𝓐 𝓢𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓣𝓸𝓾𝓬𝓱 [1] (𝓟𝓱𝔂𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓲𝓪𝓷 𝓢𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼) - (3) The Runway Bride

The ride down in the lift was utterly silent except for the impatient tapping of Alice's foot. Once the lift finally arrived, the doors opened with a ping. They all exit the lift into a long, dark and dank looking corridor, dimly lit with eerie green lights. Shivering, Alice gives her arms a rub before folding her arms across her chest, her eyes glancing around her as Donna begins to speak.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2YeDrE1PA

"Where are we?" the older Noble asked, but not getting an answer, decided to continue, "Well, what goes on down here?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYWp8yuctO

"Let's find out..."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7eSTuTsY6

"Do you think Mr Clements knows about this place?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjGHMi8gBGQ

"The mysterious H C Clements?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQzttLPm8O

"Well, who else would it be," the young redhead offered sarcastically.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTTq3bfU49B

But the Doctor just decides to ignore her, "I think he's part of it," glancing away from her just as something catches his eye, "Oh, look -- transport."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyKB2UMIBk

A few moments later, all of them trundled down the corridor on electric scooters. The problem was there had only been three scooters, with Alice ending up hitching a ride with the Doctor. She had insisted on going with her sister, only for Donna to insist she go with the Doctor. Still, Alice could never understand the reason behind it.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGz3q7s8Wu

The whole thing was comical, really, and both sisters shared a look, probably thinking it was as well and started laughing loudly together. The Doctor had joined in with them soon after, just finding it equally as funny. It was only Lance that didn't seem to get it at all.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4tvFkH9tBG

They come to a stop at a door that reads: 'Torchwood – authorised personnel only.'

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yb8VHutzs

So all nature of things, they abandoned the scooters as Alice brushed off a little dirt from her blue dress whilst the Doctor turned a wheel to open a door revealing a ladder, and he peers up it.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRtvJDswc8

"Wait here," he told them, "Just need to get my bearings. Don't..." he points sternly at them "...do anything," the Doctor disappeared up the ladder.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrLFTNWpYr

"You'd better come back," Donna hollered after him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvF6nBKHmR

Stopping, Alice sees him offer Donna a teasing grin, "I couldn't get rid of you if I tried."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmaQXOfQue

With that, Donna returned a smile, and all three watched him continue to climb up the ladder.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVCWzQ9pDi

"Donna..." Lance began, "Have you thought about this? Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we going to do??"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJcAoKvlJ4

"Oh, I thought July," Donna replied, not having heard him, beaming away at Lance before returning her attention on the Doctor.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfoP2Ad0jX

The young Noble willed herself not to laugh after seeing the look on Lance's face. But it wasn't a long before the Doctor returned as he hopped off the ladders last rung.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlqq3a2L5W

"Thames flood barrier! Right on top of us,"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUZ4ZPatyX

he informed them, "Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBLfAwkwNd

"So exactly like in the movies," Alice offered with some enthusiasm.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSc1BpO0Lt

"What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark??"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouYBGhngpO

"I know! Unheard of," he returned sarcastically to Donna, making Alice laugh slightly.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpAqVVjl8l

They now entered into a laboratory of sorts. From what Alice could see, her eyes widened in surprise.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNFWsSVgpI

It was full of many test tubes with strange liquid boiling away inside them and some chemistry equipment. Because not only did this place have a hidden floor, but it also had a secret laboratory to boot! She was honest in her element right now! Alice's looking around with pure utter joy, eyes wandering about the things in the room around her.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygaCuPmwhr

"Oh, look at this!" the Time Lord tells them, as his eyes too glanced around the room with wonder, "Stunning! Particle extrusion!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxiCpPHhBt

"What does it do?" Donna questioned him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMFD0cdBOM

"Particle extrusion. Hold on..." the Time Lord goes darting over to one of the many bubbling tubes and gives it a tap, "Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. In case my people got rid of Huon's, they unravelled the atomic structure."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTGw91XGnt

"Your people?" Lance asked him with a frown, "Who are they? What company do you represent?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtyuEQd68C

"Oh, I'm a freelancer," the Doctor responded with a shrug, still looking at the tubes, "But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river! Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base, so they've got the result -- Huon particles in liquid form," he grabbed a small test tube that Alice could only guess had 'Huon particles,' lifting it to show them.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3WIpFJB8wu

"And that's what's inside me?" Donna asks, nodding at the tube in his hand.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKZrilej36

Ever so gently, he turns the knob at the top of the test tube, making the contents within being glow gold. Alice is noticing that it was the same thing that had happened to her sister, as she now glowed with it also.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdzmnnWfys

"Oh, my God!" Donna exclaims, taking a look at what is happening to her.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOGx08vIrW

Once he had finished turning the knob, Donna returned to normal. When all Alice couldn't help but tightly hold her sister's hand, suddenly fearing that her life was in grave danger. Because it had dawned on Alice that if this stuff was inside Donna, what harm would it cause her? She recalls what the Doctor had said about his people getting rid of the Huon particles. Still, it only leaves her questioning how or why? That was just left hovering over her. Suddenly she clicked back into reality and out of her thoughts back to hearing the Doctor speaking once again.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIBiC5TTMp

