Katy was relieved when the Doctor had gone running off without waiting for an answer from her. Did she have the Doctor's back? He had kept her alive so far that day and seemed to trust her, maybe a little too much. It was tactical to keep him on side, at least until they were out of danger. Sh couldn't think of anything else until then. The group had made the Church their base, and quickly set to work setting up surveillance all over the abandoned town. Ambrose, who turned out to be Tony's daughter, had already taken a dislike to the Doctor, far too eager to disagree with anything he had to say. Whereas her son, Elliot, had been following the man around like a golden retriever, hanging on his every word.
"I don't understand what you're going to do" Elliot exclaimed, as Katy kept her eyes on the computer screen in front of her, watching as whatever was burrowing to the surface got closer and closer.
"Two-phase plan. First, the sensors and cameras will tell us when something arrives. Second, if something does arrive, I use this to send a sonic pulse through that network of devices. A pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the universe" The Doctor answered, waving his sonic screwdriver around.
"Knock 'em out. Cool" Elliot clarified as the Doctor gave him a grin.
"Emphasis on the 'most things' in the universe" Katy pointed out.
"Lovely place to grow up round here" The Doctor suggested, ignoring Katy's comment, his attention back on Elliot.
"Suppose. I want to live in a city one day. Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off" Elliot shrugged.
"I was the same where I grew up" The Doctor admitted.
"Did you get away?" Elliot inquired, as the Doctor nodded, suddenly seeming very interested with the screen in front of him.
"Do you ever miss it?" Elliot questioned, as the Doctor's eyes snapped to the boy's.
"...So much" The Doctor confessed, his voice thick with emotion.
Katy's brow furrowed when she saw the pain in the Doctor's eyes, realising where she had seen that look before. She had the same haunted expression when someone asked about her family or home. It was gone. So far away now. How was anyone supposed to be able to cope with that?
"Is it monsters coming? Have you met monsters before?" Elliot asked, his voice shaky a little, as the Doctor took a step closer to him.
"Yeah" He nodded.
"You scared of them?" Elliot inquired, as the Doctor's lips twitched into a smirk.
"No, they're scared of me" The Doctor replied.
"Will you really get my dad back?" Elliot queried.
"No question" The Doctor told him, causing Katy's jaw to clench.
"I left my headphones at home" Elliot announced, as the Doctor gave him a thumbs up, looking at the countdown on the screen.
He paid little attention as the boy left the church unaccompanied, too distracted by the way Katy was glaring at him from the other side of the monitor. The Doctor already knew what she was going to say.
"There's nothing wrong with a little hope" The Doctor mumbled, as she scoffed.
"And how is that little boy gonna' feel when he founds out his father suffocated, and you told him you'd save him?" Katy pushed, coming to stand by his side.
"We don't know they're dead" The Doctor pointed out, refusing to look at her.
"You want these people to trust you? Then stop lying to them!" Katy insisted.
"You think I'm lying to you?" The Doctor realised, turning to face her, a frown on his face.
"We're friends, right? In my future" Katy exclaimed, as the Doctor nodded, slowly.
"I don't believe you. Your people hated mine. You thought we were scum" Katy went on, as the Doctor's eyes softened.
"We're not the same as them. You're certainly not. You're better, you're so much better" The Doctor told her, reaching out to touch her arm, instinctively.
Before Katy could even think of how to reply, the room suddenly grew dark, as the Doctor rushed to the window to see it had become pitch black outside. Whatever was coming from them must have shut out the light from within the barricade. They were trying to isolate them in the dark or...
"Trying to scare us" Katy murmured, aloud.
"C'mon, we need to get everyone inside" The Doctor suggested, as the two rushed out into the graveyard, finding Rory not close by.
All of a sudden, the ground underneath them began to rumble, feeling like it was splitting beneath their feet. Without a second thought, Katy was grabbing Rory by the back of his jacket, ignoring his cries as she dragged him toward the church. They were too out in the open, almost begging to be attacked and overwhelmed. She didn't want anyone else to die that day.
