A/N Warning for brief descriptions of torture in this chapter.

The Crimson Spell

The next few months after meeting the Doctor went by in a flash for Rose. Now that she had a conditional offer to Oxford, she focused all her attention on her A-levels so she could get the three As she needed. Without them, the offer was meaningless.

Jackie was finally on board after seeing the conditional offer, and had been very encouraging, as well as bragging about Rose to anyone who would listen. It made Rose's life slightly easier, knowing she had her mother on her side.

Rose's eighteenth birthday came and went, but she was too busy with work and studies to really have a celebration. She had been sneaking into bars and clubs since she was fifteen so it was hardly a novelty being able to do that legally now. Shareen had dropped out of school, but she came to visit at the flat with a six-pack of cider so they could celebrate and Rose was grateful. She and Shareen had drifted apart, as was bound to happen, but it was nice to catch up.

"You look good," Shareen had said. "Love the hair."

Rose had just smiled and accepted the compliment. She had stopped dyeing her hair since the previous summer and grown out her honey blonde hair. The length was still more or less the same (a few inches below her shoulders) and she didn't miss the hours of work to dye and maintain it anymore. Her mum wasn't best pleased, but hadn't argued.

Shareen had started working at Henrik's in town and she sounded like she was happy with the job. Rose was still at work with her own job as well, and it had been an interesting conversation to have with River when she told her about meeting the Doctor. River had asked a thousand questions, taking detailed notes in her journal.

It was when Rose had said the Doctor had asked her to come with him, that River had stopped and stared at Rose.

"You refused him?" she'd asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah," Rose had answered. "What?" she'd asked when River had just gaped at her.

"N-nothing," River had stammered out and picked up her pen again. "Continue."

As June rolled around, Rose had intensive study sessions with River any time they didn't have a customer, and Rose sat her A-levels at the end of June. She had the whole of July to worry about her results, but at Jackie's behest, she had started packing her things, deciding what to take and what she would need to leave behind.

She also took stock of her savings, and frowned when she realised that while government assistance would cover her tuition fees for all three years, her savings would be enough for her room, board and living expenses for only the first two years. Oxford did not allow undergraduate students to be employed, as the idea was for them to focus on their studies. Rose had initially planned on taking a part-time job but that was no longer an option and she wasn't sure what she would do. River had offered to give her an interest-free loan, but Rose had refused since River had already done too much for her and Rose had been raised to not accept charity from anyone. There was time until she had to worry, but Rose knew she would have to come up with a plan sooner or later.

As August came around, Rose buried her anxiety which threatened to overwhelm her at any given moment, and tried to focus on anything else but the pending results. The day before the results were due, Rose made her way to work in the morning, looking pale as a ghost.

"Blimey, have you slept at all?" asked River, when she saw her.

"What is sleep?" asked Rose, giving her a sardonic smile. "Tea?"

"You sit down. I'll make the tea," said River.

Rose shrugged and sat down, too tired to argue. The door to the shop opened and she was surprised when Jack walked in beaming, handsome as always.

"Morning, Rose," he greeted, and his eyebrows shot up when he saw her. "Late night?"

"Results are due tomorrow," she said by way of explanation, as she stood up to hug him.

He hugged her back and patted her head as he pulled away. "You'll do fine, kiddo," he said. "Where's River?"

"Back here," called out River from the backroom. "You want a cuppa too, Jack?"

"Yes, please, gorgeous," he called back, as he sat down next to Rose.

"What brings you here today, Jack?" asked Rose, trying to remember if River had mentioned anything about going away.

"I have a case," he said, raising his voice slightly, presumably so River could hear him as well.

"A case for us?" asked River, as she walked out with the tea tray. She shooed away Rose's hands and started pouring the tea herself.

"Yeah," he said. "I have my hands full at the moment so I thought I'd pass this one along to you two."

"I'm all ears," said River, passing a cup each to Rose and Jack before pouring one for herself.

Jack took a sip of his tea before reaching into his coat and pulling out a bundle of documents. "Four missing persons," he said, laying out four photographs onto River's desk. "Poppy Thomas, Leila Dorian, Tara Gore and Uma Patrick. Four women, all in their very early twenties. All went missing over the past two months from the Ashmolean Museum."

"Employees?" asked River, examining the photographs.

"Yes," said Jack. "Poppy and Uma were volunteers; they worked at the welcome desk. Leila worked in the gift shop and Tara worked in the Western Art Department. They were last seen at work and then never seen since."

