human. Another companion, another friend. Like Adam, like Jack."

Jack Harkness – the name hit both of them with equal guilt. Would they see him again? He was someone else they'd left behind.

"So you're telling me that you could never feel that way about Rose?" the First asked, his voice betraying his interest.

"I'm saying that it doesn't matter," corrected the Second. "I'm just reminding you that right now, you have to pretend that she's someone else. Don't let it cloud your judgement."

"You avoided the question."

"Now isn't the time." The second Doctor paused, looking at the First. He sighed. "But for what it's worth, no, I couldn't."

The First looked at him with such intense disbelief that he even wondered if he'd been lying to himself – but he hadn't.

The Second turned away and looked at the cavern, surrounded in ant-worms. He shuddered at the thought of facing them, and shrugged his shoulders. "But I can see how you might. I'm just more careful than you."

The First stepped up behind him, let out a long, loud sigh.

"You told her you'd find her," he said after a while.

"Yes, and I meant it," the second Doctor assured sternly as he blinked out at their surroundings.

The First followed his gaze and wondered if they really had a plan at all. They could rush in, guns a-blazing, but would it help? Or would it secure their fates still further?

"I know," he replied, looking out. Then, more quietly to himself, "I know."

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But as it was, that conversation was lost into the fabric of time. Each word was left unsaid and each feeling left unchallenged. Instead, the two men just stood and stared and wondered what the hell they were going to do next.

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This, Rose Tyler thought as she was being pushed along a corridor with a gun barrel in the small of her back, was the strangest day of her life. She hadn't slept in days – discounting when she had fainted from the TARDIS' time vortex – and already the Doctor had gained a new face, recovered an old one and got them into one of the biggest messes she had ever seen. It was, to borrow an age-old phrase, fantastic. In the worst sense of the word. Being frogmarched down dirty, dusty corridors, whose sides were covered in ant-worms, was not one of the best forms of escape. And she was, if she were honest with herself, not much without the Doctor: both of which she'd left behind.

"C'mon Blondie," growled the voice of the orange man from behind her. The gun pressed firmer into her back.

"Aright, yeah, I'm goin'," she snapped back, stepping over an overturned ant-worm in the middle of the stretch of corridor. She heard a sickening squelch a second later, and didn't much fancy looking back to see if the orange man had stepped on it. "Where're you taking me, anyway?"

The orange man laughed, a gruff laugh.

"Like you don't know," he snorted. "Anyone who was fool enough to 'accidentally' encounter and intrude upon Planet Nine – which, I don't believe you did - is bound to know the consequences sooner or later. Though, I'm looking forward to seeing how the Mistress deals with your disregard for the rules. You'll be seeing her later."

"What rules?" Rose persisted, as they turned left at a three-way fork in the corridor. There were little holes in the walls ever metre or so along the walls, where fire was burning to give a light. But the corridors were sloping and they were obviously heading further and further down into the depths of the planet.

"The rules that state quite clearly that in this sector of the galaxy, under the Declaration of Inter-Galactic Gender Constitution, all males of the species must be kept under control at all times. This can be done by brainwashing, shrinking them down to size or just good, solid training; the latter of these doesn't usually work so well, as the males tend to lash out and – "

"Do you know what you sound like?" Rose laughed, interrupting him.

The gun pressed firmer into her back.

"What?" he dared dangerously.

"You sound like a bleeding text book," she replied, not intimidated. She remembered the Doctor's accusation that the gun was not loaded. "Did you memorise that off by heart, or what?"

"It is required of all trainees to do what is required for the appointed job," he replied stiffly.

"So, yes, then," Rose continued. The corridor wasn't getting any more interesting – just colder. "And what're they doing sending a trainee down to deal with us? I thought we were a threat."

"Don't flatter yourself. You're just more scum from the outside."

"You sound like you've never been anywhere but this planet," Rose said, ignoring the insult.

There was silence for a moment or two. And then, in a softer voice, "I haven't."

