It was the Doctor's fault, he had decided. It was the only way any of this made sense. That stupid, naive, trusting idiot had taken him in and corrupted him with his stupid, naive, trusting nature. It really wasn't fair. He was insidious and he didn't even know it. All happy blue eyes and good intentions and bleeding hearts. Two of them! He never really stood a chance.

The old him would have never fallen for it. Come, follow me into this dark stone pit! It's definitely not a trap or anything. '"Will you walk into my parlour" said the Spider to the Fly.'

How odd, he mused. That that nothing little poem from his Brendon english class would pop into his head now; Sitting against the wall of a dark, cold hole with an alien child curled up in his lap.

'Will you walk into my parlour' said the Spider to the Fly. 'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy' For the millionth time he cast his eyes around the miserable space he found himself in. He never considered himself to be claustrophobic before. But then again he had never been locked in a glorified cave with a ceiling so low he had to stoop to walk around it and with walls so close him and Lu'saqi could touch opposite sides while still holding hands. Not that they had tried it. Lu'saqi had spent her time either bawling in fear or sleeping. Mercifully, she was currently doing the latter. Her exhausted little shoulders moving up and down in shallow breaths. Too shallow.

Turlough had inspected every inch of their little prison. He hadn't discovered much. The walls were rough and untreated, as if someone had taken a big spoon and scraped out the hole in the rock and had simply left it at that. He supposed it was an efficient way to make a prison. And its not like the prisoner's comfort was much of a concern when you could simply bury them and forget.

He'd scraped and pushed and pleaded up against the hatch until his voice had given out and his hands and nails had been left bloodied. But still no one had come. He had long since given up on trying to keep track of time. He knew that he was hungry and he was thirsty. He knew that the single lightbulb had flickered 46 times since he'd gotten here. He knew that Lu'saqi had slept three times and he had slept no times. It could be day, night, dusk, dawn. It could be dawn 2 days later or dawn the very next morning from their arrival. Time had no meaning down here. He kept replaying those last few moments in the basement before their descent. He should have known. He should have known. He pictured Mit'te's warm smile. The smile that said trust me. I want to help. 'The way into my parlour is up a winding stair, and I have many pretty things to show when you are there'.

'"Oh no no!" said the little fly' He mouthed the words along with his mental recitation. '"To ask me is in vain, For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again"' Turlough grimaced. Perhaps that was enough of that.

Lu'saqi stirred in his lap. With a little whimper she attempted to curl herself into an even smaller ball. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Cold?" There was no response for a moment. Then a tiny nod. She didn't turn her head to look at him.

With a sigh he repositioned himself and awkwardly wrapped his arms around his little bundle. "Better?"

A pause. Then a tiny shake of the head.

He threw up his hands. "There's no pleasing you kid! I only have so many arms you know."

Lu'saqi harrumphed. Turlough blinked, questioning if he had heard that right. "Did you just harrumph at me?"

Lu'saqi turned her bleary little eyes on him. "You're mean." she whined. Turlough swallowed his laughter. He'd never heard that said to him in a way he could call cute before.

"That's right," he said. "But it doesn't usually take people this long to figure it out."

Lusaqi sat up. "That's not what you're supposed to say", she stated with authority.

Turlough snorted. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't know there was a script."

"You're supposed to tell me to use better words."

"Better words?" Turlough echoed incredulously.

"Yeah. You say that I have to use better words to tell you what I'm feeling." She was getting visibly upset now. "Papi wants me to use better words!"

"Hey, hey no need to shout!" Turlough admonished her and she fell silent, her face still red from her distress. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"There really aren't better words for me."

Lu'saqi blinked at him. "That's silly" she finally decided.

Turlough found himself inexplicably annoyed at her little resistance to him. "Oh yeah?" he huffed. "Well then what am I?"

She looked at him, considering for a long moment. "Maybe you're just…" a far too long moment. "Mean-ish."

A laugh climbed up his throat that he managed to disguise as a cough at the very last moment. "Mean-ish?"

"Yeah."

He swallowed the grin. "Okay kid, whatever you say."