"Are the police involved?" asked Rose.

"Of course," said Jack. "I mean, their families notified the police right away and the police are doing what they do, but…"

"But they don't know what we know," finished River, and Jack inclined his head in agreement. "So what do we know about this one?"

"I haven't been able to find a connection between them, apart from the fact that they are in the same age range and worked at the museum," shrugged Jack. "The police have no leads and there is nothing to suggest that any of these women disappeared of their own volition."

"Even if there's foul play, it does not strictly make it something we would look into," said River.

"I thought you might say that," said Jack. "There is something that makes this whole thing bizarre enough that I think we need to look into."

"What's that?" asked Rose.

"In the days leading up to their disappearance, all women exhibited signs of insomnia," said Jack.

"It's thin, Jack," said River. "They could have been drugged and targeted prior to being taken."

"Leila and Tara both went to their respective physician when they couldn't sleep. Their doctors ran blood tests and neither of them had anything in their system," said Jack, pulling out the reports from the stack he'd set down.

Rose had to admit that was weird enough. As did River, it seemed, when she nodded. "Alright," said River. "Leave it with us."

"Thank you," grinned Jack, and placed a business card on River's desk. "My contact at the Ashmolean is Sarah Essa. She's used to the bizarre, to an extent, mind you." He finished his tea and stood up. "Keep the file," he added. "I'll see you both soon."

Rose and River hugged him goodbye, and with a stern look at Rose to not stress so much, Jack took his leave.

River checked her watch and then typed something on her computer. "Maybe call your mum to let her know we'll be in Oxford today. We might need to stay overnight," River told her.

"What time is the train from Paddington?" asked Rose, noting it was already 9 in the morning.

"We can try and make the one at 10.15," said River.

"I'll pop home quickly and grab a bag then," said Rose, already standing up.

"Alright, see you in a bit," nodded River, already booking tickets.

Rose went home and found the flat empty. She quickly packed an overnight bag and left a note for Jackie, explaining she was travelling to Oxford with River for work. Despite her anxiety about the exam results, Rose was looking forward to going on the trip, especially since she hadn't had the chance to go to the Ashmolean Museum yet.

River called a cab to take them to Paddington, and they made it in time for the train to Oxford. It was just under an hour of travel before they reached Oxford, followed by a ten minute walk to the Ashmolean Museum of Archaeology and Art.

Sarah Essa, Jack's contact, met them at the entrance of the museum. She appeared to be in her early thirties, and was dressed neatly in a grey pantsuit with a matching hijab.

"Welcome to Oxford, Professor Song," said Sarah, shaking River's hand. "I'm Sara Essa. I'm a Curator for the Ancient Egypt and Sudan Exhibits in the Antiquities Department."

"Very nice to meet you. Please call me River," smiled River. "This is Rose Tyler. She assists me in my work."

"How do you do, Rose?" asked Sarah, as she offered her hand.

"Very well, thank you," said Rose, shaking her hand. "How about you?"

"I wish I could say the same," chuckled Sarah. "Come on through, I have booked a study room for the two of you." Sarah led them to a study room on the first floor and ushered them in before closing the door. "I'm sorry I can't offer much more than this, but I hope this will suffice."

"It's perfect," said River, nodding at the clean, well-maintained study room with a large desk, four chairs, and two white boards. "We would like to speak to you now, if you don't mind."

"Of course," said Sarah, as they all took a seat. "I am not sure how helpful I can be, but I'll do my best."

Rose took out the file that Jack had given them and handed it to River, before sitting down with her notebook, ready to take notes.

"Did you know the women who disappeared?" asked River.

"Only Tara, I'm afraid, and that too, in passing," said Sarah. "The museum has a lot of employees," she added, by way of explanation. "Between the various academics, volunteers, retail and hospitality employees, there are hundreds of us with a fairly consistent turnover rate, especially when it comes to volunteers."

"You wouldn't happen to know if any of them had anything in common?" asked River.

"I'm sorry, I don't," said Sarah, and then pulled out a blackberry. "When Jack initially got in touch, I made a list of people closest to each of them if you would prefer to speak to them instead. I don't anticipate being helpful otherwise."

River took the offered blackberry and handed it to Rose, who began copying down the names on the list quickly. "No, this helps far more than you'd think, Sarah," she said, truthfully. "Thank you."

"Of course," said Sarah. "I'll-"

There was a knock on the study room door and Sarah frowned. "Yes?" she asked.