"Doctor, can you do something about this manhandling?" Rory called out, tripping over his own feet as they finally reached the Church door.
"Little busy right now" The Doctor muttered, trying to shove the warped church door open, but it wouldn't budge.
"Can't you sonic it?" Rory asked, as Katy released his collar.
"It doesn't do wood" The Doctor admitted, as Rory raised an eyebrow.
"That is rubbish" Rory huffed, as the Doctor whipped around to face him.
"Oi! Don't diss the sonic!" The Doctor exclaimed, as Katy rolled her eyes and ushered him out of the way.
The pair watched as Katy raised her leg out and kicked the door open in one swift motion, turning back to them with a smug expression, reaching out to hold the door open for them. She was far stronger than an average human, and it appeared the average Time Lord too.
"Piece of cake" She exclaimed, as the Doctor made a face.
"Stop showing off" He grumbled, walking through the doorway, nonetheless.
"But you make it so easy" Katy grinned, as Rory quickly followed behind him.
As the group made it inside, the walls around them shook, objects flying off the walls, clattering to the ground around them. The Doctor rushed to the computer monitor in attempt to find where the creatures popped up. A toy chair fell off a nearby shelf right above Katy's head and would have hit her, if Rory had grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the way, almost instinctively. Katy gave him a confused look, before thanking him quietly a moment later. She wondered if she was friends with Rory in the future too. He seemed kind. Something which she expected was an occupational hazard when travelling with the Doctor.
Suddenly, the computer monitors began to spark, as did the lights above them, and in a split second the group was plunged into darkness. Katy let out a sigh when she saw the monitors were dead. Their plan was ruined and as far as Katy knew, there was no backup plan.
"What do we do now?" Rory questioned.
"Nothing. We've got nothing. They sent an energy surge to wreck our systems" The Doctor replied, as he started pacing around the room.
"Is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?" Rory asked, receiving nods from multiple people in the room.
"Katy?" Rory pushed, looking her over for injuries as she had been standing near the computers when they exploded.
"I'm fine" Katy mumbled.
The rumbling from before suddenly grew louder, as Katy was almost thrown to the ground as the earth shook beneath them. It was accompanied by a strange beeping sound shortly afterwards before silence rang out in the church.
"It's come through the final layer of earth" The Doctor stated.
"Where's Elliot? Has anyone seen Elliot?...Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?" Ambrose asked, beginning to panic, as Katy's eyes flickered to the Doctor.
He had frozen on the spot, his breathing quickening as he realised what had happened. They were the last ones to see the boy. They had let him go. They were the ones who had forgotten about him. Just as the Doctor opened his mouth to speak, Katy took a step forward, grabbing Ambrose's attention.
"I did" She announced, as the Doctor gave her a questioning look.
"Where is he?" Ambrose inquired.
"He said he was going to get headphones" Katy replied, averting her eyes to the ground.
"And you let him go?! He was out there on his own?" Ambrose cried, storming over to her.
"I wasn't thinking—" Katy began, but was cut off as Ambros suddenly slapped her across the face.
She stumbled back a pace, not having expected the hit, Ambrose's nail having scratched her cheek, drawing a small amount of blood. The Doctor was by her side in an instant, grabbing her arm and placing himself in between the two women, his jaw clenched. If looks could kill, Ambrose would have likely been dead.
"Did that make you feel better?" Katy sneered.
A moment later, they could hear small fists pounding on the church door, Elliot's scared voice calling out to them. The group rushed forward, desperately trying to wrench the door open, but it had become stuck again. Katy pushed past Ambrose, pulling on the metal handle of the door, eyes widening when she managed to rip the handle from the door.
"Oh, shit" She muttered.
"Mum! Hurry up!" Elliot cried, panicked.