"Because the particles are inert -- they need something living to catalyse inside, and that's you. Saturate the body and then HA!" both of the sisters jump from his sudden burst of mad enthusiasm. Alice couldn't help but glare daggers at him. He needed to stop doing that as she would give him another smack because what's happening to her sister right now isn't something to be excited over. Because it wasn't exciting but bloody terrifying and here was the Doctor ranting on about it joyously, "The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle -- oh, your body's a battleground!" he now gestured to Donna, "There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine, WHAM go the endorphins, oh you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven! A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away, the particles reach boiling point, SHAZAM!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6pq3NSYvp

At that moment, Alice had considered wanting to slap him herself. She had been too busy gazing back at him with a look of utter disbelief and with her mouth hanging open, having gotten lost in him rambling on at a hundred miles an hour. That Donna had gone ahead and slapped him somewhat hard.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrwSxX9UV2

"What did I do this time?" he questioned her indignantly.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNuaFLFNzx

Donna responded moodily with a glare, "Are you enjoying this?!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUkwpwR6ef

At that moment, the Doctor relaxes, Alice seeing him now looking somewhat ashamed instead of being excited. The young Noble couldn't help but wince as Donna approached him. Her sister's breathing was heavy and distressed, which could also be seen as clearly on her features.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYqDYuuSGp

"Right, tell me - these particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lbhY6KnCm

"Yes!" the Time Lord burst out in response rather unconvincingly.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMJusn7ZbL

But Alice could tell he was lying. In doing so, she stepped forwards so that she now stood beside her big sister and tightly grasped her hand before looking the Doctor directly in the eye as she now spoke to him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXQbj7VEKs

"Please, Doctor?" She insisted calmly, "If your lot got rid of those particles...how?" she sees hesitation in his eyes, "How did they do it?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzegjeEtOE

"Because they were deadly," he finally offered in a gentle manner which only made Alice's hand tighten on her sister's.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnOCpNp1Z1

"Oh, my God..." Donna let out with a breath.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxozfjvoh3h

"I'll sort it out, Donna," the Doctor assured, his tone now more severe, "Whatever's been done to you, I'll reverse it."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5p2nopJSk6

"Then promise me?" Alice asked, feeling tears brimming her eyes. Just the very thought of losing her sister was something that she always dreaded the most, "Promise me she'll be okay?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRMYYbnaKX

His brown eyes now met Alice's misty green holding her gaze, "Alice, I promise you she'll be okay. Because I'm not about to lose Someone else."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIFVZpS7uQ

But before Alice had the chance to ask who this other person had been that he had lost, a loud series of bangs and crashes started echoing from all around them. Suddenly a voice filled the air as the noises continued.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcz2RezhYL

"Oh, she is long since lost."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1SfDSg4fW

A wall now comes sliding upwards to reveal a secret chamber inside with an enormous circular hole in the floor. Alice's eyes widen at what's before her, leaving her lost for words.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ629Mrth7xi

"I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe..."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEtRQzanqN

Seeing as the Doctor, Alice and Donna were somewhat too distracted by the voice, none of them had noticed Lance escaping through the door.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3s0JWysp1

"...until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNw6Hb2p5z

All around the chamber walls are lined with robots wearing black hoods.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9bJpnamQt

The Doctor wandered over towards the hole, only for Alice to grasp him by the arm and pull him away, "Where are you going?" she asked him with wide eyes.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGcQW8fKXP

"What, I just want to have a look, that's all," he yanked his arm out of the young woman's hold and went over to the, peering down into its never-ending darkness, "Someone's been digging... oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj08VqUePSZ

"Down and down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzYqEDxoU1

"Really? Seriously?" he asked with disbelief, "What for?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxoqJl42Uk

Donna goes shuffling forwards slightly whilst Alice continues to watch on, "Dinosaurs," she offered in suggestion.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquDpo7aszJ

The Doctor turned to her, furrowing his eyebrows, "What?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBd2VQ0ntso

"Dinosaurs?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4aOqkhOLm

He furrowed his eyebrows a little deeper, "What are you on about, dinosaurs?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9k1CKWGnR

"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs. Trying to help!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxaqpFudNg

"That's not helping."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0u8ruYToHh

"Such a sweet couple."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41G9bpUqHD

"Them two?! A couple?!" Alice exclaimed with a scoff. Her sister and the Time Lord went to turn in her direction, "I'm sorry, but my sister wouldn't be interested in a twig in a suit. He's not exactly her type," she went on, glancing in the Doctor's noting the expression on his face, "Not that I mean it like that. But it's the truth."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjbmR5eOST

But he didn't even bother even to respond and started to use that voice which drove her up the wall, "Only a madman talks to thin air and trusts me, and you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExm4PsYO5M

"High in the sky, floating so high on Christmas Night."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFFzY5gSvF

Alice could tell how annoyed he started moving about, "I didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom! Come on, let's have a look at you!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SXMyHOVxv

"Who are you with such command?" the voice boomed in demand.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgaqY4ubBC

"I'm the Doctor!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa4TjpADZJz

"Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man," Alice rolled her eyes with disbelief, thinking she could probably have come up with something a little more threatening than that, "For you will be sick at heart," in the blink of an eye, a massive red spider appears within the room snarling and growling.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAV1NxS0wZs

Alice cowers slightly, letting out minor cry distress, her grasp like a vice on her sister's hand. Spiders just gave her the absolute creeps!