The door opened and a young man in his twenties dressed in black slacks, white shirt and black cardigan, stood in the doorway.

"Pardon me for interrupting Dr Essa," he said, nervousness pouring off him in waves. "Dr Enwerda is looking for you."

Sarah sighed. "Very well, thank you, Wyatt," she said, and stood up. "My apologies, River, Rose. Dr Enwerda is leaving on a research trip today, so I need to see what he needs. In fact," she paused and looked at Wyatt. "Wyatt, I'll leave you to assist our guests."

"A-assist?" asked Wyatt, looking even more nervous.

"Yes," said Sarah. "They have been requested to investigate the disappearance of our colleagues."

Wyatt's eyes went wide as he looked over at them. He was a thin young man, with untidy curly ash blond hair and skittering brown eyes behind thick glasses. He nodded, and Sarah took her leave, assuring that Wyatt would be able to assist as needed.

"Alright," said River. "Let's use Sarah's list and work our way through, shall we?"

Rose nodded, and River sent Wyatt to fetch each of the people on the list. Most people were the same as Sarah. They knew the victims but just in passing. They did have more luck with some of the others, but they didn't glean any further information than what they had previously known.

One of Leila's colleagues sobbed the whole way through her interview. "She was just so nice," sobbed Caroline. "Even when she was suffering from insomnia, she bore through it with a smile. She didn't complain once."

At the end of the day, Rose looked over her notes.

All four victims worked at the museum, albeit in different places.

All of them were in their early twenties.

All of them were last seen at the museum and never seen again.

All of them complained of insomnia in the days leading up to their disappearance.

"That is the only difference I can see," said Rose.

River, who was stretching her arms, glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

"Leila and Tara suffered from insomnia for three days before they disappeared, Uma for two days and Poppy only lasted one day," said Rose.

"It's the order they disappeared in as well," said River. "Leila was the first to disappear, then Tara, then Uma and then Poppy."

"Let's say they were drugged then," said Rose. "Do you think the dose got stronger?" She consulted her notes again. "Leila's friend - Caroline, she said that Leila's insomnia got worse over the course of three days. But Poppy's colleague said she looked terrible after only a day."

"It's possible," conceded River.

"But I guess no drugs were found in their system," frowned Rose.

"No drugs that a physician would find in a standard blood test," corrected River.

There was a knock on the door as Wyatt entered. "Is there anything else you need from me?" he asked. "The museum will be closing in an hour."

"No, thank you, Wyatt," smiled River. "Actually, why don't you give Rose a hand with tidying up? I'll just pop out and speak to Sarah before we retire for the night."

"Sure, of course," said Wyatt. Rose had discovered that while nervous and not very confident, Wyatt had been useful throughout the day, tracking down everyone on Sarah's list and even bringing lunch for her and River so they didn't have to stop working. "Did you have any luck?" he asked, now.

Rose shook her head. "Hard to say," she said, as she carefully rearranged Jack's file. She paused and glanced at Wyatt. "Did you know them?"

"Yeah, I mean, hard not to," he said.

"Really?" asked Rose. "Sarah mentioned there are too many people for everyone to keep track."

Wyatt looked like he wanted to roll his eyes, but he shook his head instead. "Yeah, that's true for most staff. But assistants like me? We are sent to fetch and carry all day, so you get used to seeing everyone at some point," he said.

Rose wondered if she was imagining the slightly bitter note in his voice. "Do all assistants work all over the museum?" she asked.

"Most of them do," he said. "My primary duties are to assist Dr Enwerda. He's the curator for the Greece and Cyprus Exhibit in the Antiquities Department."

"Are you a student at the university?" she asked.

"No," he said, and then smiled wryly. "I, uh, I couldn't get in."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Rose.

"It's fine," he shrugged. "My family are all Oxford alumni, though, so my father got me this job here. What about you? Are you old enough to attend university yet?"

Rose nodded. "I have a conditional offer for October," she said, hoping she kept her tone casual and not like she was rubbing salt in his wounds.

"That's great," said Wyatt, with a smile. "What are you studying?"

"Archaeology and Anthropology at Hertford," she said. "But," she added. "I still haven't received my A-level results so it might all be for nothing."

"The A-levels are the easy part," he said. "Trust me, you have already done the difficult part."

"I hope so," said Rose.

He smiled at her and waved as he took his leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, Rose. I assume you and Professor Song will be back in the morning?"

"Yeah, we're staying at the Magnolia Hotel in town," she said.