"Elliot, get away from the door!" Katy yelled, ushering the others to get out of the way.
Without a second thought, she was running at the door, hitting the wood with all her strength as it flew off its hinges. She stumbled forward, eyes darting around, hoping to see Elliot close by. Instead, she found...nothing. There was no sign of the boy.
"Where is he? Elliot?! Elliot, where are you?" Ambrose shouted, on the verge of hyperventilating.
"Ambrose, don't go running off!" The Doctor warned, by the mother wouldn't listen, racing off into the graveyard.
Tony followed her almost immediately, as Katy groaned and began to chase after the pair, ignoring the Doctor's calls for her to return. She might not have liked Ambrose, but if some creature from inside the earth was picking them off one by one, they would need strength in numbers.
By the time she caught up with the father and daughter, Tony was pushing a figure away from Ambrose, who was being attacked. The creature rolled onto its side, its skin appearing like scales, terrifying black eyes being illuminated by the light of Tony's torch. Suddenly, the creature's tongue shot out, hitting Tony's neck who let out a screech of pain. The creature hadn't noticed Katy creeping through the shadows, coming up behind them until it was too late. She jumped onto their back, her arm going around their neck and started to squeeze, having caught them in a headlock. The creature was strong, its green hands clawing at her, scratching at her arms, but Katy wasn't easily deterred. With a growl, the creature raised its hands up to grab onto Katy's shoulders and through her off them, as Katy collided with a nearby gravestone, which shattered from the impact. Katy lost consciousness for a moment, as the next time she opened her eyes the creature was standing above her, its tongue lashing out. Katy rolled to the side just in time, its tongue hitting the broken gravestone instead. While the creature had no defence, Katy grabbed part of the gravestone, and threw it toward the creature, hitting it in the head. Her eyes widened as its face appeared to split in two, realising a moment later the creature was wearing a mask. Armour. Katy then kicked out, hitting the creature's legs as it stumbled backwards, hitting the ground. Katy was on her feet in the next second, her hand gripping a larger piece of the gravestone, planning to finish the creature off.
"Katy!" The Doctor cried out, something about his tone causing her to drop the stone, instead opting to strike the creature in the face with her heel, knocking it out.
"Look, before you say anything, it was self-defence—" Katy started, her words cut off when the Doctor was suddenly wrapping his arms around her.
Katy had raised her arms up into the air, half having expected the Doctor to strike her himself, thinking he would be angry with her. Instead, she realised he had been...worried? His hands clutched at the back of her shirt, dropping his face into the crook of her neck as he continued to hold her tight for a few more moments. Slowly, Katy brought her own hands to rest on his back, with a featherlight touch, still confused by his actions.
"Are you okay?" The Doctor asked, pulling away, his eyes darting over her face, finding a line of blood running down her forehead.
"I'm...I'm fine" Katy replied, when she found she could speak again.
"Doctor, I think Tony's hurt" Rory interjected, when the pair had continued staring at each other, neither saying a word.
"We need to get back to the church" The Doctor exclaimed, ushering them forward, staying close to Katy's side, his hands hovering behind her as if ready to catch her at any moment.
Not long after, the darkness lifted, signalling that the rest of the creatures had left, burrowing back under the surface. No doubt gathering reinforcements, Katy knew. The Doctor had left to speak to their hostage that they had tied up in the church basement, returning to tell them of his suicidal plan.
"You're going to what?!" Rory gaped.
"I'm going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe, to talk to them" The Doctor reiterated his plan again, as Katy shook her head in disbelief.
"And get killed on sight" Katy murmured.
"Well, let's hope not, eh?" The Doctor replied, with a small grin.
"You're going to negotiate with these aliens?" Ambrose questioned.