Together they stayed for how long, Turlough couldn't begin to guess. He imagined that the Doctor would be telling him to the nearest millisecond exactly how long they had been sitting and he smiled despite himself. He could picture it so clearly. Him and the Doctor, and Tegan, and Nyssa all sitting against the rough, cold stone wall. Just another prison cell. Just another dungeon. Nothing more than a minor inconvenience. He was whining about having no idea how long they'd been down here. The Doctor of course would chime in with his perfectly accurate contribution. Tegan would scoff at him, telling him off for being such a know it all. The Doctor would puff out his chest.

'Well I am a Timelord Tegan. I'd say that makes me something of an expert on time-keeping.' Did being a Timelord make him an expert on getting them all thrown in dungeons too? He would ask with just a hint of snark. The Doctor would get all huffy but it would all be worth it to get that small amused smirk from Tegan. The amiability wouldn't last long of course and they would soon be back to bickering heatedly at each other. Nyssa would come in with a gentle yet firm admonishment that would be far more successful at keeping the peace than the Doctor's exasperated call for a truce.

Yes, he could see it all so clearly. Lu'saqi whimpered in her sleep and Turlough absentmindedly stroked her hair before becoming aware of what he was doing and abruptly stopping. He looked down at the child who had so quickly become his responsibility. So small, and so scared, and so fragile. A dread gripped him. Why couldn't it be the Doctor or Nyssa? What cruel twist of the universe had put her in his clumsy, inadequate care?

His despairing was abruptly cut off by the almost violent sound of metal and stone scraping against stone. Lu'saqi shot awake with a yelp, pressing herself into the perceived safety of Turlough. He tensed, eyes fixed unflinchingly on the little ladder and the assaulting, bright light shooting down from the new opening. The new light made his eyes burn painfully but he resisted the urge to look away. He wasn't going to turn his back on anyone here again.

He coaxed Lu'saqi off of his lap as he stood slowly. Mit'te came into view from above and Turlough tried his best to fix a defiant look on his face. It faltered as soon as he saw another figure descend after the small, older woman. This figure was one of a younger, fitter, larger man with a permanent scowl on his face. Turlough swallowed hard, taking an unconscious step back. Lu'saqi cowered, clutching his pant leg.

The new man regarded them both, a deeper scowl furrowing his brow. Mit'te looked up at him, shooting fervent glances back towards Turlough. "What did I tell you!" she hissed into the man's ear.

The man turned back, a new anger apparent on his face. "What are you playing at, pal?" he growled, his fury crackling in the air.

Turlough swallowed. He couldn't contain his nerves any longer. "What do you want with us?" he managed to ask, trying to slip that seed of defiance into his tone. The man took a step forward and Turlough took another step back, his heels hitting the back of the cave wall. Silently another man slipped down the ladder. He was more wiry than the other wall of muscle, but he still looked much stronger than Turlough. He stepped in front of Mit'te as well, shoulder brushing against the first man. "W-we haven't done anything!" Turlough protested weakly as the men moved closer.

And then, quicker than he could register, it happened. The larger man moved suddenly and pinned Turlough to the wall with a rough shove. Turlough's head smacked against the rough stone at the same time that he heard Lu'saqi's petrified scream. By the time he realised what was happening, the other man was already halfway across the prison with a kicking and screaming Lu'saqi in his arms.

White, hot panic seared through Turlough at the sight. "No!" he yelped, trying to launch himself towards her only to be met by the man holding him to the wall. "No!" he cried again as the second man reached the ladder. "No, please!" he begged, the words coming out in a sob as he fought the hands holding him with all his might. "Please LU'SAQI!" The second man was up the ladder and out of sight now, but he could still hear the sobs and shrieks of Lu'saqi from up above. Mit'te was retreating as well, a look of horror on her face before she turned away and climbed up.

Turlough clawed desperately at the man holding him. "Stop, stop, please just give her back!" he cried but it seemed to have no effect on the man. Abruptly he snatched the lapels of Turlough's coat and flung him, face first into the ground. Turlough gasped, catching himself painfully on his hands and knees, feeling the rock biting into his flesh. "You can't!" he begged as the man walked past him and pulled himself up the ladder. By then, Turlough had just managed to get to his feet in time to see the concrete hatch being slammed back into place above him, plunging him once more into the dark.

The cell suddenly felt much colder.