"Oh," she responded, surprised. "So... how'd you like, get here, then? This doesn't look like the world's – no, wait, sorry, the universe's – most friendly planet."

"Enough questions," barked the orange man suddenly, but his voice was not without compassion. Rose was surprised to see that set in to the wall of the dirt there was a navy blue, dark door. There was no writing on it, and it was bare, except for what seemed to be a keyhole. It was right in the centre, round, but not quite a circle.

The gun on her back relaxed and she turned to see that the orange man was pointing it at the small hole. He clicked the trigger, and out of the barrel, there came a beam of light. It shifted and changed shape until it fit into the strange hole in the door. There was then a hollow 'click' and the door began to swing forwards.

Rose looked at the 'gun', astonished.

"You lied," she said stupidly. She looked to him. He was grinning sardonically. It was unpleasant to see.

"Of course I lied," he explained. "The biggest weapon we can use is fear. Well, to the human subconscious, at least. That small chance that it might all go wrong. And now, it's time for you to meet yours."

"My what?"

"Your fear."

"What?"

"Look, just get in there," he ordered, annoyed. He pointed to the door, now off the latch.

"You've got to be kidding," she almost laughed. "If you think I'm so much as stepping foot – "

But she didn't have a choice. The orange man suddenly lunged at her, and pushed her at the door with amazing force. It all happened so fast that she had no idea what was going on until it was too late. And the next thing she knew, she was falling, down, down, down, through darkness and cold. There was nothing. No one. And she was soon swallowed, soon unable to distinguish whether the darkness was inside her head or outside. And then, it didn't matter. She was lost.

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They were still standing in silence half an hour later. The sea of worm-ants was still as thick as before, continuing with their pathetic little working lives. It was very much like an Earth ant colony, the first Doctor had supposed - workers and soldiers, doing that they were told, maintaining the peace and happiness of the colony. But they were slaves, he realised. The real danger was yet to come, he knew. Somewhere within these walls, something was happening. Something that wasn't supposed to ever happen. This planet was supposed to be deserted and empty by this time, just another dead planet left after the humans had destroyed it.

Yes, this was a planet that humans had inhabited. They had eaten and destroyed every natural resource, before moving on. Like locusts. He liked the human race, oh he did, but they were so damn cocky and so sure they were right. They couldn't just leave well enough alone and realise that some stars just weren't meant for touching. He was reminded of Van Statten. Look where his dreams had got him?

And whether or not this planet 'should' be deserted, whatever was going on was quite clearly wrong. It was a prison camp, of sorts. No negotiating was involved in the slightest – they were just expected to conform. Well, he though brightly as he tucked his hands inside his leather jacket, not this prisoner. He would survive, save the world, and dance his victory dance before he off to the next adventure.

But of course, he wouldn't, would he? There was still the matter of the hiccup in time to think about. Not quite a paradox enough to cause any major trouble (he might have gone a little over the top when he had chatted to Rose about it – dramatic suspense, he supposed) and maybe the universe wasn't going to end; but they couldn't go on like this for much longer. It just wasn't right.

"We've been through a lot, you and I," he said wisely, looking around their cage. They cage had been jutting out of the wall like a sore thumb, but a quite a few minutes ago, it had undergone some very strange 'moving techniques'. It appeared to be on a mechanical mechanism, and very slowly, the cage had drifted back in to the wall; the wall that, to start with, had had the corridor leading away from it. The illusionary corridor. The hazy heat wave of energy was perfectly aligned with the front of the wall and the other three walls were now in front of dirt.

The Doctor realised that they were just another picture on the walls to look at, another cell of prisoners to gape at.

"Too much," added the Second thoughtfully, walking to the one free side that offered them a picture of what was going on outside. After a moment, he continued. "Too much to let a little matter of being trapped get in the way of saving a planet."

"I agree. So, what? We wait here for Rose's call?"