"Great, I'll see you soon," he said. "Good night, Rose."

"Good night, Wyatt," smiled Rose, as he left. She continued packing up and when River returned, they went to the hotel for the night. River was already yawning as they took the lift to their room after a quick supper, but Rose felt wide awake despite being tired.

"Don't stay up too long," River warned her as she climbed into one of the beds. "You need sleep."

"I know," said Rose. "I'm tired so I'll turn in soon as well."

River nodded and drifted off to sleep. Rose changed into her pyjamas but her brain was too wired to go to sleep, even as midnight rolled around. She contemplated going for a walk, but was surprised when the phone in the room rang. She rushed to answer it before River could wake up.

"Hello?" she whispered.

"My sincere apologies for disturbing you, madam," came the polite voice from the other end. "This is the front desk and we have a visitor here who insists there is an emergency."

"Can you put them on, please?" requested Rose.

"Certainly."

There was a brief pause before Rose heard another voice. "Rose, hi, sorry to call you so late."

"Wyatt?" recognised Rose.

"Yeah," he said. "Sorry I didn't get a chance to ask for your number but there's something you should know about those women that disappeared."

"What is it?" asked Rose.

"I-can you come meet me in the lobby? I'd rather not say over the phone," he said.

"Yeah, I'll be right down," said Rose.

"Thank you," he said, relieved. "I'll wait by the dining room."

Rose hummed in agreement and hung up the phone. She thought about waking River, but knew she was only just going downstairs. Grabbing a hoodie and slipping into her trainers, Rose took the lift down. The hotel was quiet with the exception of the front desk where Rose saw the employee who had presumably called her. He appeared to be busy on another call, so Rose slipped past and went toward the dining room.

Wyatt was standing in front of the closed dining room, similarly dressed in track pants and a hoodie, hands buried in his pockets. "Hi, Rose," he said, looking relieved when he saw her.

"Hi, Wyatt," she said. "What did you want to tell me?"

"Where's River?" he asked.

"She's asleep, I didn't want to wake her," said Rose. "I'll pass along anything you tell me," she added, in case he was hesitant about telling her.

"I know," he said, and then with lightning quick reflexes pulled out his hand from his pocket and opened his fist before blowing lightly on it. A powder of some sort flew right into Rose's face and before she could say anything, she felt blackness claim her.

When Rose awoke, it was to the sound of light tapping. She blinked for a few moments and realised she couldn't move. Slowly, the room swam into focus and she was sure she was back in the Ashmolean Museum. The clock on the wall showed it was just before 5 am, so she had been here all night. It was an office of some sort and the plaque on the desk said Dr T. Enwerda. The person sitting at the desk, however, was Wyatt as he tapped his fingers on the desk.

Rose realised she was sitting on a chair, with her wrists bound to the chair's arms with ropes, and a piece of duct tape over her mouth.

"You're awake," said Wyatt, perking up a little. "The dose must have been very strong. You were only supposed to be out for an hour or two but you have been asleep for almost 4 hours. Any disorientation?"

Rose glared at him and struggled with her bonds.

"Don't do that," he said. "You'll only hurt yourself."

Rose paid him no mind and tried her best to get free, but the ropes had been tied really well and there wasn't even an inch of give. She stopped and glared at Wyatt again, who had finally stopped tapping his fingers.

"For what it's worth," he said, as he stood up. "It wasn't my idea to do this. Rose, I'm-"

"That is enough," came a sharp voice from behind her and Rose's eyes went wide when she recognised it. Caroline walked over and glared at Rose, her face harsh without any trace of the tears she'd shed that afternoon. "Watch the door."

Wyatt narrowed his eyes at Caroline but obeyed. Caroline rolled her eyes and set a satchel down on Dr Enwerda's desk before smirking at Rose.

"They just get younger and younger," she said.

Rose glared at her and tugged at her bonds again. "Don't try it, sweetheart," said Caroline, opening the satchel and starting to pull out a few things. The office was only lit by two desk lamps so Rose didn't immediately see what the objects were.

"Now," said Caroline as she pulled on a pair of gloves and turned back to face Rose again. "Let's get started, shall we?"

Rose's eyes went wide as she saw the curved dagger in her hand. Kopis, her brain informed her unhelpfully. Ancient Greek knife with a forward curving blade. Judging by the smaller size rather than the sword-like length, she knew it would be from a later era. 4th century BC, unless she was mistaken. Apart from its many uses as a weapon in battle, it was also used in ritual sacrifice. Rose looked at the rest of the objects on the desk and noticed a small bowl as well as an empty oil lamp from the same era. There were other odds and ends but she couldn't see what they were.