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVVaDjv8M7

"The Racnoss," the Time Lord voiced in pure amazement, "But that's impossible, you're one of the Racnoss!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhkhfVQWeb

"Empress of the Racnoss."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhizu1X8Z7E

"If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss? Or are you the only one?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VkoYNrMiZ

"Such a sharp mind," the Empress hissed displeasingly.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2JXJD88bC

The young redhead breathed out with a sigh of relief. But, of course, she felt terrible that the Empress was the last of her kind, which was a good thing. Because who would want any more of those spiders scurrying around. At that very thought, Alice felt a cold tingling journey up her spine and shivered a little.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkVFEnNlve

"That's it, the last of your kind," the Doctor glanced at the Racnoss for a moment before looking to the sisters to tell them, "The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago, billions. They were carnivores, omnivores. They devoured whole planets."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdMdJ3XRLsB

Alice voiced her disgust, "Erugh!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUa1pOLsz5

"Racnoss are born starving. Is that our fault?" the Empress asked with a growl.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbK1sQB29c

"They eat people?" Donna inquired, looking over to the Doctor.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUparlumEHL

"H C Clements, did he wear those-- those erm, black and white shoes?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWbHULDZat

"Yeah, Donna told me about him once," Alice responded, her sister having told her about the ever famous HC Clements. But then, she looked to her sister, "What did you and the others call him?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkq6uk7Ydv

Donna now let a small laugh and smiled, "We used to call him the fat cat in spats."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXguisGIzlY

"Oh, now I remember," Alice recalled also laughing, remembering how she'd doubled over in hysterics on the phone and fell off the sofa's arm. It almost had her roommate Martha worried. But another thought came to her as she turned to ask the Doctor, "But how has that got to do with anything?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86xKlXudMC

He pointed and nodded his head towards the ceiling. In the corner was a web, and attached to that web, Alice noticed a pair of black and white shoes still attached to who must be the recently deceased HC Clements, only just poking out.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56Kv50jMBr

"Oh, my God!" the sisters exclaimed with shock.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgxJJq0OKY

"Mm, my Christmas dinner," the Empress cackled.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklsnbCRhIM

"You shouldn't even exist!" the Time Lord exclaimed, as Alice bit her tongue, holding back a witty retort, "Way back in history, the Fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss...they got wiped out."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiqH95pKrb

Alice now catches Lance standing upon the balcony above the Racnoss, unbeknown to her, wondering when he had gotten up there on Earth. It seemed Donna had caught on as well, and Lance motioned for them to stay quiet.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKa13TR4hcM

"Except for me."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtLdak4CZj

So in a bid to distract the Empress for Lance, Donna began to speak up, "But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing," yet the alien wasn't paying no attention to her, "Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking. Where do I fit into this? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBTIn6rXsI

Lance descended the stairs, axe in hand and at the ready as Donna continued trying to gain the Empress's attention, "Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlNSnk7QQl

"The bride is so feisty!" the Empress implied, glancing at Donna.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgSzf5nxcK

"Yes, I am! And I don't know what you are, your big thing," Alice frowned at her sister, "But a spider's just a spider, and an axe is an axe! So now, do it!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkYu0ZJewE

Lance takes a swing with the axe, for only the Empress to hiss at the final moment. Alice didn't expect what would happen next. That Lance had bow stopped, glancing towards Donna before suddenly bursting out laughing with the Empress.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYhZZoZ1fqQ

Alice's mouth was now hanging open with utter disbelief, and she glared at Lance. Because what she was feeling towards him right now was nothing but pure anger and betrayal.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWa1t4NYSuy

"That was a good one," Lance looked to the Empress, still laughing, "Your face!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDYSO4PELE

"Lance is funny!" she agreed, cackling along.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOF2MLZOfs

"What?" Donna narrowed her eyes at her fiancé in confusion.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Tp43ZE1Bq

"Can somebody please explain what the hell is going on?" Alice demanded, hands coming up in frustration.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJPgR5un6V

"I'm sorry," the Doctor offered quietly to Donna, who

turned to him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgZNLTFOuw

"Sorry for what?" Donna whirled back around as if trying to tell herself it wasn't true and demanded, "Lance, don't be so stupid! Get her!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZB94WiRjr

Alice could see pity in Lance's eyes as her sister exchanged glances with him. Still, it wasn't that of concern, only carelessness. She clenched her hands into tight fists, knuckles beginning to turn white, "God, she's thick," Lance sneered at Donna.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEJ9DcgE2F

But Donna was still completely and utterly lost about what was happening. Yet, it only angered the young redhead because nobody had the right to speak like her big sister like filth. Did he have a death wish or something? But the very thought just confused her even more. But, of course, Alice knew nothing extraordinary about being irritated and confused, especially a redhead.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZHyvj8ash

"Months I had to put up with her," Lance began complaining, "Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlc81YWCk8K

"I don't understand," Donna slowly began uncomprehendingly.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknU5j53YA2

"How did you meet him?" the Time Lord asked silently with interest.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOWl6S6CYtC

"In the office."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Wdi1qRkRB

"He made you coffee."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidx5gBMFD8

"What?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtniXnoyLLT

"Oh, will you just spit it out, Doctor!" Alice seethed, "What does this all mean?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIUoW5oooX

He stared back at the young redhead woman who only but returned it. Before he began to explain, "That...your sister was dosed with the particles over six months for it to take effect."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgw2Bt3WjbJ

"So essentially, he's been poisoning my sister," the Doctor's silence was his answer, and Alice growls, eyes aglow with nothing but murderous intent as she went charging towards Lance, "You asshole! You complete, utter fucking moron! I'll bloody kill you!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMPz75apGG

