Wow, I am just spitting out chapter after chapter, aren't I? Its two in the morning on a Saturday. I should be sleeping. Instead I'm writing Companion Pains... Wow, I must be feeling so guilty about that month long wait, eh?

Sarah Jane's words hung in the air. To Amy, it sounded like they were just repeating over and over again, as if she had spoken loudly in a cave. "It's me... or the universe. It's me... or the universe." The words basically told them to fire the missiles and leave her for dead. Amy's breath caught in her throat. This was her fault. Had Amy not stumbled when they first started running, they would have been right on the heels of Martha and Mickey. She should have noticed when Sarah Jane had fallen. They both could have gotten through the door.
Amy couldn't see Sarah Jane's face, but by the sound of her voice, she knew her eyes must have been brimming with tears. Why wouldn't they be?
Amy looked over at the Doctor, who looked torn by the decision to save Sarah Jane, or the world. His eyes were wet as his fingers hovered over the controls to the weapons systems. "I don't know what to do," he whispered. Martha and Mickey exchanged glances, silent as they watched what was unfolding before them.
"Doctor!" came the sound of Dalek Sec on the other side of the door. "Open the doors, or the female will be exterminated!"
"STOP SAYING THAT!" the Doctor suddenly shouted.
"She will be exterminated!"
"They're not going to open the door!" Sarah Jane snapped at them. "Not when the entire universe is at sake!"
The Daleks were quick to change tactics.
"Open the door, or we will blast it open!"
Amy jumped away from the door. Mickey and Martha did the same, but the Doctor just jumped to work on the controls. He pressed buttons rapidly before grabbing a large switch and gripping it so tightly that his knuckles began to turn white.
"No, you won't!" he called to them. "The coordinates are all typed in. I just need to pull this switch, and this place gets roasted by its own weapons!" He grinned manically. "You kill Sarah Jane, I pull the switch. You blast the door, I pull the switch. You do anything that is a threat to us, I pull the switch. Have you got that?!"
There was silence following his speech.
The leader of the Cult of Skaro trilled in response, "Then you will die, too!"
"Nope," the Doctor replied. "Once again, one of your tools, we will use as our own! We have control of the Dalek teleports!"
Barely moments after he spoke, sparks blew from a console on the other side of the room, causing everyone to jump.
"Let me guess-" Mickey said.
"That was the Dalek teleports," said the Doctor grimly.
"You have no means of escape," the Dalek trilled. "If you fire the missiles, it will mean death for you, too."
There was silence as the reality set in. Mickey and Martha clung to each other, and Martha grabbed Amy's hand and squeezed comfortingly.
"Do it," Sarah Jane whispered outside the door. "I have a son down there."
"No! Stop it!" called a Dalek.
Martha bit her lip. "If we open the door, they kill us. If we fire the missiles, we kill ourselves." She stared at the Doctor. "Do it."
Mickey nodded in agreement. He squeezed Martha's hand. "Till death does us part," he whispered to her. He glanced up at the Doctor. "Do it."
They all looked to Amy. She bit her lip, many thoughts going through her mind. If she died here, with this version of the Doctor, it meant that her raggedy Doctor never existed. Then none of the stuff between him and River happened. Amy would never see Rory again, and the Doctor would also never see Rose again.
But she talked to the Doctor right after this one, and he survived. He just couldn't remember how. Amy didn't understand why that was, but she knew one thing; if that Doctor was alive, then this Doctor survived somehow, which meant that they all still had a chance.
The eyes of her friends were still on her as she slowly nodded. "It's us, or the universe," she whispered. She looked up and made eye contact with the Doctor, who had an unreadable expression on his face. "Do it," she whispered.
"No!" shouted the other Daleks in the corridor outside. "Do not exterminate! Do not exterminate!"
Dalek Sec who kept his annoying metallic voice calm, said, "Would you really kill these innocent people to save the earth?"
"Well," the Doctor said, shrugging. "We're gonna die anyway."
He pulled the switch.