"This will pinch a bit," said Caroline, approaching her.

Rose frantically shook her head but Caroline held the knife to her throat and Rose immediately stopped moving.

"Good girl," cooed Caroline, carefully flicking aside Rose's hair away from her neck. "I don't intend to kill you. I just want to gather some blood. But if you struggle, then my hand might slip." She pressed the knife against the skin of Rose's neck to drive in her point.

Rose took a breath and nodded slowly to indicate she understood. Caroline nodded and deliberately shifted the blade a few inches to the left and made a thin, long cut.

Rose couldn't help but scream but it was muffled behind the duct tape. Caroline grabbed the bowl and held it against the cut to collect the blood. Without pausing, she made a similar cut on Rose's neck on the other side and collected the blood. Rose realised that either Wyatt or Caroline had removed her hoodie before tying her up, so she was only wearing her track pants and a tank top.

Caroline made a long cut on each of Rose's forearms, not even flinching as Rose screamed. She made the final cuts on each of Rose's palms and then set the knife and the bowl down on the desk again. Rose slumped in her seat, wincing from the pain. None of the cuts were bleeding profusely so she knew Caroline must have only made shallow cuts but they still hurt.

"Water," said Rose, behind her gag. "Please."

Caroline paid her no mind as she carefully pulled off the bloodied gloves and threw them back in the satchel before pulling out a vial of what looked like more blood and mixed it with Rose's blood. Wyatt, however, came over and poured a glass of water from a jug on the desk.

"Don't scream," he told her, before pulling off the duct tape gently.

Rose kept silent as he held the glass of water to her lips. Wyatt nodded at her, and Rose slowly drank the water, feeling slightly better.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, keeping her voice low as she finished drinking.

Wyatt flinched and looked at Caroline, who chuckled. "Back to the door, Wyatt," ordered Caroline, before looking at Rose.

"Have you heard of the Greek Magical Papyri?" she asked.

Rose's brow furrowed. "T-the book of spells?" she asked.

"Well done, ten points to the chav," grinned Caroline nastily.

Rose glanced at the things on the desk before looking at Caroline. "You're doing a spell?" she asked, incredulously.

"Of course I am," said Caroline. Rose just stared at her in disbelief and Caroline chuckled. "I suppose you think it's all primitive hocus pocus. Well, you're not completely wrong."

Caroline leaned against the desk and crossed her arms. "The Greek Magical Papyri is one of the most well-known spellbooks we have in existence today. It's been deciphered and documented for hundreds of years now. Many people have attempted the many spells in there, with no apparent success," she explained, before smirking at Rose. "But, they didn't have the advantages that I did."

"Like what?" asked Rose, aghast.

"The equipment for one," said Caroline and picked up the knife which made Rose flinch. "These are authenticated artefacts I am using. The real deal, the ones used back in the day. Then, of course, I have been modifying the spells to see what works."

Rose just continued to gape at her and Caroline went back to the desk. She picked up three cotton wicks and dipped them in the bowl of mixed blood, carefully squeezing out the excess blood.

"What is it all for?" asked Rose.

"Well, it's strictly academic for me," said Caroline as she picked up a small vial of brown liquid. "Running low on myrrh oil," she muttered to herself. "Wyatt, on the other hand…" Caroline grinned at him over her shoulder and dipped a thin paint brush into the vial of myrrh oil before carefully starting to write on the wicks. "It's a love spell for his benefit."

Rose felt her entire being grow cold. "A love spell?" she asked.

"Yes, most of the spells in the Greek Magical Papyri are love spells," said Caroline, still writing something on the wicks, dipping the brush into the vial of myrrh oil frequently to replenish it. "I've tried a few of them, but this is the first one to work." She paused and smirked at Rose. "It's a spell to invoke the seven gods - Iao, Adonai, Sabaoth, Pagoure, Iaeo, Marmorouth and Michael, in order to bind someone in love. The names of those gods are to be written on the wicks with myrrh and then the lamp is to be lit with seeds of wormwood on top."

"What about the blood?" asked Rose.

"Yours and Wyatt's mixed together," said Caroline. "It's not in the book. That's one of my own discoveries."

"I-is that what you did with the others?" asked Rose, forcing herself to focus.

