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Stardate: Not Applicable Location: Time Vortex
Donna rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes and walked into the console room. The Doctor was frowning at the Time Rotor as it pulsed a strange mucus color. "Is she sick?"
The Doctor turned to look at Donna with a grin plastered on his face. "No. She's just… busy, it would seem." He ran an agitated hand through his hair as he accepted the tea she handed him.
Donna raised an eyebrow. "What? Like, she's spaced out? Staring into oblivion?" Donna realized what she said and stifled a snicker.
The Doctor looked at her like she'd just dribbled on her shirt. She was too tired to smack him. "No, like, she's a phone and there's someone on the line. We've got a busy signal, so to speak." Donna watched in bemusement as he jumped up and started fiddling with the dials on the console. He hit a button harder than he'd meant to, and the Rotor pulsed before the console sparked him.
The Doctor sighed. "Well, when she decides to grace us with her full attention again, where do you want to go? The singing mountains of Chelseek, Paris before the Eiffle Tower, Barcelona; the planet, not the country? Dogs with no noses! Ooh, or how about Midnight? A crystalline resort planet."
Donna smiled, "Yeah, a vacation sounds nice."
The Rotor pulsed and the screens on the console flickered back to life. The Doctor jumped up and caressed the console. "What were you up to, old girl?" The console sparked him again, and the Rotor started pumping. The TARDIS shook.
Donna fell on the jump seat. "What's going on? Are we going to Midnight, Doctor?"
He grabbed a screen and blanched. "Cardiff? Why is it always, Cardiff?" The room stopped shaking and he helped Donna get up, from where she had fallen off the jump seat.
"What's in Cardiff?" The Doctor was about to respond when the lock clicked and Jack stepped inside with a grim look on his face.
"Doctor, it's Rose. Something's wrong." At the Doctor's look of disbelief, he stepped inside and shut the door behind him before walking up to the Doctor. "Look, I don't know how to explain it. She was short on time and she said she'd explain later. Just… just look in my head. See what I saw." The Doctor looked at him like he'd lost his mind, but remained silent, clearly intrigued. "I know what I said about you poking around in there, but Doctor, it's Rose, and she needs us."
The Doctor hesitated another minute. The TARDIS hummed an agreement. He turned to look at her. "That's what you were up to? You were talking to Rose?" The TARDIS hummed again. "Alright, I'll look. You'd better not be wasting my time, Harkness."
He put his fingers on Jack's temples and they both went silent. Donna didn't know how long they would be there, so she walked back to her tea and started cleaning up the mess.
When she walked back in a few minutes later, the Doctor and Jack were running around the console programming coordinates. "So, what's the plan?"
Jack looked up. "Storm the sewer, save the Lady, beat the bad guy, and then have a drink."
The Doctor snorted. "Exactly! Minus the drink, unless you mean tea." He slid the lever into place and the TARDIS shook. "Allons-y!"
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Stardate:1/Apple7-Delta4 Location: Meridian Prime
"Rise and shine, Wolfie. It's a bright new day and the eclipse is mere hours away." Rose came to slowly. Her head felt foggy and her limbs were heavy. Her mouth was parched and her tongue was starting to swell. That last bolt of electricity had been a bit too much. Her hearts had stopped for a moment, apparently.
Dorian's face, olive skin, green eyes, gray hair, and perfect straight teeth, obscured her vision. "So, how do you like your new dress? My wife designed it herself. You look like a dream, I have to say. Yes, my goddess will be very pleased." He walked away and gave her a view of a new room. It was dingy, and damp. Cold, even more so than the room she had been chained up in. It was large enough to hold a small crowd and lit by silver orbs floating around the ceiling. A holovid of the Cult's deity, Memway, was playing against the wall closest to her. She was on ebony marble table, bound by those chains.
Dorian noticed her examining the room. He clapped. "Oh yes, we had you moved. You see that hole in the ceiling above you?" Rose nodded. "Right. When the eclipse begins, that panel will slide to the side and the chanting will begin. When the eclipse is complete, I'll plunge my dagger into your chest, and the chains will begin their duty. You see, they're programmed to begin sucking the blood out of your body as soon as a fatal blow is struck. Your blood, as you know Wolf, is laced with the Vortex, Time runs through your veins. It'll channel all of it into the machine behind you and then turn it into a liquid we can ingest. With no blood, you can't regenerate. We drink the blood, Memway grants us eternal life, and then we take the planet. After that, it's really only a matter of time before we take the Universe. Ultimate Power will be mine."
Rose sighed. "Even if this plan works, Dorian, it won't be Ultimate Power. I have limits. The only time I've ever let it all out, it nearly killed me. It did kill my Love. You won't survive it. You can't. It burns, Dorian, it sears through your veins like liquid fire and leaves you in a pain so blinding you can only wish for death. I was born for this power. You were not. You will die, or you will be left with no reprieve."
Dorian sniffed. "Well, we'll just have to find out won't we?" He looked at something over his shoulder. "Really though, how do you like the dress? You haven't even looked at it. My wife takes a large amount of pride in her work. She'd be disappointed if you died in clothes you didn't like."
He clearly wanted a compliment for his wife. Rose had seen the dress. It was pretty. In any other circumstance, she'd probably love it. It was white silk on the bosom with little cap sleeves. There was a gold ribbon beneath her breasts, and then it flowed down like a Grecian dress. The lower half was white silk underneath and white tulle on top. Simple, but elegant.
Before she could attempt an answer, Dorian cursed. He opened his wrist comp and read the message. She could see the writing through the small hologram that flickered to life above it.
Security Breach. Sector 8.
Rose hid her glee. Jack and the Doctor were here.
Dorian rolled his eyes and walked away, murmuring something about the useless help.
As soon as the door slid shut behind, another behind her opened and a red haired female in a purple coat slipped into the room. She gasped when she caught sight of Rose, then pulled out a hairpin and ran up to the table Rose was lying on.
Rose watched as the woman began working on the locks and started chattering away. "Hello. I'm Donna. I'm the Doctor's companion. Jack's setting up a distraction, the Doctor's on his way with the royal guard. I'm to get you out of here and to the TARDIS. Why he couldn't give me his screwdriver, I'll never understand. I get that the chains are probably deadlock sealed, but there are other things the screwdriver would be useful for. Honestly, for someone who's supposed to be a genius, he ain't half stupid." She rolled her eyes as the last lock clicked open. Donna's face lit up. "Wizard. Now, let's get you out of here. The TARDIS is right outside that door."
She helped Rose sit up, then pulled her up on her feet. "Alright there?" Rose nodded her head. "Think you can walk then?" Rose nodded again and took a step.
Her legs gave out from under her as Rose lost consciousness. It was only then that Donna realized how pallid Rose's complexion was. She was malnourished and her wrists were bleeding. Donna sighed and blew her hair out of face.
She hauled Rose's arm around her shoulder and wrapped her arm around the younger woman's waist, and started hauling her to the door she had come through. "Wizard."