Maria bit her lip as the Cyberleader slowly got to its feet. Straightening itself up, it stared at Jack. Well, at least Maria thought it was staring at Jack. She couldn't tell for sure.
The Cyberleader trilled, "The deactivator of the previous Cyberleader was deleted. Why do you say it was you who had done it?"
Maria saw Jack and the Doctor exchange looks, and the Doctor mouthed something she couldn't read. Maria didn't know what was going on, but she sure hoped that the Doctor had a plan.
When Jack didn't answer, the Cyberman raised its arm and pointed at Rose, saying, "Bring the youngest female to me."
Several Cybermen simultaneously began stomping over to Rose, who tried to make herself smaller as they approached. A Cyberman grabbed her shoulder, and she cried out in anger.
"Get off me!" she snapped, pulling herself away. She flinched as the Cyberman tensed up. It raised an arm to point its arm-blaster in her face.
"Any who struggle shall be deleted." Rose whimpered.
Maria stepped forward. "Leave her alone," she said darkly. The Cyberman glanced at her.
"We do not take orders from a human."
"I said, 'leave her alone'," Maria repeated. "You want her, so take me instead. Do whatever it is you want with me, but just leave her alone."
"Maria," Rose hissed. "Stop-"
"Be quiet Rose," she interrupted. "I'll be fine." Maria looked up at the Cyberman. "Do whatever you want with me, but just leave her alone," she repeated. Maria grasped Rose's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
The Cyberman was silent. It looked up to the Cyberleader, who trilled, "Take the other female instead!"
The metal man ceased trying to grab hold of Rose, and quickly grasped Maria's arm. She flinched as the cold, metal fingers closed around her, but she held her cold and protective expression.
She was protecting someone she barely knew, but as Sarah Jane taught her, she helps others. And Maria remembered Sarah Jane mentioning Rose as a friend, so Maria knew she wasn't making a mistake in protecting the girl.
"You will follow," trilled the Cyberman. Without saying anything, or looking at any of her companions, she walked forward until she was in front of the Cyberleader. The Cyberman turned her around and forced her down to her knees, so that her back was turned to the Cyberleader. Even though she couldn't see it, she knew the Cyberleader must have been pointing its arm cannon at her neck. She took a deep breath and put on a brave face as she stared at the Doctor, praying he had a plan. She at least gave Rose some time, so she wasn't completely useless. Maria felt the weapon touch the back of her head.
"You shall give us information, or this female will be deleted."
"Delete! Delete!" the other Cybermen repeated in agreement.
Maria watched the Doctor's face as the Cyberleader began to ask him questions, such as "What do you want here?"
The Doctor didn't answer.
"How did intruders such as yourself get into this place?"
A small smile formed on the Doctor's face. "In-tru-da-window," he replied, snapping his teeth together. Maria shook her head.
"You did not just say that," Rose murmured, voicing Maria's thoughts.
The Doctor gave Rose a sideways glance before starting to walk around randomly.
"I think I'll ask the questions," the Doctor told the Cyberleader.
"No, you shall answer our questions."
The Doctor stopped. "Or what?"
"Or the female shall be deleted."
"She has a name, you know," the Doctor snapped. "And besides, if you hurt that woman, you won't get anything out of me. However, if you answer my questions, I'll answer yours."
The Cyberleader was silent for a moment. Maria hoped it was considering his proposal.
"You shall answer our question first, and then we will answer yours. How did you get into this place?"
The Doctor grinned. "I already answered that."
The Cyberleader tilted its head. "In-tru-da-window is not an acceptable answer." The Doctor glanced at Maria and Rose.
"I got him to say 'in-tru-da-window!" Maria rolled her eyes, but Rose gave him a sideways smile.
The Doctor stared at the Cyberleader and said, "Tell us, what do you want here?"
"We want to upgrade the citizens of earth and continue our trek across the universe in a quest of universal domination," the Cyberleader explained. "Why are you here?"
"Oh, I love to explore," the Doctor said coolly. "See new things, get in trouble. Believe it or not, I'm actually after a quiet life," he added as an after thought. "How long have you been here?"
"We have been upgrading for just over one of your earth months," trilled the Cybermen. "What did you want in the control center?"
Maria noticed the Doctor slipping his hand into his trench coat pocket. "Just cooking up a little plan." He caught Maria's eye and nodded. She wasn't sure what it meant, but Maria was sure a plan was about to begin.
And it did.

Since they knew where the exit was, the five of them escaped the sleeping chambers easily. Clara was a bit worried for a moment that the Silurian might have stopped outside the door, and would catch them as soon as the Doctor opened it, but to their good fortune, no such thing happened. One after another, they slipped through the small crack in the door, and the Doctor then closed it. He stuffed his screwdriver into his coat pocket and sighed in relief.
"I'm glad we're out of there," he whispered.
"All things considered, we're in a good position," River whispered. Donna raised an eyebrow.
"How's that?" she questioned.
"They think we're dead, so they would have loosened up security and put more Silurians on Calcon's attack plans," River explained.
"We just need to find Eldane-" The Doctor began.
"So that we can do the gassing thing to the Silurians again?" Rory finished. The Doctor nodded.
"Now, you're getting it."
"Where are the cells?" Clara asked.
The Doctor pointed down the hall, and then put a finger to his lips. They needed to be quiet so that no guards would hear them.
Clara prayed that this whole ordeal would end soon. She was so sick of sneaking around.
The Doctor led the way down the hall, River right behind him, holding a gun that Clara didn't realize she even had. Clara was sure that if a Silurian should make an appearance, River would be more than able to handle it.
It didn't take long to find Eldane. They heard him begging the guards to rethink following Clacon's plans. They just followed the sound. The Doctor had peered around the corner before turning back and nodding.
"How many guards?" River hissed quietly. The Doctor held up two fingers, and River gave a nod.
"I can handle that." She walked passed the Doctor and disappeared around the corner. Clara couldn't see what was happening, but she heard two dull thunks and safely assumed that River had handled it.
The Doctor hurried around the corner, Rory, Donna, and Clara hot on his tail. They skidded to a stop in front of the cell. A lizard man clutched the bars, his face lighting up when his eyes fell on them.
"Doctor!" he exclaimed. "Rory! Thank goodness you are here!" He paused. "Where is Amy?"
Rory bowed his head, depressed, and Eldane understood.
"Calcon?" Rory gave a nod. "I am so, so sorry."
"Listen, Eldane," the Doctor said as he pulled his screwdriver out and stepped over the unconscious Silurian bodies to open the door. "Can we gas the city again, like we did the last time?"
Eldane nodded as he stepped through the newly opened door. "I was going to say that. But we have to be in the laboratory again."
"Well, let's get a move on!" Donna hissed. Eldane moved past her and started leading the way down the corridor.
They hadn't gone five feet when they heard an angry voice shout, "I THOUGHT I HAD GOTTEN RID OF YOU, DOCTOR!"
They spun on their heels. Clara gasped as she saw Calcon standing over the unconscious Silurian guards.

Chapter 33 is coming soon.
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