She was about to pounce on the very place he stood and beat him senseless, but what didn't help her was the evil smirk painted across Lance's face. Suddenly, arms wrapped around Alice's waist only to realise the Doctor had yanked her away. She forced his hands off her and glared daggers into him, only for the Time Lord not paying the slightest attention to her, but now on Lance instead. Alice now sees darkness come across his features.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMypBI97ULT

"It was all there in the job title -- the Head of Human Resources."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscbUQGZFsX

"This time, it's personnel," Lance joked. He and the Empress laughed together.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLee6toTfMG

"But... we were getting married," Donna uttered quietly, wholly heartbroken, and Alice couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnth9dDBzNu

"Well, I couldn't risk you running off. So I had to say yes. And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle," Lance rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap yap yap... 'oh, Brad and Angelina, is Posh pregnant?' X-Factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shui, split ends, text me, text me, text me, dear God, the never-ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9xiGkppFM

Alice's heart clenches again off from the heartbroken look on Donna's face.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKiKbXes6cR

Donna listens to this torrent of abuse with an expression of increasing hurt and confusion. She was right about the feelings she had about Lance all along. Nothing but a slimy snake that she wanted to strangle the life to death.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BVNV9QHIY

"I deserve a medal."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmj1DIVxCl7

"Oh, is that what she's offered you? The Empress of the Racnoss? What are you exactly? Her consort?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvD5LS3nZKK

Alice wrinkled her nose up in disgust at the Doctors comment.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6oqSwLo0gL

Just as Lance now gave a shrug and pointed to Donna, "It's better than a night with her."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGq5ETv2Rsr

"But I love you," Donna voiced with sorrow, the younger Noble seeing tears now forming in her sister's eyes. But this was her big sister, who always kept her tears at bay, but Alice could tell she was going to crack at any given moment.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA15RMrsko5

"That's what made it easy," Lance went on scathingly. His attention now on the Doctor, who just glared back, his expression unreadable to Alice, "It's like you said, Doctor...the big picture...what's the point of it all if the Human Race is nothing? That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to go out there. To see it The size of it all," Lance stares the Time Lord right in eyes, "I think you understand that, don't you, Doctor?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLq0zKDwxF

Alice could see it plainly across the Doctor's face that he understood. Recalling something she had seen in those eyes, they were the eyes of a man who's witnessed too much pain and anguish in his life. She could now see it clearly on his face as a confirmation.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRqSWCM5lG

"Who is this little physician?" the Empress asked of Lance.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5paHm8CBjx

"What she said -- Martian."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1byhvyhnKC

"Oh, I'm sort of... homeless," the Time Lord quickly alters the subject, moving a step closer, "But the point is, what's down here?" he peered down at the hole in the floor, "The Racnoss are extinct. So what's going to help you four thousand miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCT3C2sFRGk

"I think he wants us to talk," Lance informed the Empress.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qvO6DqnFU

"I think so too."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzj1j4uXjet

"You don't say?" the young redhead offered with sarcastic awe, hand on her cheek, "What made you think of that?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOkNmWk2F7C

Lance darts an aggravated look Alice's way, only for her to plaster on the biggest put on a smile in return.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0rA8hDbfG

"Well, tough!" Lance shouted, "All we need is Donna!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5jx1ghWqP

The young woman pulled Donna behind her, sending nothing but deathly glares at Lance, "Go to hell, you bastard! Because you're not laying another finger on my sister!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSg4MUUm7I

Only this gets ignored over the Empress's yelling, "Kill this chattering little doctor-man!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJQGltjCVU

Donna went to stand in front of the Doctor, even though she was feeling terrified, "Don't you hurt him!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡls1sMiZN8f

"No, no, it's all right," the Time Lord insisted.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNJrd02XrZ

But Donna denied him this, still feeling nothing but frightened, shaking her head, "No, I won't let them!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeilOmWd8jF

"Then neither will I," Alice consented, coming to also stand in front of the Doctor and squeezed Donna's hand, who returned it in response.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UedR9MeAN

"At arms!" the Empress commanded.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uZ5xgHPwG

The robots aimed their guns at the Doctor.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7M2QWnOQ8f

"Ah, now," the Time Lord began to say, "Except."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5JZOGsi7qe

"Take aim!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEWbx8tu9y

"Well, I just want to point out the obvious-"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJe7dGHF1s

"They won't hit the bride," the Empress glanced in Alice's direction, "Or the mouthy one. They're such magnificent shots."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8GT7tHGb6

"Mouthy?!" the young Noble voiced with aggravation, as this only gets ignored by the Time Lord as he tried his best in continuing to distract the Empress.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvAFRJKTgU

"Just-just-just-hold on, just a tick, just a tiny-just a little-tick," the Doctor held up his finger, "If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So, reverse it... the spaceship comes to her," taking out a tube of Huon particles from his trouser pocket gave the top a slight twist causing the particles inside began glowing and Donna as well.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzDG2enPm1

Suddenly Alice's now wide eyes darted with uncertainty as something began materialising around them, "What the..." the young woman uttered when the Empress ordered the robots.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡci5NvBv86T

"Fire!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphX8XXHc7R

They began shooting laser blasts at them, and Alice scrunched her eyes firmly shut, bracing herself for impact only that nothing happened at all. Her eyes snapped back open as she found herself in a relatively spacious room of sorts. The place was massive! But at the same time, she found it truly incredible. But she didn't have enough time to absorb it all when the Time Lord exclaimed.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufvL7deNOm