"More or less, though I have been refining the formula as you deduced quite correctly," said Caroline. Rose's brow furrowed as she said that. She was sure she and River had been alone when they had discussed that and Caroline chuckled. "I had Wyatt plant a little device in the study room," she explained. "I wanted to know what everyone knew so far."

"What did you do with them?" asked Rose, her voice growing hard with anger. "Did you torture them too? Take their blood to do your sick experiment?"

"Hardly," said Caroline. "You see, the effect of the spell is supposed to be that the person bound will suffer from lack of sleep until they are touched by the person they are bound to. Even a simple handshake will suffice." Rose ignored the sick feeling in her stomach and forced herself to pay attention. "Leila was the first. I had tried the spell before but it hadn't worked. So I used some of her DNA, her hair to be precise, in the ritual." Caroline paused as she threaded the wick through the oil lamp. "It worked, to an extent. She got the insomnia though it was mild to begin with. But when Wyatt over there touched her, instead of her heart skipping a beat, it skipped several. All of them, to be exact."

"She's dead?" asked Rose, aghast. "She was your friend!"

"She was a brat," shrugged Caroline, as she poured olive oil into the lamp. "It's a lucky thing the museum has all those trolleys with fully closing covers for transporting artefacts. Transporting bodies would be no easy feat otherwise." She used wet wipes to carefully start cleaning her hands. "Tara was next. I used saliva this time, from a can of drink she'd left around. It had almost the same effect as Leila. With Poppy and Uma, I got creative. Used blood, mixed in Wyatt's DNA, and it almost worked with Poppy."

"How?" asked Rose.

"When Wyatt touched her, it was like she had fallen under his spell," said Caroline, sighing dreamily, as she placed the lamp on the edge of the desk and placed the wormwood seeds on top. "She lasted a whole day before her heart gave out."

"And me?" asked Rose, the feeling of dread was almost overwhelming now. "What did you do differently with me?"

Caroline just smirked at her and pulled out a lighter. "I suppose you'll find out," she said. She came over to Rose and placed the duct tape back over her mouth, before clicking the lighter on and lighting the lamp. Rose screamed but it went unheard as the lamp started burning, slowly but surely. The seeds on top began warming, and Rose started feeling a flush of heat crawling up her spine. She had to struggle, she had to do something, because otherwise she was going to become a puppet and then die.

"Is it working?" she heard Wyatt ask, and it was as if his voice was a magnet drawing her toward him.

"I expect so. Get over here, you need to recite the words to complete the ritual," said Caroline. "Any-"

Her words were cut off by a knock on the door. Rose blinked as the momentary bit of distraction dissipated some of the haze in her mind for a split second. Caroline was too quick though and was upon her in a blink, with the knife pressed to Rose's neck before Rose could scream.

"Wyatt!" hissed Caroline. "Deal with it."

Wyatt nodded and opened the door just a crack to slip out. Rose knew even if she had been able to move, the chair she was in was not in direct line of sight of the doorway.

She still had to alert whoever was on the other side, but her eyes went wide when she heard Wyatt speak.

"Professor Song, what are you doing here so early?" he asked.

"Good morning, Wyatt," said River. "You haven't seen Rose, have you?"

"No, not since yesterday. Why?" asked Wyatt.

"She didn't sleep in her bed last night," said River, and even in her state Rose could hear the worry in her tone. "She left her phone and wallet in the hotel room…"

It was as if every worry-laden word from River's mouth was waking Rose up more and more. She could see Caroline was staring at the closed door, still holding that knife to her neck. The lamp was burning away at the edge of the desk and Rose assessed the distance between her and the lamp.

Carefully planting her feet onto the ground, Rose took a deep breath. She had one shot at this and she had to do it now since she could hear that River was about to leave. Turning her body slightly Rose nudged Caroline's hand away from her neck and lunged forward, knocking the lamp off the desk with her elbow. It fell onto the carpeted floors and the oil spilled out, the flame starting to grow. Rose had felt the knife sink into her shoulder when she'd lunged but she ignored the pain. Caroline screamed when she saw the fire, too shocked to stay silent.

There was a ringing in Rose's ears so she couldn't hear River, but the next moment the door was thrown open as an unconscious Wyatt tumbled through. River was standing over him with an alien weapon of some sorts. Rose looked at her, and without hesitation, River took a single shot at Caroline, who fell to the floor unconscious. River slammed the door shut behind her and rushed inside and grabbed the jug of water from the desk. She threw the entire jug on the fire, dousing the flames. Rose swayed on her feet, about ready to collapse, but River caught her in a strong grip.

