Health and Safety: Chapter 13 –Out in the Cold
The sound of feet pounding on the pavement comes in a rhythmic pace, like a march, so my first, and probably overly optimistic thought is that these people must be Enforcement Officers searching for the missing people. The Doctor's worried look says that these are not friends of any kind though, so much for optimism... He reaches out to pull my hood up over my head, tucking back any stray hairs and starts inching us towards a low brick wall a few feet away from our hiding spot in the overgrown bush.
"Try over here, this ought-" Another voice calls, before it is silenced by a strange noise. Suddenly all around us, shots begin to ricochet off of walls, odd lights streaming in all directions, and people begin crying out in pain and alarm.
"Return fire, we must have the right place!" The coarse voice demands.
Boots scuffle off of the pavement in all directions, probably moving to try and find some cover. Behind our own tiny wall, the Doctor presses us up as close to it as he can physically manage, an odd gleam in his eyes of both terror and slight elation.
"Okay, so, another good news bad news situation." He says somewhat loudly in order to be heard over the din of gunfire and shouting coming from all around us.
"How is any of this good news?" I ask shortly as I hear someone cry out in agony.
"Bad news, we are stuck in the middle of some kind of firefight, possibly a turf war of rival gangs. Good news, despite the fact that we are stuck in the middle of a firefight; we are not the main targets for once! We're just sort of mostly innocent bystanders, which does make a nice change right?" He breaks out into a weak bout of laughter that doesn't reach his eyes.
I can't do anything but shake my head at him, I don't know if he is actually so desperate for a bright spot in this day that he actually thinks this is an improvement or if he is just losing it. When a shot explodes just over our heads, I stop caring so much about his mental state and hide my face in the crook of his neck instead, there is nothing we can do right now except stay here and hope that nobody notices us.
"Sir!" Strax interrupts us a few minutes later, suddenly appearing at our sides.
"Sir, this way, with all of the humans distracted over their puny factional conflict, no one is maintaining an appropriate lookout of the back entrance. We are almost certain that Ms. Jenny is being held in the building these humans have foolishly tried to infiltrate with a frontal assault! Madam and the other girl have taken the entryway, and are holding it for us." He rushes out with excitement.
We are right on the edge of the fight, and they do seem pretty intent on shooting each other right now, I doubt they would notice us if we're quick. The Doctor pokes his head over the wall we are hiding behind and looks back at me before we all make a mad dash across the street, almost diving for cover once we are close enough to the other side. Up a small set of stairs built into the side of the warehouse type building, Ria is standing at the outside of a small archway cut into the wall.
"This way." She tells us urgently before disappearing inside a narrow door. Vastra is just inside, sword drawn and looking vicious. The forms of two unconscious men laying a few feet away from her, tied and gagged.
"What makes you think this is it?" I ask.
"With the Doctor, whatever you need to find is always in the hardest place to get to." Vastra replies coolly, dragging both of the men out of obvious sight.
"Which way now Doctor?" Ria asks, shutting the outside door quietly, her pistol in a shaking hand.
There is a ladder leading down into darkness, and a stairwell curving in a spiral leading to an equally dark upstairs.
"Prisoners are most likely to be kept in an underground location, especially if a rescue attempt is considered to be likely." Strax says firmly.
The Doctor nods.
"We get Jenny and the others first."
"First? What are we doing second?" I ask in surprise.
"We cross that bridge when we get to it." He mutters dismissively.
Strax and Vastra have already started to climb down the ladder, and after giving the Doctor another look like she doesn't understand him, Ria follows them.
"You're wearing trousers for once." The Doctor says to me cheekily, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Hmm, yes I am, but that doesn't mean your eyes shouldn't stay front solider." I tease him, my own mouth curling into a grin as well.
"My eyes are always front." He echoes himself from a day seemingly impossibly long ago, as his eyes do indeed settle in front of him, squarely on me for a few seconds, before offering me a hand as I step down onto the ladder.
The darkness thins as we descend farther down, dim red lights illuminating the skinny opening around the ladder. It's hard to tell how far we have gotten below the ground, it's getting colder though, and my arms are starting to ache. Despite the TARDIS forcing us to sleep, I still feel exhausted, that nap wasn't exactly a restful one…
Sneaking a glance above me, I see the Doctor's boots settling carefully on each rung, very wary to not step on my hands. I can't help but think about the last time I climbed a ladder with him, a silver ladder leading to the stairway to heaven, or that was what I had thought at the time. But that was a climb up into the light instead of a descent into darkness, a sense of wonder instead of a sense of dread, curiosity spurring me on instead of fear and concern. Although… on both occasions I have been afforded an opportunity for my own eyes… which are not always front.
Eventually we come to the bottom of the ladder; where the narrow opening widens into some kind of antechamber with a large metal door blocking the way further. Luckily it isn't a wooden door though, and it has a normal lock keeping it shut, meaning that the sonic makes quick work of it. Even more luckily, the only guard left on duty is fast asleep; drooling on the table, which makes it easy for Strax to hit him over the head, ensuring his nap lasts a little longer than he had probably planned. Not exactly an elegant solution, but it works and there doesn't seem to be anyone else around right now, they're all probably dealing with the trouble upstairs.
"The other girl and I shall hold this position." Strax tells the Doctor with confidence, shutting the door behind us and hiding to the side of it, motioning for Ria to take the other side.
The rest of us walk father down the red lit tunnel, barely daring to breathe loudly let alone speak. The walls of the tunnel are mostly made of closely packed stones, with thin metal pipes running down the left side, dribbling some kind of foul smelling liquid from cracks in them. I jump when I feel something settle over my shoulders, but relax when I see that it is the Doctor putting his coat over me, I hadn't noticed I was shivering so badly, even though I have a jacket of my own it really is freezing down here…
After a few minutes of walking, the wall on the right side changes from packed stone and cement to metal bars, revealing some kind of cell.
