Chapter 10

[Uh, surprise? So, I'm now far enough along with this story, I'll be posting three days a week.]

Ivan grabbed for his gun. Luckily, he wasn't the quickest at drawing it out of his pocket.

"Now Pride."

Pride actually slid under her to get in front faster. He clapped his hands together and brought up a barrier from the floor, effectively blocking Ivan just as he fired.

Peering around it, the Doctor could see Ivan stumble back in surprise. "B-but the defenses."

"Shut off with the power I'd imagine," the Doctor said.

Pride clapped his hands together again and brought the floor up to wrap around Ivan. That was when the metal beneath them groaned. By moving too much of the floor up, Pride was weakening their defenses against water pressure. Pride looked down, just in time to be blasted with water. The Doctor jumped out of the way, and Ivan scrambled away from the formation around him before they could try sealing it again.

"Simon! Simon, where are you?!"

There was the sound of someone coming around the corner. Ivan turned, looking hopeful. His small smile fell when Ruth came into sight, her own gun raised to his head. A stun gun, luckily, though the Doctor still wasn't a fan.

"I'm afraid he won't be answering," she said. "Sorry it took a moment Doctor. Alchemists are hard to fight unless you get the drop on them, and Lilly wasn't much help."

"Why you little-you've betrayed us!"

"I don't think I have," Ruth said. "I think you're losing it sir."

She took a step closer, pushing the gun closer to his head. Ivan took a step back. He looked at Ruth's gun, and realization flashed in his eyes, presumably as he recognized it was less lethal than his own. He raised his own weapon, only to see it had been reduced to a useless twisted lump of metal. He looked down.

Pride was standing beside him, and he did not look happy to have been soaked again. "Oh sorry. Is it not supposed to be like that?" Pride asked innocently.

While Ivan looked at him incredulously, Ruth shot him. He spasmed for a moment and then dropped to the floor with a thunk. That would hurt later. Pride walked back towards the Doctor, clapped his hands together, and fixed the holes in the base. (At least in this hall.)

"This seemed simpler than usual," he commented.

"Would you prefer the complicated ones?" the Doctor asked.

Before he could answer, Lilly rounded the corner. "Sorry I-what's going on?"

"That is actually a good question," Ruth admitted. "What do we do now?"

"Well, I think you better take charge," the Doctor answered.

"What? Me?" Ruth asked.

"You were second in command, weren't you? Saves everyone a lot of trouble if you just become the leader."

Then, with a smile the Doctor turned and started walking back to the TARDIS.

"Well . . . aren't you going to help?" Ruth asked after her.

"Oh no. Places to see. People to go. You know how it is."

She got some funny looks from all three of them at that. Had she said it wrong? She didn't know what the problem was. The statement was still completely true.

Ruth looked away and seemed to accept this was how things were going. "Lilly?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to lock these two up." She waved a hand at Ivan, no doubt also referring to Simon. "See what you can do about all this water."

Lilly's hopeful expression slowly dropped, though she seemed to be trying to hold back until Ruth dragged Ivan off. The Doctor waited, idea in mind. She didn't like this. She couldn't think of a single recent companion she'd brought along who didn't ask, or get forced along but that wasn't point. The point was that she said she wanted someone to join her and Pride, and everything Lilly had done so far showed she'd do well, and she'd probably want to come. She wanted to be more than mop girl after all.

"So, Lilly, how did you two catch Simon?"

"Oh. Well, Ruth was going to just stun him from behind, but he noticed us. Uh, luckily he was mostly paying attention to Ruth, so when I tripped and slid in the water, he turned around to see what the noise was, and Ruth shot him."

So much for Lilly being useless.

"Lilly? Would you like to come with us?"

"Well, here we are."

The Doctor reached the counsel, arms out in a dramatic flourish. She spun around. Pride had followed her in and leaned against one of the crystals around the room. Lilly had made it inside, and then slowed, eyes darting around.

"But-but it's. . ."

"Bigger on the inside?" Pride filled in. There was some thinly veiled impatience there.

"Well . . . yes." Lilly looked around one more time, taking in the room, and the people in it. Then she put on a smile and went to join the Doctor at the controls. "How does it work?"

"Well, uh, simplest I can, we travel in this. It dematerializes from here, and then rematerializes somewhere else."

"What, anywhere?" Lilly leaned across the counsel.

"Anywhere," the Doctor confirmed. "Next stop, all of time and space."

The Doctor also leaned across the counsel, putting their heads closer together.

"Doctor," Pride said.

They both turned to him as he held out the boa the Doctor had been wearing earlier. He dropped it and it hit the ground with a squelch, water pooling up.

"Fine. First we dry off, then all of time and space. I've got one of those drying cabinets. Somewhere. You know, the ones you step into in amusement parks and for a quarter it dries you."

It was quiet for a moment, until Lilly spoke. "Doctor those always cost more than a quarter."