"I've got you, Rose," she said, setting the chair down. "Hang on a moment, sweetie, I'll cut you loose." Rose nodded and felt River cut the ropes binding her wrist. Rose fell forward into River's arms as soon as she was loose and River hugged her tightly. "I've got you, I've got you," she kept murmuring as she stroked her back.

She slowly let her go and Rose could see tears in her eyes. "I'm fine, River," said Rose, her voice a bit hoarse.

"You're pretty fucking far from it," said River, as she pulled out her phone, still keeping an arm around Rose. "Jack! You need to get here. Now!" It seemed like she would hang up, but then she glanced at Rose and added. "And bring a medic!"

It took slightly over 2 hours for Jack to arrive. River had assessed Rose's wounds in that time, and gotten the whole story. Wyatt and Caroline were both unconscious, courtesy of River's tranquiliser gun. When Rose asked how River got the gun, she told her it was on one of her expeditions.

"How long will they stay out?" asked Rose.

River checked her watch and then fired a shot into each of their torsos. "Another two hours now," she said.

There was a knock on the door and River pulled Rose behind her before opening the door. She relaxed slightly when Jack entered, followed by two women and a man.

Jack took one look at Rose and his smile dropped into a deep grimace. "Owen!" he barked.

The man, Owen, rolled his eyes but walked over to Rose. "Hi, there, I'm Dr Owen Harper," he said.

"I'm Rose," she said.

"Hello, Rose," he said. "Can I take a look at your injuries?"

Rose nodded as Owen helped her into a chair and pulled up a chair to sit opposite her before opening his doctor's bag. She could vaguely hear River telling Jack what had happened, and Rose was grateful she wouldn't need to repeat the story. She could see the two women with Jack listening with rapt attention, and the Japanese woman had started taking notes at some point.

"I'm going to clean these wounds," said Owen. "And then with a bit of dermal regeneration, you won't even have a scar when I'm done, I promise."

"Thanks," nodded Rose.

"Ancient Greek Love Spells?" asked the other woman with Jack, with the dark curly hair. "You can't be serious!"

"Hey, don't knock it, Susie," said Jack as he walked over and picked up the knife that Caroline had left on the desk. He frowned and held it out to River, who examined it as well before her eyebrows shot up. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked River.

"Let's find out," said River, and Rose exclaimed in shock when she placed it on the ground and stomped as hard as she could on it.

The rusted metal of the ancient knife crumbled away and as River picked it back up again, Rose was shocked when she saw...circuitry.

"Is it alien?" asked Rose, hardly paying attention to Owen healing her wounds.

"Yes and no," said River, still examining it carefully. "It's an artefact from ancient Greece. 4th century BC, if I had to guess. But it's not of earthly origins."

"Are you saying the aliens left it on Earth in 4th century BC?" asked the Japanese woman, whom Jack had called Tosh at some point. "What is it exactly?"

"Crudely speaking, it is a device to control someone," said River. "It collects the biodata of its victims but it then needs to be inputted into an appropriate control device to be successful in using it."

"What about the bowl?" asked Rose. "They didn't use the knife on all of their victims."

River took a few moments to examine the bowl but then shook her head. "The bowl is just a normal bowl," she said.

"The lamp, maybe," suggested Tosh. "They apparently used that with everyone, didn't they?" She glanced at Rose, who nodded.

River examined the lamp which had cracked slightly when Rose had pushed it to the floor.

"All done," said Owen, and Rose noticed her skin was pristine with no signs of any wounds. She must have been gaping because Owen grinned smugly as he started to pack his instruments back up. "I'll write you a prescription for some painkillers and I'd advise a good night's rest."

"T-thank you," said Rose. She would have to ask Jack about the medical technology his team (because these people had to be his team) had access to.

"Oh," said River. "This lamp is not the control device but it's from the same technology."

"It's more likely what we have here is the infinite monkey theorem in action," said Jack.

"I concur," nodded River. "They had the bits and pieces of the right technology and the right information but not exactly the correct one. Hence the failures. The psycho bitch over there could have killed a few hundred people more but never perfected it."

"Do we know the origins of the technology?" asked Susie, with interest.

"Pre-Olympian, I would say," said River.

"I'm sorry, did you just say-?" asked Owen, as all of them except Jack gaped at her.

"Pre-Olympian," nodded River. "From the era of the Titans."