The Second looked to him as if he'd just suggested they strip naked and dance around like chickens.

"You're joking. She's about as equipped to deal with this planet as you are to deal with her mother."

"I can see what she means about you," replied the First, with amusement. "You really are rude."

"Comes with the territory, I'm afraid," he smiled. "But for now, what? Play dead?"

"Risky," answered the First thoughtfully, "We couldn't both of us get away with it. And a passed out worker is no good to them. It would have to be only one of us."

"Can we afford to split up?"

"We have to. For Rose."

"Yeah. God knows what they've done to her."

"Let's just hope the rumours are true," the first Doctor replied, sucking in a sigh.

"Can't see that working out too brightly either, though," the Second mentioned, looking up at the ceiling. More dirt. "She's hardly a one to conform to rules, especially if it would mean... what I think it would mean."

"No," agreed the First, grinning to his companion. "Can you imagine that?"

"Rose in the compulsory attire..." the second Doctor said aloud, as if saying it would help a picture come to mind. "About as likely as the universe folding in on itself."

"It could happen," mentioned the First. "Don't rule it out."

"I'm not. But the universe would fold in on itself way before Rose would even contemplate falling for their schemes."

"If we're right, that is."

"Of course." A pause. "Anyway, we're getting off the point."

"Right. So, escape. Think that happy chappy can lend a hand for us?"

The first Doctor was indicating to the return of an orange man, who was wading through the ant-worms once again. He practically tripped over one, kicked it, yelled at it, then kept marching towards the cell. It was quite amusing. It was not the one who had taken Rose: this one was built broader and larger, with heavier shoulders and a more unpleasant expression. He didn't look so thin and scrawny, but neither did he look so clever. He was the sort of chap you'd see being commanded by a bully.

"Depends if we have more brains than him," sad the Second.

"Oh, definitely," said the First, grinning. "He's as stupid as they come. Nothing but a slave, talking orders from his superiors. I'd love to see what's going on here."

"Well, now's our chance," commented the Second. "Look."

The orange man was heading straight for them, and his face was grim. He stepped up close towards the energy cage. But rather than produce the credit-card device, as the other one had last time, he lifted the nozzle of the gun he was holding to his mouth and spoke. Strangely enough, when he spoke, his voice echoed out in to the cage. It was surreal.

"Tests show that both of you are the alien Time Lords, the last remaining from planet Gallifrey, subject to the destruction of you home planet in a time war…"

"What?" exclaimed the second Doctor, his face contorted into surprise. "That's amazing. How'd they know that?"

"I don't know," replied the First darkly, looking through the barrier. "But I don't like it; I don't trust him."

"No. There was something weird about this planet the moment I looked at it. I could tell. I guess they know more than they let on."

"Much more," the orange man's voice boomed again. "And much more than you would ever care to know, either, Doctor. Not that I should be addressing you as that. Prisoners #6-7-8-3 and #6-7-8-4 should suit nicely."

"Oh goody, so I'm just another number in the system," the First said brightly. "Best way to find out how it all works, isn't it? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, that sort of thing."

"Where's this all leading to?" asked the Second with genuine interest. Then, suddenly more stern, "And what have you done with Rose?"

The orange man laughed bitterly.

"You should address me as Lieutenant Samuel Blaxhaul," he ordered. "I am your superior. You are of no authorisation to ask of the girl – "

"Oh, so you're not just a slave," the First said thoughtfully. Then he turned to the Second with a grin. "I don't think our Sammy boy here knows where Rose is, y'know. Useless."

"That's Lieutenant Samu - "

"Nah, he doesn't have the clearance to," beamed the Second. "What's lieutenant? Understudy? Assistant? There's probably hundreds of them – "

"I SAID BE QUIET!" thundered the voice of Samuel into the room. This only made the Doctors smile harder.

"You said no such thing," said the Second with a mischievous smile. "Did you hear him say that?"

"Nope," said the First, shaking his head. "Not a word of it. He must be hearing things."

