I really don't know why this happened, but I've written the first 5 chapters of this steadily and then as I actually upload it, I get complete writer's block. :p Oh, the world! But here it is- didn't take too too long.
Chapter 6
Rose woke up to see the dog still curled in her bed, on top of the covers and completely relaxed. She smiled and softly pulled herself out of the bed, trying not to disturb the dog. Sam. She thought to herself. He lifted his head when she got up and when she began getting dressed, he trotted to her side. He sat on the floor patiently as she was getting ready and finally they walked out to greet the other occupants.
The dog, Sam, Rose has decided, was more confident this morning, possibly feeling comforted by the presence of Rose. The Doctor, as always, was already awake and at the console. 'Good Morning!' Rose called to him happily.
The Doctor turned to her. 'Good morning Rose. And I see the dog is all cleaned up now. I discovered some bags for him in the kitchen, if he's hungry.'
Rose led Sam down to the Doctor's level. 'Doctor, what do you think of the name Sam?' She asked him. The dog shyly stopped behind her leg and glanced up at the Doctor. The Doctor leaned down to his height. 'Hey Sam.' He spoke to him gently, holding his hand out for Sam to sniff. Sam inched forward and, when he recognized Rose's scent, bound over to the Doctor for affection. The Doctor jumped back up in surprise, but leaned down again to pet the excited dog.
Amy and Rory walked down from their bedroom and the Doctor stood back up. He fiddled with something on the console while Rose, Amy, and Rory all said good morning to each other. The Doctor felt something strange coming from the dog, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He told the TARDIS to scan the pooch by fiddling with those knobs on the screen, but the TARDIS seemed to not be able to sense the creature's presence. That, or the TARDIS was ignoring the Doctor, which it hardly ever did.
Amy spoke a greeting to the Doctor, and he turned his distracted gaze from the screen. 'Good morning to you too, Pond.' He said with a glance in her direction. The TARDIS began moving and the Doctor meandered in circles around the console, pressing buttons.
Just like old times. Rose thought to herself. She thought she'd notice all the differences in this regeneration, but instead she seemed to be noticing the little things she never really expected to travel with him for three regenerations, such as his habit of leaning against the console and fidgeting with the knobs. Rose didn't know if they actually did anything, but the Doctor sure acted like many of them didn't.
Sam wound his way between Rose's legs and stared up at Amy with puppy-dog eyes. Amy, unable to resist the draw of the cute, leaned over to pet Sam. Amy was still petting him when the TARDIS landed and the Doctor threw open the door. As soon as he heard the door open, Sam grabbed Amy's scarf and sprinted out of the TARDIS. Amy, of course, went chasing after the dog, leaving the rest of them with no choice but to follow as well.
The intended destination was another alien planet, but once again, the TARDIS didn't land where the Doctor told her to. They were an alien planet, but this was definitely not the one the Doctor meant to bring Rose to on her first trip back in the TARDIS with him. The people on this planet held a grudge with Earth humans. This planet, like Earth, had humans. However, these humans were more hostile and aggressive than the humans on Earth and took enjoyment in seeing other creatures held prisoner.
Sam sprinted towards a large field and in the middle, where there was a bare spot without grass, began digging in the dirt. Rose and Amy ran and dropped down next to him, trying to pull him away from the dirt and let go of Amy's scarf. His lack of a collar, however, made it difficult for anyone to get a grip on the slick fur. He dug and dug until his claws hit something solid. He began barking and yipping until the Doctor came over.
Sam had unearthed an old rusty hatch. Amy, Rory, and Rose gathered around while the Doctor whipped out his trusty sonic screwdriver. He scanned the hatch with it and, upon reading the results, leaned down to attempt to open the strange trapdoor. Like so many doors they encountered, this one was locked. He once again pulled out the sonic and unlocked it with a click of a button.
As dangerous as this dark seemingly endless ancient pit seemed to be, there was no stopping the Doctor from climbing right in and descending into the dark. With a glance at Amy, Rose followed on down right after him.
'You've got a… smart dog there.' Amy said to her as she swung onto the rungs of the ladder as well. Rory began descending last, and all four of the time-travellers couldn't help but glance down into the darkness below them and seemed to stretch on forever. As they climbed downwards, the light from above quickly grew smaller and smaller, however, a light appeared down below them as well. It looked far away, but now they knew something awaited them below.
After descending for a few minutes, the Doctor pulled out his green and gold sonic screwdriver once again and scanned below in an attempt to both gauge the distance and check for any danger down below.
'Looks like we're nearing the bottom.' He said to his companions. Sure enough, after several more meters, Rose's foot touched the ground. The light, they discovered, was a light on the wall down a tunnel to the right. Several nervous barks were heard from Sam, and Rose contemplated climbing back up and waiting with him. However, she knew she couldn't leave her impulsive doctor to wander these hallways without her.