"They're not aliens. They're Earth-liens. Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue, Eocenes, or Homo Reptilia. Not monsters, not evil. Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that's all. Look, from their point of view, you're the invaders. Your drill was threatening their settlement. Now, the creature in the crypt. Her name's Alaya. She's one of their warriors, and she's my best bargaining chip. I need her alive. If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Amy, because I will find them. While I'm gone, you five people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you will determine what happens to this planet" The Doctor explained, as Katy raised an eyebrow.
"Four. I'm obviously going with you" Katy pointed out.
"And why's that?" The Doctor huffed, as Katy stood up to stand in front of him.
"Because of your clear lack of self-preservation and common sense" Katy responded, crossing her arms.
"And what if they come back? Shouldn't we be examining this creature? Dissecting it, finding its weak points?" Tony suggested, causing Katy to grimace.
They seemed to have brushed over to the fact that the Doctor clearly wasn't human. If he wasn't trying to keep them alive, was that what they would do to him? Sometimes humans could be so...disturbing.
"No dissecting, no examining. We return their hostage, they return ours, nobody gets harmed. We can land this together, if you are the best you can be. You are decent, brilliant people. Nobody dies today. Understand?" The Doctor insisted, giving Ambrose a pointed look, who nodded in return.
"Great, let's get going then" Katy exclaimed, heading toward the church door when the Doctor rushed forward to stop her.
"You're hurt" The Doctor stated, as she rolled her eyes.
"Hardly. Besides, your TARDIS travels in time and space and so far all you've shown me is a boring town in Wales. I want to see wonders" Katy grinned, as the Doctor reached down to grab her wrist, making her frown.
"You're guarding your left side, sweating and...your heart rates elevated. You're hurt" The Doctor pushed, feeling her pulse under his fingers.
"Doctor. Your friend could be getting tortured right now. You really want to stay here arguing?" Katy retorted, as the Doctor shook his head, but ushered her forward, nonetheless.
Katy wasn't the only one who persuaded the Doctor to let them join his ridiculous plan, as Nasreen accompanied them into the TARDIS, her jaw dropping open when she saw the size of the ship. The Doctor had a smug expression on his face, racing around the console, no doubt ready to show off.
"Welcome aboard the Tardis. Now, don't touch anything. Very precious" The Doctor told her, throwing a lever.
"No way. But, but that's...this is fantastic. What does it do?" Nasreen gasped, as she joined the pair by the console.
"Everything. I'm hoping, if we're going down, that barricade won't interfere" The Doctor stated, as the three were suddenly knocked off their feet, as the TARDIS veered to the right.
"Did you touch something?" The Doctor questioned, as they began sliding around the console room.
"No. Isn't this what it does?" Nasreen exclaimed, as the TARDIS suddenly leaned to the left.
"Are you sure you know how to drive this thing?" Katy complained, as the Doctor grumbled something under his breath, grabbing the monitor above the console.
"We've been hijacked. I can't stop it. They must've sensed the electro-magnetic field. They're pulling the Tardis down into the Earth" The Doctor announced, as Katy cringed in fear.
Only moments later, the three were being thrown to the floor, as the Doctor landed on top of Katy, who let out a groan of pain. The TARDIS finally stopped moving shortly after, as the pair let out a sigh of relief. The Doctor still didn't move from where he was laying atop her, his arm splayed out near her face, which was inches away from his own.
"Doctor?" She mumbled, as his eyes flickered to hers.
"Yeah?" He asked, breathlessly.
"Get off of me" Katy huffed, pinging his suspenders, causing the Doctor to grin as he rolled off her.
"Where are we?" Nasreen inquired, having been forgotten by the pair.
The Doctor was all but jumping to his feet, hauling Katy off the floor with him and dragging her toward the TARDIS doors. He held out a hand, making sure they weren't about to get crushed before rushing out, excitement clear on his face. They found themselves at a crossroads of tunnels, clearly man-made, or in this case, Silurian-made, vines hanging down from the low ceilings. The air tasted strange on Katy's tongue, but they seemed to be enough oxygen to keep them breathing.