"Off we go!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06akux8ZmG

Alice watched him darting off towards something that stood within the centre of the room, just as she asked, still trying to take everything in, "Where are we?" seeing the Doctor running about wildly, touching buttons and widgets and the thing in the centre only for it to hit that it was a console of sorts.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9unKpZAzG

"Welcome to the TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space," he gives the young woman a quick introduction to ship because he knew it was a lot for Someone to take in all at once and noticed that Alice was taking it much better than he expected her to.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWpww3Diiv

As he now quickly turned his attention back towards Donna, "Right, Donna...remember what I had said before about time machines? Well, I lied. And now we're going to use it."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySJutGb84H

The young Noble's eyes widened at hearing the word 'time machine,' in which this was! But, honestly, after the day she's been having, this wasn't as shocking as it should've been because how was anything else going to top it after this.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkL8fru92AS

That's when she had noticed that her sister hadn't uttered much of a word. To see that Donna was almost shivering like a leaf. She was suddenly dashing over towards her to see her sister crying, pulling Donna into a hug. She returned the hug and began sobbing into Alice's shoulder. Still, the Doctor was utterly oblivious from rambling to take note of the woman's torment.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxGUdR2dOy

"We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up. If something were buried in the planet's core, it must've been there since the beginning. That's just brilliant. Molto bene! I've always wanted to see this. Alice, Donna-we're going further back than I've ever been before."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31oHA0kPWT

At that very moment, he stopped talking to take in the scene of Alice gently rubbing her old sister's back as she cried into her shoulder. The young woman's hazel-brown eyes glanced up at him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YphLOTmqh

"She'll be alright," she uttered silently to him before returning her attention to her sister.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ohITd7EZz

It took a couple of moments longer, but Donna had since regrouped herself, and the ship had since stopped moving and had arrived at its destination.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNqdW7bLkj

"You know...all that stuff Lance said wasn't true," Alice offered calmly, wrapping a reassuring arm around Donna's shoulders. The older woman only took a sniff but didn't utter a word.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9QGYJhnJMM

"We've arrived..." the Time Lord implied, poking his head around the console watching the sisters as they now both peer back at him before continuing to ask, "Want to see?" Alice could see a glint of excitement in his eyes, and she couldn't help but feel overjoyed for what he was about to show her and Donna.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDWwaYNHom

"Yeah," the young woman agreed with happiness.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpYpJbMh5S

"I s'pose," Donna offered unenthusiastically.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxE2vIwevg1

The Doctor swings the monitor around for them to see. Alice wandered over to have a look at the screen. But it was way too small to be barely visible, leaving the young woman feeling somewhat deflated.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QofMufNWv

"Oh, that scanner's a bit small. Maybe your Donna's best."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXtnIzzcI2

"And what would that be?" Alice asked with raised eyebrows.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoK0I0FtpBV

He grinned back at her, "This," he went to approach the doors waiting on the sister as he gazed back at them, "Come on."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWGIKHBHPz

Alice was the most eager to head over, followed by Donna, who took her time coming to join them. Once all three of them were together, the Time Lord began to speak, "No human's ever seen this. You'll be the first."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cPUgS5FQE

"All I want to see is my bed," Donna responded with a sad sigh.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ86B896AxF

"Come on!" Alice gestured towards the doors with excitement.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYxzcKy2RJ

Not wasting another moment longer, he took hold of the handles, "Donna and Alice Noble -welcome to the creation of the Earth," he swung open the doors. The young Noble couldn't help but gasp at the most spectacular sight that greeted her very eyes. Donna, on the other hand, was left entirely gobsmacked. The sun shone brightly through clouds of stunningly beautiful coloured dust, and rocking of various sizes floated around them.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJS9AqmDr1X

"Oh, wow!" Alice offered, mesmerised, "This is...it's beautiful. Don't you think, sis?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26hbF7s5Au

Donna only responded with a nod, clearly just as flabbergasted as her little sister.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0VKB7SPp9

"We've gone back 4.6 billion years," the Doctor tells them softly, glancing briefly at Alice for a moment as she smiled in awe and her eyes sparkling with delight, knowing he's ignited something within her that could never die. That sense of adventure and wonder she'd probably want to discover more of. Still, he knew it'd be too soon even to ask the sisters to join him because his hearts weren't ready for that when he's only just lost, Rose.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFgT5GmH1w

With a shake of his head, the Doctor continued to speak, gazing out amongst the sight with the Noble sisters, "There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas," he points out to them, not seeing Alice's eyes watching his finger as it moves.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArU6rOpUK7

"That's the sun, isn't it?" the young woman asked, glancing in his direction.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUZA5AuxTf

"Yes, that's the sun over there, brand new. Just beginning to burn."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvhsXfXV33

"This is just incredible," Alice muttered, "That we've travelled this far back in time."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopruGwfPuK

"It's brilliant, don't you think?" the Doctor grinned at the young woman.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGPtywjBj3

She now laughed, smiling back at him, "It's beyond brilliant," they just stood there, grinning at one another.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAZAnwk9vL

That's until Donna cleared her throat from behind them. She didn't want to interrupt this happy moment between her sister and the Doctor. That's it was one. Still, it seemed to her they were finally starting to get along with each other.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqg0vYJP7UV

"Where's the Earth, though?" Donna now asked with a frown

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2eH9wQwbPf

"All around us... in the dust."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡre3Nu96eSw

"Puts the wedding in perspective," she offered with a defeated sigh, "Lance was right. We're just tiny."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjnrRdvB8y