"Jenny?" Vastra whispers, running ahead of us, face pressed as close as she can to the bars, trying to see the back of the cell in the muted light.
"Ma-madam?" A weak voice calls back, broken slightly by chattering teeth.
"Jenny!"
The Doctor takes off to catch up with her, and we find the two of them kneeling on opposite sides of the cell, holding hands through the bars.
"Doctor!" Jenny's face has tear stains down her cheeks, but she is beaming right now.
"See, I told you I had friends coming for us." She calls behind her kindly. A young girl is huddled in the corner with three other woman, all of whom I recognize from the missing posters.
"Hang on, just got to find the door." The Doctor says, running his hands over the bars trying to locate the lock. When his fumbling yields no results, I move to help him, finding something bulky with a keyhole and grabbing his hand to show him where it was.
"Ahha!"
The sonic looks very strange in the red light, the green glow making an odd contrast. As the door creaks open loudly, the trapped women jump to their feet, running to the door and throwing their arms around us both, thanking us incessantly, trembling noticeably, whether from fear or the cold I can't say. Both most likely… Vastra pulls Jenny in to her, forgetting their usual Victorian sense of propriety and kissing her deeply as her arms lock around her.
"Right, time to get out of here I think, no telling how long our distraction outside will last." The Doctor says, taking my hand and the young girl's, leading us all back the way we came.
Strax and Ria are still guarding the door, and pull it open when we get closer.
"Sir, I shall ensure our escape route is clear." Strax says before struggling up the ladder, the rungs were not made for someone that size, I'm impressed he is able to climb it at all.
"Time to cross another bridge." Ria reminds the Doctor.
His face scrunches a bit, as if he hoped she would forget that he had said that.
"Vastra, I need you three to get these people back to the TARDIS, keep them close to it but don't go in. The perception filter should keep you hidden. Use the wireless communicator to contact the Estevan Enforcement, tell them you are the associate of a Joint Marshal and you have rescued some of the kidnapped people. They should take it from there, get these people safe and back to their families."
"And what about us then?" I ask him. He shuffles on his feet, looking up and down.
"I need to take a closer look around here, I have some questions and I want answers, but…"
"But what Doctor?"
"But I don't want to keep you here, but I can't send you away either." He answers in a pained voice.
"As if I would leave you alone to trip around a big, dark warehouse which is full of angry, armed gang members and is also under attack by other angry armed gang members. Sorry Doctor, but your snogbox got us into this mess together, and we are staying that way. I'm not going anywhere, no point in telling me it's too dangerous."
His expression shifts into a warm smile, despite my jibe about his time machine.
"Sir, the way is clear!" Strax's voice calls from above us. Vastra ushers Jenny before her, and the other kidnapped victims follow behind her. I give the young girl's hand a squeeze before she starts climbing, trying to comfort her. Even though she is free she still looks terrified, not that I blame her at all, we're not out of here yet.
The Doctor brings up the rear, Ria in between us. The climb up seems to take more time than the descent did, maybe because we are in a hurry to leave, or at least I feel like we should be.
There are still the sounds of a fight coming from outside when we make it back to the ground floor. Strax and Vastra exchange some hand signals, seeming to decide on their plan to escape. They are about to leave, when the young girl clings to me tightly, afraid to let go.
"I've got to help the Doctor, but these are my friends, and they always try very hard to keep me safe, you'll be okay with them, they will get you home, and we will try to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else." I tell her softly, slipping the Doctor's coat off and putting it around her shoulders.
She tugs it close to her as one of the other ladies takes her hand. Vastra nods at the Doctor, before leading the group out the door silently. The Doctor and I are about to head up the stairs, when I notice we aren't alone. Ria hasn't left.
"Doctor, you said 'you three' when you mentioned getting those people out of here." Ria points out.
"Yes I did." He replies with a hint of amusement, like he wondered if she would catch that.
"Is this a test?" She asks tensely.
Yes.
What will it do to us?
Kill us. So, come on then, plan, do I have one?
Oh I know what your plan was, I knew straight away.
No, you didn't.
Course I did.
Show me!
Why should I?
The sensation of falling jerks my mind back to the scene before me, I stumble another step, trying to catch myself before I end up staggering heavily into the Doctor, who gives me a worried look as he quickly wraps an arm around my waist. Ria is standing with her mouth open, arms out like she was ready to catch me if she had to.
"You wanted a 'local' guide right?" She asks him, once they have both decided I am not going to collapse on them.
"Yes I did." He confirms.
"Right then. You're going to need to need me more than they are anyways, this convenient distraction won't last forever, I've got a feeling it's going to be harder to get out when you decide to leave." She says firmly, before leading the way up the stairs.
When I asked the Doctor why the TARDIS would pick this particular Victoria London, he had just said 'why not' and right now, despite the TARDIS and I's differences, I can't think of any particular reason to doubt her call on this one.
A/N: So, this took longer than planned, which I am sorry for, and I am further sorry that it will probably be at least a week before I can post another chapter again. My summer internship just ended, and I am in the someone frantic process of trying to pack and sort school stuff before the joy of getting my wisdom teeth removed in two days… Then I actually have to move back to the city my university is in. So I promise I have legitimate reasons for temporarily leaving you, and I also promise that I won't be gone forever. My own overly optimistic idea was that I would finish this before school started, but that won't happen, lots more to go and this adventure through the warehouse is by no means the big conclusion. ;)
Anyways, thank you so much dear readers! I am sorry to leave you hanging for a bit. Enjoy what is left of summer, and good luck to everyone heading to school and whatnot!