"Huh, we're not burning alive. That's something" Katy muttered, still not happy with the Doctor's plan.
"That's the spirit" He stated, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her forward into the tunnels.
Things went from bad to worse when instead of finding a small tribe under the surface, they found an entire civilisation. There were buildings, trees, and even lights all over the city, which was propped above the lava. Thin pavements connected the houses to larger structures, with vines and other vegetation at every level. The civilisation seemed to be thriving but abandoned. As they neared the city, an alarm began to sound, and in the blink of an eye, the three found themselves surrounded by Silurians, all with what appeared to be weapons in their hands. Before they could say a word, a gas was released, filling their lungs and causing them to lose consciousness.
When Katy next awoke, her ears were filled with a horrifying sound. The Doctor was screaming in agony, writhing against metal clamps around his wrists, keeping him flat against the medical bed behind him. Katy's eyes darted around the room, finding half a dozen Silurians staring back at her, watching as one turned a dial on a console in front of him, which only seemed to cause the Doctor more pain.
"Stop it! Leave him alone!" Katy cried, pulling against the metal clamps that held her down as well.
"It's all right, it won't harm you. I'm only neutralising all your ape bacteria" One of the Silurians, in a white uniform, told him.
"I'm not an ape. Look at the scans. Two hearts. Totally different. Totally not ape! Remove all human germs, you remove half the things keeping me alive" The Doctor panted, his eyes scrunched shut in pain.
"Turn the bloody thing off!" Katy yelled, angrily, as the Silurian finally did so.
"No, complete the process!" A female Silurian commanded, dressed in a smart red coat.
"Oh, that's much better, thanks. Not got any celery, have you? No. No, not really the climate. Tomatoes, though. You'd do a roaring trade in those. I'm the Doctor. The one shouting at you is Katy. And oh look, there's Nasreen" The Doctor explained, seeing the human woman on the other side of him, who was waking up.
"Oh, a green man" Nasreen mumbled, as her eyes fluttered open.
"Hello. Who are you?" The Doctor asked, being far too friendly for Katy's liking.
"Restac, Military commander" The female Silurian replied, sharply.
"Oh dear, really? There's always a military, isn't there?" The Doctor complained.
"And I'm Malohkeh. Your weapon was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city" The male Silurian informed them.
"Oxygen pockets, lovely. Ooo, but not so good with an impending drill. Now it makes sense" The Doctor cringed.
"Where is the rest of your invasion force?" Restac questioned, making Katy snort.
"Does he really look like an invader to you?" Katy pointed out, as the Doctor pouted.
"We came for the humans you took. And to offer the safe return of Alaya. Oh wait, you and she, what is it, same genetic source? Of course you're worried, but don't be, she's safe" The Doctor told her, as Restac took a step forward.
"You claim to come in peace, but you hold one of us hostage" Restac muttered.
"You took our people first" Katy insisted, not sure when she had started thinking of them that way.
"I don't negotiate with apes. I'm going to send a clear message to those on the surface...your execution" Restac announced, with a small smirk.
"Have I mentioned yet what a terrible plan this was?" Katy asked, as the three of them were led into a large room, the ceiling towering above them, made of glass.
"I think it has come up" The Doctor mumbled, straining against the rope that was tied around his hands.
"This is our court and our place of execution," Restac told them, bringing them toward a long table in the centre of the room.
"Let them go!" A new voice called out, as Amy came into view, holding one of the Silurian's weapons.
"Amy Pond. There's a girl to rely on" The Doctor grinned.
"You're covered both ways, so don't try anything clever, buster" Amy informed them, as Katy noticed a man she hadn't seen before come up behind them, also with a weapon in hand.
"Mo!" Nasreen gasped, as Katy realised he must have been Elliot's missing father.
They were both alive. The Doctor had been right all along. Maybe he really would be able to keep his promises that day.