"No, but that's what you do," the Time Lord reassured her, with a tiny grin, "The human race—making sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's something actually to witness."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOeEqyM2wzB

Alice couldn't help but nod in agreement. As she went to gaze back outside, Donna went on to ask, "So, we came out of all this?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWlw2lwSZ7

"Yeah, we did, because we're incredible," Alice gives her sister a slight nudge and a wink, who lets out a small laugh. It had been the first time since they laughed about finding out about Lance's betrayal.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlYwtAq0Xq

The Doctor watched the sisters fondly with a gentle smile. Just when a massive chunk of rock listlessly floated by the TARDIS.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYH9Ij0o5D

"I think that's the Isle of Wight," Donna offered with a joke, making them all laugh together.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBLTv46fIZ

"Eventually, gravity takes hold. Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it. All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in, everything, piling in until you get the..."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbc0tOsBhY

"Earth," the sisters completed in unison, they all began laughing again.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaluJU16ADa

"But the question is... what was that first rock?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3It5I8nUKw

Yet but they didn't wait that long to find out the answer. Then suddenly, a rock shaped like a star emerges through the clouds and dust.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVAXHUsrHJf

"Look," Donna pointed to it.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAP3dykNxno

"The Racnoss..." the Time Lord whispers. Then, suddenly, he hurried back towards the console, and Alice noticed him spinning a wheel frantically.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gRp7xOTZc

"What are you doing?" the young Noble asked with a frown.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmw653sKKI

Only that he didn't respond to her question as he spoke rather loudly, "Hold on - the Racnoss are hiding from the war! What's it doing?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4vSFsSdF0

Donna was still standing beside the doors looking outside answered for her instead, "Exactly what you said."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPTl7yipPI

The Doctor comes running back towards the doors to take a peek at it for himself, "Oh, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth... they became the centre of the Earth. The first rock."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwN3eC9z3Zz

That's when suddenly the TARDIS violently shuddered, and everyone almost gets knocked off their feet, with Donna immediately pulling her sister protectively into her arms.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQzIudNPRK

"What was that?" the eldest Noble demanded.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA89DaPiyne

"Trouble," the Doctor offered bluntly, quickly slamming the doors shut.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLavSazHqVO

"You don't say thanks for pointing that out, gen... Ahh!" Alice let out a fearful scream before she could finish speaking as the TARDIS shuddered and tilted violently once again when the Doctor's caught her in his arms. She lets him keep a tight grasp on her as they struggle to maintain balance with the ship still throwing them around.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKHVfmp8xb

"What the hell's it doing?!" Donna yelled over all the loud noises.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEe0HykvI63

"Remember that little trick I pulled -- particles pulling particles. It works in reverse -- they're pulling us back!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT64kQkQOE6

"You've got to be joking me," the young redhead uttered to herself just as the Doctor released her from his grasp and ran over towards the console in a desperate attempt to steer the TARDIS, but it was beyond his control.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tQz9G77V8

"Well, can't you stop it? Hasn't it got a handbrake? Can't you reverse or warp or beam or something?" Donna asked him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3DNotdt9j

"Backseat driver," Alice heard the Doctor mutter, which made her slap him on the arm.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqp1XLxN8ve

"Seriously, are you always this rude?" she questioned, glaring daggers, arms folded across her chest.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYXygWW9NH

"Yeah, I am!" he replied. Alice was about to comment on his answer when he suddenly cried out, making her jump again, "Oh! Wait a minute!" the Time Lord pulled something out underneath the console. The object in question looked rather strange and weird-looking to Alice, "The extrapolator!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRWYVCnc1s

"What?" she oddly frowned at him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSh5BnbBRuf

"The extrapolator!" he repeated, wiggling before Alice's eyes, "Can't stop us, but it should give us a good bump!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfW8JxwpfU4

The young have learned from knowing this man just for a couple of hours to nod along and make a few exciting noises with the complete utter nonsense that she doesn't get.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZqgb3kY0Z

"Now!" the Time Lord gives the extrapolator a whack making the TARDIS jerk slightly, and the sisters tightly grip the console to stop themselves from falling over. Then, it completely stops a while later, all three now stepping out from the TARDIS where they had started.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOcT4KsaLT

That's when Alice takes a good look at the time machine that's a blue 1930's police box and can't help but admire it, "Wow."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfWlu9iRuj

"We're about 200 yards to the right," the Doctor tells them, "Come on!" he and Donna take off running, and Alice snapped from her trance.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PaG4HGbLC

"Hey! Wait for me! I'm in bloody heels!" the young woman goes chasing after them, her heels clicking rapidly on the ground. She finally caught up with them and arrived at the door leading up to the Thames Flood Barrier.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFppGDZIALj

"But what do we do?" Donna asked, slightly out of breath.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3hchppr1O

"I don't know!" he responded with uncertainty, making Alice take a double-take to see him with a stethoscope holding against the door to listen to whatever's behind it, "I make it up as I go along! But trust me, I've got a history."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUvF5ddkUP

"Oh, I bet you have," the young woman comments with a scoff.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eo5aupl8C

"But I still don't understand," Donna talked to him, "I'm full of particles - but what for?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSiZAmlVRb

"There's a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unravelled their power source. So the Huon particles ceased to exist, but the Racnoss are stuck."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWPqVN3nZt

Alice was too absorbed in what the Doctor said that she hadn't noticed her sister getting kidnapped by a robot. But that's when she instantly realised something was wrong, but only she was too late as her eyes widened in fear.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZTmgHNWd5