"Hold on, the Titans were aliens?" asked Rose.

River shrugged. "Most gods in history were deified because they could perform magic and miracles that humans could not dream of," she said. "What does that sound like to you?"

"That plus a bit of inaccurate recorded history and deliberate sabotage to conceal their interference, means that what we like to think of as gods, were nothing more than aliens," nodded Jack.

They were all just silent as those words sank in. Rose wondered if it was due to the ordeal she had been through, or just general stress, but she felt like bursting into hysterics. Any time she felt like she had a grasp on how deeply involved aliens had been with humans throughout history, a moment like this completely flipped her worldview on its head.

"Anyway, enough of this," said Jack. "Owen, are you all done?"

"Uh, yes," he said, quickly scribbling out a prescription for Rose.

"Okay, Susie, prepare these two for transport," ordered Jack, looking at Caroline and Wyatt.

"Wait," said Rose, and got to her feet. "They never told me what they did with the bodies."

"The bodies?" asked Susie.

"The women before me. They just said they took the bodies out of the museum," said Rose. "Those women had families, they have a right to know."

"We will find out, Rose," Jack assured her. "I promise." He nodded at Susie, who used those little prison cells to capture both of them. "You and Owen head back to base. Tosh, you stay for the clean up. I'll notify Sarah." His team sprang into action, and Jack turned to River. "You and Rose should head back to London. We'll sort this out."

"Great," said River, and pulled off her coat to hand it to Rose. "Let's go."

"What will happen to them?" asked Rose, looking at Jack.

He exchanged a look with River, but Rose waited for his response with a stubborn look on her face.

"We will interrogate them," said Jack. "We won't torture them," he added, when Rose looked alarmed. "And then we will hand them over to the appropriate authorities. There will be some careful maneouvering but rest assured, they will both face justice for their involvement in the murder of those women." When Rose opened her mouth to ask for details, Jack held up a hand. "It's better you don't know much more than that."

Rose frowned but didn't argue as she let River lead her back to the hotel. River hovered, not unlike Jackie, as Rose took a shower and dressed for the journey back to London.

"Ready to go?" asked River, as Rose finished packing her bag again.

Rose was about to nod, but then took a deep breath and burst into tears. She heard River make a noise of concern before grabbing her into a hug. Rose held onto her as the events crashed into her all at once; the torture, the near-death experience, the fear, the stress and the relief all hitting her at the same time. River stroked her back as she cried, and poured her some water, when Rose finally quietened down to sniffles.

"I'm sorry," said Rose, after taking a drink.

"You have nothing to apologise for," said River, sitting down next to her. "You went through something terrible, Rose. The adrenaline's worn off, so it's only natural that you need some time to process this. Trust me, you are doing much better than most people under these circumstances."

"Thank you, River," said Rose, with a watery smile. "And thank you for coming to look for me."

"You're thanking me?" asked River, astonished. "I'm the one who put you in danger in the first place."

"You didn't do that," said Rose, firmly. "I chose this, and I was the one stupid enough to go and see Wyatt without telling you. I'm sorry for always worrying you, River."

River smiled fondly and shook her head. "You're alright now, and that's all that matters," she said.

Rose returned her smile and stood up. "Alright," said Rose. "Let's go home."

"I'm back!" called Rose. "Mum, you home?"

There was no response but she could hear the telly playing which meant her mum was home. Rose had slept the whole train ride from Oxford to London, but she was still quite exhausted. River had explained that despite Owen having healed her, her body would need more time to recover. River had made her stop at the chemist's and fill out the prescription that Owen had written for her, and Rose was ready to take one of the painkillers and sleep for the rest of the day.

"How was Oxford?" asked Jackie, as she grinned at her from the sofa.

"It was fine, yeah," said Rose. "Nothing remarkable."

"It's a shame then, that you will have to turn around and go right back in a few weeks," said Jackie.

Rose stared at her and then at the piece of paper on the coffee table, as it clicked that her results were supposed to arrive today. "You opened it?" asked Rose, diving for it immediately.

"Of course, I did," said Jackie. "I couldn't wait."

Rose didn't pay attention as her heart nearly beat out of her chest. Her hands trembled but she unfolded the letter and ran her eyes down the list.

Anthropology

A

Archaeology

A

History

A

She vaguely heard her mum telling her she'd already put the champagne in the fridge to cool, but Rose could not contain the wide smile encompassing her face.

She was going to Oxford.