"Now let them go, or I shoot" Amy warned, as Restac tilted her head, taking a step toward the younger girl.
"I'm warning you!" Amy cried, as Restac lunged forward, grabbing the weapon and shoving Amy to the floor with ease.
"Don't you touch her!" The Doctor shouted.
"And you" Restac nodded to Mo, who allowed himself to be unarmed.
"This isn't the way" Malohkeh muttered, before storming out of the room, not willing to watch the humans be killed.
"Prepare them for execution" Restac ordered her guards, as the group were pushed forward toward two pillars.
"Amy? Little bit of advice, don't pick up a gun if you're not prepared to use it" Katy exclaimed, as she shoved against the pillar, as their hands were tied up against the structure.
"I'm glad you're okay" The Doctor called out to the redhead.
"Me too. Lizard men, though" Amy whispered, with wide eyes.
"Homo Reptilia. They occupied the planet before humans. Now they want it back...after they've wiped out the human race" The Doctor explained, as Amy's mouth went slack.
"Right. Preferred it when I didn't know, to be honest" Amy sighed.
"...You could have made a break for it, you know. Tried to get back to the surface without us. But you tried to save us. So...thanks" Katy murmured to Amy, who gave her a small smile.
"Why are they waiting?" Nasreen inquired.
"It's an execution. They're waiting for an audience" Katy suggested, as Restac tilted her head.
"You are no ape. What are you?" Restac asked, with narrowed eyes.
"Trust me. You don't want to know" Katy huffed, leaning back against the pillar, feeling the Doctor's eyes on her.
A few minutes later, just as Kayla expected, they were being filmed, their images broadcast to the church, as Rory, Ambrose and Tony rushed forward to see them, clearly relieved. While everyone was distracted, Katy silently broke free of the rope around her wrists, which frayed and split from her strength. This caught the Doctor's eye, who she gave a nod to.
"Show me Alaya. Show me, and release her immediately unharmed, or we kill your friends. One by one" Restac announced, as Katy watched fear sweep across Rory's face.
"No" Ambrose retorted, making Katy frown.
"Steady now, everyone" The Doctor exclaimed, feeling the tension in the room.
"Get off me, Dad. We didn't start this" Ambrose stated, her voice thick with emotion, as she shrugged her father's hand away from her shoulder.
"Let Rory deal with this, Ambrose, eh?" The Doctor suggested, trying and failing to keep the panic out of his voice.
"We are not doing what you say anymore. Now, give me back my family" Ambrose cried, as a few moments of silence followed.
"...No. Execute the girl" Restac ordered, gesturing to Amy, who began shaking.
Katy watched as two Silurians began to untie Amy, who had tears welling in her eyes as the Doctor and Rory shouted for them to leave Amy alone. Amy looked so young. God, Katy had never even considered how young she was. Twenty-one, if that? Little more than a child, and she was about to be killed right in front of her.
A second later, Katy was kicking out at the nearest Silurian, throwing them off balance, as she charged at them. She was easily able to wrestle them for their weapon, grabbing their arm and holding the gun to the guard's head. Everyone waited with bated breath as Restac hissed at her, causing Katy's finger to tighten on the trigger.
"You kill her, and this one will be dead before Amy hits the ground" Katy warned, showing no sign of bluffing.
"Stop!" A loud voice echoed through the hall, as everyone turned to see an older Silurian approaching, dressed in flowing robes.
"You want to start a war while the rest of us sleep, Restac?" The Silurian scolded, as Restac straightened up, glaring at her fellow man.
"The apes are attacking us" Restac told him.
"You're our protector, not our commander, Restac. Unchain them" The Silurian ordered, as Katy slowly began to lower her weapon, but kept a hold of the guard.
"I do not recognise your authority at this time, Eldane" Restac retorted.
"Well then, you must shoot me" Eldane goaded, as the other Silurians slowly lowered their weapons.
"Don't try anything stupid" Katy whispered to the guard before she shoved them forward.