"Doctor," she tries getting his attention, but it seems he hasn't noticed.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVlb6w20Xfk

"They've just been in hibernation for billions of years. Frozen, dead, kaput! So you're the new key."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJL8HBQShd

"Doctor..."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEzAU6IyUG

"Brand new particles, living particles! They need you to open it.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zcrkavU2w

"Doctor!" Alice screamed at the Doctor, making him jump and glance in her direction, "Donna! She got taken!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5mzxKMy9R

"What?!" the Time Lord whizzed around, now having noticed. He groaned in frustration, running a hand through his hair, making it messier than before, "Did you see what took her?" he asked, grabbing Alice tightly by the shoulders.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRKydh7m4b

"Yes, I saw something take her..." Alice began to offer sarcastically before huffing angrily, "I don't bloody know!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtMPn4WRrt

He lets out another groan, letting go of Alice and turns back towards the door. He gets the door open with his sonic, only to be confronted by an armed robot. Both of them immediately take a step back, only for the Time Lord to bump into Alice.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOSPm7T8AV

"Ally, please...do as...I tell you?" the Doctor explained to the young Noble as they ever so carefully backed away from the robot that hadn't attempted to attack them.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1bw7oQ37Z

"What?" she gaped at him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmpKA8EU6L

"Get out of here... and get back home..." he insisted.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUc9RFGEYV2

"But my sister-"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShowy8WVZ4

"Alice, I'll save Donna. I promised to you that I'm not going to lose somebody else, so you're going to have to trust me on this."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRA4NLf4h5r

But for some unknown reason, Alice had her complete trust in him even though she's had known him for only a couple of hours, so she did what he asked and started running back home, not looking back once.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKQ3Zcpdk4

❈•≫────≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫────≪•❈

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtFNIOoIEQG

Alice didn't know how long she stood outside her house for, not caring if it was cold outside or that she'd get ill, only using the warmth her arms wound around her, waiting for her sister. It'd been hours, but Donna still hadn't returned, and frankly, it was beginning to worry her. What if the Doctor has broken his promise and her sister is lying dead somewhere. The very thought made her shiver, and she shook her head, knowing that deep in her heart, Donna was still alive.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntpsQn1Upw

She could tell her parents were extremely worried about her as well. But the young Noble couldn't bring herself to explain everything that happened. Because she knew it'd only worry them more and probably think she was off her rocker. Only there was perhaps one person who'd believe her, and that was her dear old Gramps.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdoXuAm2uY

But despite all her worries, Alice's thoughts couldn't help but wonder to the Doctor as a smile appeared on her face. Suddenly, a whirring yet grinding sound filled the air, breaking the young woman's thoughts as if by magic. She witnessed the blue police box materialise in the middle of the road ahead of her. The doors opened, and out came Donna.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOC8Jwc9uC

"Donna!" Alice ran towards her, grinning like an idiot pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. Donna returned the hug and laughed at her little sister. The young woman was pulling back, still grinning from ear to ear.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGw6pV1cn1

"They're much better," Alice turned to see the Doctor step outside as well. But it was then, without even stopping herself, that she hugged the man. At first, he went stiff as a board, finding it somewhat awkward because he wasn't expecting it, but he finally managed to relax and returned it.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1Dy6bHFCy

"Thanks for saving my sister," she tells him, breaking their hug.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZP5rrp3G1

"No problem," he smiled in at her in return, "But I just need to make sure that the particles are completely gone," not giving her a chance to respond, he grabbed his sonic screwdriver and pressed the button, its tip glowing blue as he scanned it over Donna and once done he smiled at her, "Nope! All the Huon particles have gone. No damage, you're fine."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwrept0xAL

"Yeah, but apart from that...I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day. Sort of."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQt1Dlfb5Q

"Hang on, how did you become a widow? Also, what happened to Lance?" The young Noble asked, not that she cared what happened to that slime ball.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLu4yuJx3W

"A spider ate him," Donna bluntly replied.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4KiwOZjK04

Alice winced, knowing she'd been talking about the Racnoss, "Ergh."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDY1Lng9Bd

"I couldn't save him," the Doctor offered simply.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RxkTFmqSs

"He deserved it," Donna said with a bitter uncaring tone. Only for the Doctor raise his eyebrows at her and instantly her face softened, "No, he didn't," she turned to look at the house, "I'd better get inside. They'll be worried."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbKY6H9wDE

"Best Christmas present they could have," the Time Lord mentions as Alice and Donna watch their parents embrace each other, "Oh, no, I forgot - you hate Christmas."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5S8Ooioqv

"Yes, I do," the older Noble agreed with a nod, which Alice couldn't blame her big sister.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTx7hsfvrdZ

"Even if it snows?" he goes to tweak a switch on the TARDIS, and a ball of light shoots out from the top and explodes like a firework in the midnight sky as snow begins sprinkling down all around them. Alice gasped with utter amazement as Donna laughed with pure delight.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEl35SPiwKe

"I can't believe you did that!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfB0JsXWwqI

The Doctor nonchalantly shrugged as he leaned against the TARDIS, "Oh, basic atmospheric excitation," he tells them casually with a grin, them smiling back in return.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2Xe5mBu6y

"Merry Christmas," both the sisters tell him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCJyqXAeqV

"And you. So what will you do with yourself now?" the Time Lord asked, looking to Donna.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIObfaqn4l

"Not getting married, for starters."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflaFMLNsI8