The tunnel soon led to a hallway that looked very much like a medical or scientific facility. The companions were all getting sinking feelings in their stomachs but the Doctor pushed forward, as if there was nothing to worry about.
Red lights down the hall began to flair as a siren wailed. 'Humans detected, west wing. Humans detected, west wing.' The Doctor, with a glance at his companions, began sprinting down the hall in the hopes of finding somewhere safe to hide. Though the Doctor did not say it, all the companions knew that they did NOT want to be found by whoever was in the facility. As they approached a split in the hallway, footsteps behind them cracked against the tile flooring. With a spin of his head, the doctor saw the armed guard racing towards them, hand reaching for a gun.
The Doctor picked a direction, left, and sprinted. In front of them, half a dozen more guards showed up. They turned, hoping to fight off the one, but the one had been joined by several more. Trapped in between the two groups in the hallway, they had no choice but hold up their hands in the universal sign of surrender.
From behind the second group of guards emerged a tall woman with striking red hair and a high-positioned look about her. She looked over the Doctor with his companions then spoke. 'How the hell did you get down here?' None of them replied and she tapped her foot impatiently. After a minute, she motioned to the guards. 'Just bring them to the containment unit.' With a quick flip of her hair, she stalked off down the hall as the guards crowded around the group.
The guards began escorting them all down the hall, the opposite direction as the woman. 'Doctor, what are we doing?' Rose whispered into her time lord's ear. They continued walking, whispering discretely to each other.
'It's not like we have any other choice. We've gotta follow. I'll get us out of here, I promise.' He replied to her in an obviously trying-to-comfort voice.
The guards led them through several turns. Rory and the Doctor both tried to remember the way they were going, but eventually they both lost track of the many different turns. Finally, they emerged in a holding area with a locked cell, one that the Doctor knew he could sonic his way out of. One of the guards opened up the cell for them and they all walked in obediently.
The guards walked away and Amy turned to face the Doctor with her sassy attitude. 'So… Doctor, what are we doing here?'
'Saw a hole, climbed in.' He replied simply and whipped out his sonic. He fiddled with it before pointing it at the lock. To everyone's surprise, nothing happened. The Doctor pulled his sonic up to his face and fiddled with it curiously, a look of utter befuddlement on his face.
The woman walked in, smiling at the Doctor and laughing. 'Did you really think your silly little sonic screwdriver would get you out of that cell? I'm smarter than that! What I really want to know though, is how you got in there? Or even better, how four humans landed on this planet in the first place?'
Good. The Doctor thought. The surveillance thinks I'm a human.
'Because… our sensors pick up any breach in the perimeter.' She walked to the cell door. 'And we have security cameras in perfect synchronization. They have no blind spots.' She slipped a key in the door and gestured for the Doctor to back up. 'Nobody ever walked through perimeter. Nobody landed a ship within perimeter. So that leaves one thing…' She walked into the cell. 'That means you've got a TARDIS. Nothing else can breach these perimeters, I even know when a vortex manipulator gets in.'
The Doctor frowned. Or maybe she does know…
She looked around at everyone, then the Doctor who seemed to have the air of authority in the group. She saw the way he was glancing at the blonde. So she walked to Rose, grabbed her arm, and began pulling her to the door. 'I'm gonna take your friend here on a… trip around the facility. She'll see you later.'
The Doctor lunged forward, reaching for his Rose. The woman yanked her out of his grasp then walked out, leaving the Doctor fumbling once again for his sonic. The woman popped her head back in. 'By the way, my name is Vatra.' She popped back out and a call from Rose could be heard. 'Doctor!'
The Doctor pushed at the door and soniced it for several minutes. 'Doctor, it's not going to work, you heard what she said.' Amy commented as he tried several more frequencies. Finally, after several more comments from the two companions, he finally admitted defeat.
'Doctor, I know we can get her back. You can get her back. But standing here and waving your screwdriver at the door isn't the way to do it. We've got to wait. Something will show itself, some weakness or loophole. I'm sorry, but there's really nothing we can do right now.' Rory said to the Doctor, knowing what it's like for a lover to be stuck where you can't get to her.
The Doctor sighed. 'You're right Rory.' He sat down on the ground and put his head in his hands. 'I've lost her too many times, I can't lose her again.' He muttered to himself.
Though Amy had no idea what he was referring to, she refrained from asking him. He stayed curled on the floor like that for at least an hour, in which time Amy and Rory found themselves entertaining each other by pointing out shapes in the discoloured walls.
After what Rory estimated to be 3 hours, a piercing scream worked its way through the concrete walls. Vatra walked back in soon afterwards. The Doctor jumped up and ran to the door, a look of desperate concern on his face. 'Where's Rose?' He yelled to her. 'Where is Rose?' His tone became more troubled.
She smiled deviously at him. 'Now now, I think we have more important things to talk about…. Time lord.'