"Thanks. I think you just saved my life" Amy panted, rubbing at her wet eyes.
"No problem" Katy murmured, dropping the weapon to her side, hoping she wouldn't have to use it that day.
The Doctor soon convinced Eldane, the elected leader of the Silurians, to speak with Amy and Nasreen, wanting them to find some common ground. He didn't want there to be bloodshed that day. He asked Malohkeh to take Mo to find Elliot, as he and Katy followed them close behind.
"Will you stop glaring at it? It's not going to bite you" Katy complained, as she saw the Doctor was staring at the gun in her hand.
"I hate weapons. They never lead to anything good" The Doctor told her.
"They might have kept you alive today" Katy retorted, as the Doctor gave her a look, causing her to sigh.
"...Fine" She grumbled, throwing the weapon behind her, as it clattered to the floor.
"We'll catch up with you two in a minute!" The Doctor called out to Mo and Malohkeh, grabbing Katy's wrist to stop her movements.
"Are you sure?" Mo asked, not liking the idea of splitting up.
"Two minutes" The Doctor insisted, as Mo nodded and the pair kept walking.
"We found Amy. Everyone's safe. Now, where are you hurt?" The Doctor questioned, as Katy gave him a look of disbelief.
"I'm fine—" Katy started, causing the Doctor to groan.
"I'm not moving from this spot until you convince me you're not hurt" The Doctor retorted, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall behind him.
"God, you're stubborn" Katy complained, before she pulled up her shirt, all but flashing the Doctor.
His eyes almost popped out of his head, before he was slapping his hand over his eyes, a blush rising on his cheeks instantly. Katy couldn't stop her laughter at his innocent reaction, brushing his hand away from his eyes.
"Bruising. Eight centre laceration here and...well, I might have broken one rib—" Katy began, as the Doctor gaped at her, looking down at the dark bruises that covered her left side.
"You should have told me" The Doctor grumbled, reaching out to touch her sore skin, causing her to grimace.
"I have high pain tolerance. And it doesn't matter" Katy told him, dropping her shirt back down, as the Doctor's eyes softened.
"It's your wellbeing. Of course, it matters" The Doctor pushed, in a serious tone.
Right on cue, they heard a whooshing sound echoing through the tunnels, telling them that Rory and the others had arrived with Alaya in tow. She imagined the hostage had been quite the handful.
"Come on" Katy exclaimed, ushering the Doctor back the way they came.
Just when Katy had thought things would truly work out, everything came crashing down. Alaya was dead. Killed by Ambrose who had admitted to the murder far too proudly. Restac had wept for her fallen sister, as dozens of Silurian guards surrounded them, ready to execute everyone in the room. The humans had started a war they couldn't possibly win.
"You want us to trust these apes, Doctor?" Restac spat out, anger laced into her tone.
"One person let us down, but there is a whole race of dazzling, peaceful human beings up there. You were building something here. Come on. An alliance could work" The Doctor insisted, almost begging her to listen.
"It's too late for that, Doctor" Ambrose announced.
"Why?" The Doctor frowned, a sinking feeling growing in his stomach.
"Our drill is set to start burrowing again in fifteen minutes" Ambrose told them, as Katy looked to the woman with disgust.
"You did what?!" Katy cried.
"Let us go back. And you promise to never come to the surface ever again. We'll walk away, leave you alone!" Ambrose pleaded, as Restac snarled at her.
"Kill them all!" Restac yelled as Katy took a step forward, coming in between the two women.
"Your sister is dead. One Silurian. So...one human should die" Katy suggested, as Restac tilted her head.
"What do you suggest?" Restac inquired, as Katy's eyes flickered to Ambrose.
"A life for a life" Katy exclaimed, as the Doctor rushed to her side.
"What are you doing?" The Doctor hissed.
"Kill her. Get your justice. End this war before it starts" Katy went on, as Restac seemed to mull this over.
