XIV
Prisoners

20th Century
Planet Earth
Wales
1984

Rose slowly starts to gain consciousness with a thumping headache and sore wrists. The bright lights hanging above her don't help her head, nor do they help her to regain her focus. The memory of what happened before is very fuzzy. She hears movements of shuffling of feet and voices around her but she can't quite distinguish what is being said. She knows that they are human voices which suddenly makes her feel somewhat safer. She has an overwhelming sensation that she is back in the Tardis with the Doctor, but once her eyesight starts to slowly adjust to her surroundings, she quickly comes to the realisation that she is not in the Tardis at all but what looks like a very large kitchen made up of brick walls.

There are people walking around her in long white lab coats, cooking something on the large hob, yet the stench of their cooking makes Rose's eyes water. The Doctor is nowhere to be seen, nor is Terry or April. She looks to her right to see Aiden lying unconscious on a bench with belts wrapped around his wrists, waist and ankles, tying him to a wooden table. Suddenly realising that the pain in her wrists are coming from the belts being so tightly wrapped around her, Rose starts to struggle in a panic and calls out the Doctor's name hysterically. This only causes attention to the people in the kitchen.

One man bends over to look at Rose. Her screams are silenced as he places one rubber-gloved hand over her mouth and holds up an empty syringe in the other. Rose somewhat recognises the man's face and realises that he is one of the men in the pub who transformed into a Slitheen.

"This won't hurt a bit, Miss Tyler," The man says as he looks at the sharp needle of the syringe. "Just a little cut." He moves towards the oven to pour some of the hot green contents from the large pan sitting on the hob into the syringe.

Aiden wakes up with a groan, and he too starts to struggle in a panic.

"Do you remember what happened?" Rose asks, noticing the large cut across his forehead.

Aiden shakes his head. "I don't remember anything since we left the church," He replies. "I only hear screams in my mind but I don't know what from," He then frowns as he looks at Rose's forehead. "You've got a large cut across your head."

Rose's heart leaps up into her throat at his words. "So do you."

"What does that mean?" Aiden hisses. "That's where the Slitheen unzip their human form's skin. Does that mean they're going to turn us into a Slitheen too if we don't find an escape?"

Rose looks up at the ceiling and wriggles about on the table, but it is no use as the belts are too tight. "But the thing is the Slitheen just kill you and then remove the skin. Why have they kept us alive? And what are they cooking in that pan?"

"What about the others? Are they already Slitheen or waiting to be turned into a Slitheen?"

"Or they could be dead," Rose pauses for a moment, realising what she just said. "But Terry is just a cyborg, she can't die!" Rose and Aiden look at each other helplessly.

"I guess we're about to find out." Aiden mutters, glancing at the man approaching Rose.

Rose looks at the man standing before her with the syringe in his hand. "Do…do you have a family?" Her words stumble out of her mouth in a hurry. "A family back in Raxacoricofallapatorius? Do they know you're here? Do they know what you're doing to planet Earth?" Rose tries to suppress a smile as she knows that she has the man's full attention and that she is passing the time. "Surely not the whole of your race left your home planet alone to come over here?" She then lowers her voice. "How many did you leave behind? Friends? Family? Loved ones?"

The man suddenly looks very downcast as he guiltily looks at his shoes.

Rose waits for an answer but the man never replies. He breathes heavily.

"Tell me why you came here. Tell me why you kill human beings and use their skin as a disguise. Why do you want revenge on the Doctor for saving a planet he loves because your race was greedy and too ambitious to want to take over it? I know this cult is wanting to own the Cytracik like you do and that means they are a threat to you. We have no sympathy for you and the things you do. It's wrong and I know that somewhere deep down inside of you, you know that this is wrong. But you're probably brought up to believe that revenge and killing humans is a better option," Rose glances at the syringe which the man holds loosely by his side. "So here's a deal: we will leave you behind if you do no more harm to human beings. You leave this planet and we will all be at peace. Is that understood?"

There is a long pause of silence as the men in the kitchen freeze on the spot. Rose has very little hope that her words meant anything to the man as he looks as if he is considering the deal. She holds onto her breath, wondering if she has saved the day – but she is wrong.

"You are a liar!" The man shouts as anger suddenly crosses his face. "You're only fooling us to leave your precious planet alone! My race will stop at nothing to get what we want. We came here to have revenge on the Doctor and to behold the Cytracik and that is what we will do!"

"Well we'll just make you another obstacle to pass before you can get to the Doctor." Says a voice so familiar that Rose feels relieved.

Terry stands in the doorway to the kitchen, glaring at the men around her.

Aiden groans. "Could we just stop faffing around and get on with it!" He hisses but to his surprise, Terry is very quick on her feet as she dodges past the men that start running towards her. She turns the corner and starts encouraging them to come and get her and use her skin. While she is doing this, Aiden manages to free himself from the straps before freeing Rose. They stumble across the kitchen, their ankles weak. Yet as soon as they are close to the door, Aiden's jacket gets caught on the pan and it is knocked over, the hot green liquid spilling out onto the stone floor.

It all happens very quickly; one man pins Terry to the ground, another has his hands locked around Aiden's throat and another runs towards Rose, who backs up against the wall. He runs faster and faster towards her and throws the syringe.

It flies through the air and directly into Rose's throat.