"Oh, God, don't tell mum that. She'll have kittens," the younger Noble joked.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDY6649glsI

"And I'm not going to temp anymore. I don't know travel see a bit more of planet Earth walk in the dust. So just go out there and do something."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynL4gDowHn

"Well, you could always..." Alice noticed the hesitation in his voice like he was uncertain whether or not he was about to do the right thing.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlnHYnydhN

"What?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95l9j0vvt7

"....come with me..." he finally said tentatively. Alice sees a glimmer of hope in his eyes, which quickly faded once at her sister's response.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBGvtgftAa

"No."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZd4WahUMUz

"Okay," he responded rather quickly.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBbvX5BGCi

"I can't..."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSskaIQFEy

"No, that's fine," Alice could tell through the bravado of him not caring when that he probably did.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODavePMYJ4

"No, but really... everything we did today... do you live your life like that?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjd5FwFt4Pu

"...Not all the time," he said unconvinced.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XtU1mpj7n

"I think you do. And I couldn't."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyP51FArE6

Maybe I could see one day, Alice thought to herself but didn't voice it. Because she knew it would be rude to invite herself along. Besides, she had other things to be getting on with, like getting back to her studies and becoming a Doctor, one for humans.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXj6kvU1pb

"But you've seen it out there. It's beautiful."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6F1EJtWHM5

What she and Donna had seen today had been pretty incredible. But why on Earth would her sister turn down the adventure of a lifetime when she knew it had been a dream Donna's to travel off to distant places.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmLiKmKe7a

"And it's terrible. That place was flooding and burning, and they were dying, and you stood there like I don't know a stranger. And then you made it snow - I mean, you scare me to death!"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyjGcjboDC

Alice winced at that, finding the words pretty harsh. There's a drawn-out silence between them until the Doctor is the one to break it finally.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQl9FKDbz6c

"Well then."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaiemDw0uIu

"Tell you what I will do through - Christmas dinner," off from the look on his face, Donna went on, "Oh, come on."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeb0YfJmejF

"I don't do that sort of thing."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtKiWAXI65

"You did it last year. You said so. And you might as well because Mum always cooks enough for twenty."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIncYMdCX6r

"Come on, Doc, live a little and have dinner with us," the younger Noble added, "I mean, what harm can it do."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXDfVhFCNQ

He began oo-ing and ahh-ing reluctantly before sighing in defeat, "Oh, all right then," he agrees. Alice beams with joy at the thought of him having dinner with her family, "But you go first, better warn them. And... don't say I'm a Martian," he gestured towards the TARDIS, "I have to park her properly, she might drift off to the Middle Ages. I'll see you both in a minute."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8oWLDJbsm8

"You know that it's just a police box, right?" Alice pointed out just as he was about to step inside, trying to keep him here a moment longer. But, something tells her that he wouldn't be coming back.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxnhlYgGFW

"It's the TARDIS. I can't help how she looks."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrLAwvcULF

"Uh, okay," Alice returned, a little taken aback, because shrugging, "I just think it's...a lot smaller on the outside, that's all."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYJFxlb26O

The Time Lord paused for a moment considering Alice's comment before muttering to himself as he entered the TARDIS, "Now that's something I haven't heard before," he closed the doors shut behind him. The box began fading out of existence. At that very moment, Donna realised he wasn't ever coming back.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSh75QtvIrX

"Doctor! Doctor!" she yelled for him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdElaUW2o3

Suddenly the engines had stopped, and the Doctor poked him out the doors, "Blimey, you can shout."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWK2nYf3s0

"Am I ever gonna see you again?" Alice watched her sister staring back at him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPo9B2TtSPE

He returned to the sisters with a smile, "If I'm lucky."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nz49qtNgI

"Just... promise me one thing; find someone."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYaU0qeXff

"I don't need anyone."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkDTqjmZmO

"Yes, you do. Because sometimes, I think you need Someone to stop you."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTv3oKwl4Dg

"Yeah," he voiced quietly, briefly glancing at Alice. It was as if he wanted to ask her about coming with him but didn't say a word. But his senses get the better of him knowing that she's probably got more important things to do and get on with her life. Only what he didn't realise was the disappointment washing over her, as he now looked at Donna, "Thanks then, Donna - good luck - and just...be magnificent."

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXiV8tiR6y

She smiled fondly and laughed, "I think I will, yeah," the Doctor returned her smile and retreats into the TARDIS only to call for him once again, "Doctor?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrqAfOKxs5

"Oh, what is it now?" he asked with mock exasperation after opening the door as Alice held back a giggle.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1w8DrODi8

"That friend of yours... what was her name?"

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02PXVQXMul

Alice sees a sudden sadness filling his eyes. Because whoever this friend of his was that the Doctor lost must of meant a great deal to him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNBxmvmXbo

He swallowed the lump that was inside his throat before finally answering, "Her name was Rose," he turned back and closed the TARDIS door behind him, knowing it would be the last they saw him.

456Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡir9wtwXLAY

Soon as the time machine disappeared, Donna began to walk back home, only leaving Alice, staying where she stood, questioning why he didn't ask her to come. Maybe it was because he still wasn't ready for fear of rejection or that he just wasn't prepared to take on anybody else he cared about, only to lose them again. So Alice began walking back home and back to her life in training to become a doctor with a sigh. Because that's where sometime soon their paths would cross again without them even knowing it.

ns216.73.216.250da2

Reading Theme:

Font Size:

Line Spacing:

Paragraph Spacing:

Load the next issue automatically