Author's Note: Seriously busy day. So short chapter.

Sorry.

Enjoy!

Timmo finally managed to override the thing that was jamming the elevator, and it was starting to whirr back into life. Opening its doors with a soft, "Ping", to reveal Zed Square.

"It's D," said Zed Square, double checking his weapon. "He's flipped. Gone complete nutcase on us. No idea how, but he's with the Autons. Shot me to protect a blond one."

"That's Seo!" Alison cried. "And she's not an Auton. She really doesn't show up on life sign scans."

"Seriously," Dawn agreed.

Zed Square and Timmo both exchanged knowing looks.

They'd heard it all before.

"This 'Dave' was your friend," Alison continued. "I know he seemed a little cold, but… he didn't seem the sort to turn traitor against the human race and start killing you all. Wouldn't it make more sense to assume he'd worked out that Seo isn't an Auton, and was stunning you to stop you killing her?"

"If he was a traitor," Dawn agreed, "he'd probably have just killed you. Not stunned you and dragged you somewhere with no plastic around."

This made both Zed Square and Timmo hesitate.

Honestly consider that maybe they didn't have all the answers. That maybe their team member wasn't a traitor. They were more ready to believe Dave was himself than that Seo was herself, after all…

But it was interrupted.

As they spotted the cluster of Autons — nearly every one in the store, Dawn guessed — all marching towards them. Gun hands raised and pointed at the group.

"You will take the Consciousness off this world," they demanded.

Zed Square swore. "Vastly outnumbered. And cornered with nowhere to go."

"Are you kidding?!" Dawn shouted. She grabbed at those around her, dragging them inside. "Elevator! Come on!"

They only just had time to shut the doors and get it moving, again, before the Autons arrived.

"Dave's heading to the lowest basement level," Zed Square reported, checking his life sign scanner. "Employee side. This lift doesn't get there, but… bet we can get close, with some mechanical pizzazz from yours truly."

"Then let's hope he's still on the same mission we are," said Timmo. Nudged Zed Square. "Get working."

Seo laid a hand on Dave's shoulder, as they stared past the corner, at the place Dave knew the target was located. Their mission.

The one they'd arrived to rescue.

"I was right," Seo whispered. "Something's very wrong."

But Dave wasn't listening to her, anymore. There were five Autons pacing the perimeter, some with their backs facing him, none seeming aware of him or even looking anywhere near where he was hiding.

Easy shots.

And this time, even Seo seemed distracted enough that she didn't notice as he pulled out his gun.

"All that power, all that machinery," Seo went on. "It's creating a force-field around that dome. A plastic-reinforced dome. And the lock to the door is on the outside. In fact… none of the Auton guards are even facing us!"

"Good news for me," said Dave.

And shot all five in a row, just like that.

Their bodies melting away into nothing, in a sear of white light.

Seo rounded on him, snatching the gun away, her eyes blazing. "What is wrong with you?" she demanded. "That make you feel good, shooting someone in the back?!"

"They weren't someones," Dave countered, easily. "It was better to blast them while they were unaware. Otherwise, it might have turned into a hostage situation."

Seo gritted her teeth. "They were very aware," she insisted. "They weren't facing us, because we're not the threat." She pointed, emphatically. "Your so-called 'hostage' didn't hide away, praying someone would save him. That's not a barricade he constructed to hide himself from the Autons — it's a prison. The Autons locked him in there! That's why they're trying to go off-world. Whatever and whoever's in there, the Nestene Consciousness is terrified he'll get out. That's the biggest threat."

"Then it's a good thing he's on our side," said Dave, yanking wires out and disengaging the force field. He fingered his last remaining gun, just in case. It was a projectile gun, standard bullet-firer. But it'd work, in a pinch. No use in his taking risks, after all. "If nothing else, he is human."

"Humans can be just as cruel as aliens," Seo replied, coming up behind him. "Crueler. You know that, too."

He did.

But he'd trust a human over an alien any day. Even a really pretty alien, like this one.

"Do you want to find out what's in there?" Dave asked her.

Seo paused.

And Dave knew he'd gotten her weakness spot-on.

"You could walk away," said Dave. "Never know. Or you could help me by blasting away the plastic prison, and letting us inside."

"And if I don't, you'll find a way to get in there, anyways," Seo guessed. "With or without me." She shook her head. "You'd trust this imprisoned stranger that you know is dangerous with your life, but won't trust me further than you can shoot me?! What's next? Deciding black is white and up is down and reality is actually run by a giant hamster called Melvin who wants us to bring him cheese?"

Dave turned to her.

Waited.

Seo looked down at the gun in her hands. Then sighed, and pointed it at the plastic dome. Searing it with white heat until the plastic melted into nothing.

Revealing a large, metallic dome underneath.

Seo disassembled the gun, quickly, then threw the pieces across the room. "A prisoner," she said, "whom the Autons are scared enough of that they sealed him away inside a faraday cage, a layer of plastic, and a force field. You sure you want to rescue this person?"

"That's the mission," said Dave, walking towards the door, easily. Undoing the lock mechanism with a little lock-pick gadget he'd been given by a high-up at Earth Central. "And I follow the mission."

The door clicked unlocked.

And Dave walked in.