There was silence, an odd, growing one, which would hit you as hard and fast as an approaching truck. Outside, where neither of the Doctor's could hear, Samuel Blaxhaul spoke in to an earpiece:

"Yes, that's right, I need backup sent to cell 1-2-7. The prisoners are not co-operating and need to be dealt with via superior methods."

But all the Doctors heard was silence.

"I think we broke him," the Second wondered aloud. "Or perhaps he's just deactivated the resonance link between the cell and the outside area. Would make sense. We did insult him, and if I were him, I wouldn't be beyond – "

"You don't half ramble," the First observed with a grin. "You're turning a simple situation into something horribly complicated."

"All right, all right, I'm getting there. Keep your hair on. Such as it is."

The First folded his arms and graced his regeneration with a look that told him it was about time they find a way out of this mess and back to the TARDIS before any of them get seriously hurt.

But before either of them had the chance to even discuss a preferred escape route, a door set in to one of the dirty walls opened out of nowhere. They both gaped. In the frame stood something that looked like a thin, blue flower. For the stem there was a long, thin body with two arms and legs – like a stick man – and from the flower's head there blinked out two, menacing yellow eyes. It would be accurate in more than a metaphorical sense to have called it 'weedy' looking. It was quite bizarre.

It wasn't the fact that this alien was looking at them the startled the doctors; merely that there had been a door in the wall the entire time, camouflaged apparently, and neither of them had been clever enough to check.

The flower extended a thin arm outwards, wrapping it tightly around the arm of the second Doctor, and pulled him towards him.

"Yay, a field trip!" he exclaimed brightly. The flower looked at him intently, its eyes dilating and contracting with suspicion.

"If that was a personal remark at my looks," he hissed in a voice that sounded like someone blowing down a blade of grass, "You'll be lucky to survive five minutes in the Sanatorium."

The Doctor looked quite appalled.

"I would never dream of insulting you," he said earnestly, his voice even. "It was just an expression."

The first Doctor rolled his eyes inwardly; this guy was such a clown. If that was what he was going to turn in to at his next regeneration, perhaps he might just favour death instead.

"And what's the Sanatorium?"

"You'll see soon enough," huffed the plant. "Now come on, I've orders." He then turned back over his spindly shoulder and shouted down the corridor. "C'mon Samuel, the other one shouldn't be too hard to take! Hurry up!"

In came Samuel, the orange man, grumbling and frowning, still waving his gun-key-megaphone device.

"Lieutenant Blaxhaul," he protested darkly as he stepped past the flower and placed an iron-like grip on the first Doctor's forearm.

"Hello," said the Doctor cheerfully, but he was ignored.

"In your dreams, mate," laughed the flower, his laugh like the sound of smashing bottles. "You're no more of a Lieutenant than I am a She-Malactyte. Now come on."

The Doctors were pulled and pushed and jerked down the long, thin corridor. Talking was forbidden, and despite the numerous tries at conversation, they were always greeted with a steely glare and a tightened grip on the arm that hurt just a little too much than it should have. Each of them supposed that this was what was meant to happen, and that sooner or later they would be given the answers they wanted.

The corridor reached a fork; one leading left, one leading right, but both on an upward slope. This corridor had been nothing like the dirty cavern and was more like the corridor they had seen in the illusionary room. The floor was made of a grated metal that their footsteps thundered along as they walked. The walls were smooth and plain and held no resemblance to what they had seen before.

"See you later," grunted Samuel to his co-worker, who tipped his head to oblige.

And then, the pair split up. Samuel took the left corridor whilst the flower took the right; and they took the respective Doctors with them, splitting up the unlikely trio for good.

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A/N: Loved it? Couldn't stand it? Please, let me know... weird, I know, but all sort of constructive criticsm is welcome. It can only make me better! It would only be a few seconds out of your day, but it would make me happier than... well, I don't know. Something very happy. A Doctor on coffee, perhaps.