Chapter 3: Stay With Me
"They were going to wipe my memory," Mr. Van Statten told them, standing up and pacing back and forth. "Me! But I escaped, and I hitched a ride. I found an alien and hitched a ride off of Earth. And then… I found you. I'd sworn revenge on you, you know… Doctor."
"But why?" the Doctor asked asked.
"It was your fault! If the two of you had never entered my museum, that… that creature would never have gotten out, and I would still be the most powerful man in the world! But ah, well… now I have you."
Van Statten went back to his chair and sat down. He snapped his fingers. The alien pressed a few buttons on its device, and manacles appeared around the Doctor's wrists. Then the front wall of the box disappeared. The Doctor tried to get out, but he was chained to the wall. The alien came in and grabbed Rose's free hand, yanking her away from him.
"No!" he yelled, pulling at his chains. He tried to grab the sonic screwdriver, but he couldn't reach it. "Rose!"
"Ah, yes," Van Statten said. "Dear little Rose."
The alien pressed a few more buttons and then there were handcuffs around Rose's wrists too, chaining her to Van Statten's chair. Van Statten reached up and caressed her cheek, and she leaned as far away from him as she could get.
"You know, it's really wonderful, how much you care for her," Van Statten remarked. "Because it gives me something I can use against you."
He started to motion to the alien, then stopped. He reached over and took its device.
"I want to do this myself," he said, and pushed a button. Rose screamed in pain.
The Doctor couldn't stand it.
"What do you want?" he asked. "What do you want from me? I'll do anything, just please, let her go!"
"Oh, sorry, but I can't do that," Van Statten said. "What I want is to see you hurting. And thanks to that Dalek creature, I know that there's no better way to hurt you… than to hurt her."
He pressed another button, and Rose screamed again. The Doctor yanked at his handcuffs, trying to break free.
"Let her go!" he yelled.
"Or what?" Van Statten said, almost amused. "You're not exactly in any position to do anything."
The Doctor twisted around like a pretzel, trying to reach the sonic screwdriver. If he could just get to it…
It fell out of his pocket onto the ground. He poked and prodded it with his foot, trying to get it to the right setting. Then he kicked it around so it was facing Van Statten.
"Oh, what are you going to do with that?" Van Statten asked curiously. "What does that thing do? I think I'd better take that away from you before you hurt someone."
He motioned to the alien, and it walked towards him and picked the sonic screwdriver up. But not before the Doctor pressed it one last time with his foot, and his handcuffs disappeared. He ran over to the shocked Van Statten and took the alien device.
"All right, Van Statten. Which button releases her?" he asked. Van Staten pointed shakily to a button. The Doctor knew the man was lying. He let his finger hover over the button for a moment, then pressed a different one. Instantly, handcuffs appeared around Van Statten's wrists, shackling him to the chair. The Doctor pressed another button, and Rose's handcuffs disappeared. She ran to him and hugged him, and he hugged her back, crushing her to him. When she let go, he turned to the alien and held out his hand. Reluctantly, the alien handed him the sonic screwdriver.
"Thank you," he said, pressing another button on the alien device. Handcuffs appeared around the alien's wrists, chaining it to the side of the box.
"I'll deal with that later," he said, turning to Van Statten.
"Let me go," the man pleaded.
"All right," the Doctor said, having absolutely no intention of actually letting him go. He pressed a button, and Van Statten writhed in silent agony.
"Oops. Wrong button," the Doctor said, pressing another one. Van Statten's body arched in pain.
"My finger must have slipped," the Doctor said. He was rather enjoying this. He moved his finger to yet another button, but Rose put her hand on his arm.
"Don't," she said quietly. He looked down at her. The pain was evident in her eyes. She was still hurting from what Van Statten had done to her. And she wanted him to stop?
"He hurt you," he said simply. "He needs to learn that if he hurts someone I care about, I'll hurt him. He deserves it."
"You've punished him already. Let him go," Rose said. The Doctor wanted to hurt Van Statten for what he'd done to Rose until he begged for mercy. But Rose, the one who'd experienced the pain, who had every reason to want him to continue, was asking him to stop.
Maybe she was just a better person than he was.
He sighed and set the device on top of the box. Either someone would come and find the two, or one of them would manage to get the device down and free themselves. Either way, they were getting off far too easy.
He walked over to Van Statten. The man trembled in terror.
"Never hurt Rose again," he said quietly so Rose couldn't hear, putting every ounce of the Oncoming Storm into his voice. "Because I promise you, if you ever come after her again, ever, I will not be so merciful. I will kill you. And I will make it as slow and as painful as I know how. And believe me, in 900 years you learn a lot of ways to torture someone to death."
Van Statten nodded, terrified. The Doctor walked over to Rose and took her hand. They walked out of the room and found that they were in the shop basement. They walked upstairs and outside, and went back into the TARDIS. Then Rose collapsed into his arms, and the tears finally came.
"I'm so sorry, Rose," he whispered into her hair.
"It's not your fault," Rose said between sobs, and he could feel her tears soaking into his jacket.
"Yes, it is. I should have made you stay in the TARDIS. I shouldn't have let you come into the store…"
"No, don't blame yourself," she said, looking up at him. He could see the pain still in her eyes, and it hurt like it was his own pain. "There was no way you could have known."
"What can I do?" he asked. He felt so helpless, and he hated the feeling. "How can I help you not hurt anymore?"
She laid her head on his chest again and whispered into his jacket something that sounded like, "Stay with me."
"I will," he told her. "Always."