"This would be...acceptable" Restac agreed, as the Doctor shook his head.
"This isn't the way" The Doctor told Katy, who reached out to place her hand on his chest, right above where his sonic screwdriver was in his jacket.
"Trust me" Katy insisted, tapping her finger against his chest, as the Doctor's eyes widened a fraction.
"...Make it quick" The Doctor announced, as Ambrose let out a sob.
"Doctor, you can't actually be willing to—" Amy began, as the Doctor shushed her.
"Go on. Shoot her" Katy exclaimed, as Elliot ran forward, trying to get to his mum, but Katy stopped him.
"Don't look" Katy mumbled, turning his head away, as Restac held her hand up.
"Take aim!" Restac ordered, as every guard in the room raised their guns, not seeing how the Doctor had taken his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket.
"Fire!" Restac yelled, firing her own weapon
Suddenly, every Silurian who had tried to shoot Ambrose was shocked by their own weapon, as the Doctor held his sonic screwdriver in the air. The Silurians dropped to the floor, moaning in pain, clutching at their burned hands, as the Doctor yelled for everyone to run. Restac let out a scream as she watched them escape, swearing her revenge under her breath.
The Doctor immediately got to work coming up with a plan to send an energy pulse up the tunnels which would destroy the drill before it could destroy the Silurian's home. Eldane agreed to set a shutdown of the city, as they would all go back to sleep for the next thousand years. Including Tony, who was slowly dying after being stung by Alaya. Katy was surprised, if not a little horrified when Nasreen announced she was staying too, clearly not willing to leave Tony behind. And with that, they all rushed off to the TARDIS, praying that they would make it in time. They only had minutes to spare when they got to the Doctor's ship, who ushered half the group into the TARDIS sickbay, coming to a halt when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.
A crack in the wall.
There was a burning white light coming from the crack, so strong Katy couldn't bear to look at it for long. In fact, it made her feel strange just peering at the crack. She felt weightless and weighed down all at the same time. But no matter how painful it was to look, she couldn't tear her eyes away.
"Not now. It's getting wider" The Doctor gaped.
"The crack on my bedroom wall" Amy muttered, confusing Katy further.
"What the hell is that thing?" Katy insisted.
"Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, right here. And the Byzantium. All through the universe, rips in the continuum. Some sort of space-time cataclysm. An explosion, maybe. Big enough to put cracks in the universe. But what?" The Doctor questioned, taking a step forward toward the crack.
"Doctor, we need to go" Katy exclaimed, as she watched him crouch down.
"The Angels laughed when I didn't know. Prisoner Zero knew. Everybody knows except me. But where there's an explosion, there's shrapnel..." The Doctor trailed off, crawling toward to oddity.
"Doctor, you can't put your hand in there" Rory cried, as the Doctor did just that, grabbing a red handkerchief from his pocket and reaching inside the crack.
"Why not?" He grinned.
He instantly began to cry out in pain, making Katy flinch, his voice echoing as if he was much further away than just mere metres. God knew what it would do it him. Katy wanted to do nothing more than turn on her heel and run in the other direction.
"I've got something!" The Doctor told them, as Katy made her mind up, and surged forward to grab his other arm.
She was dragging him away from the crack before he could argue, as the Doctor fell onto his side, still gripping onto something hidden in the red handkerchief. Katy found herself strangely relieved to see he had no obvious injuries.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Katy muttered, slapping his arm, only making the Doctor grin more.
"Doctor!" Rory's panicked voice interjected as they turned to see Restac had snuck up on them, her gun aimed toward the Doctor.
"You did this!" Restac growled, her finger on the trigger, as Katy stayed frozen to the spot.
Everything next happened too fast. One moment, Restac was firing her gun toward the Doctor and the next Rory was shoving him out of the way, being hit by the laser beam instead. He had been shot. He was going to die.
And there was nothing Katy could do to stop it.