Obviously photoshopped, but oh well.

In this chapter, Jessie takes one for the team, then sits out a whole lot, the Doctor comes very close to breaking up the entire deal, and Ambrose gets a talking to back on the surface. Oh, and we get a sneak peek at the end to help deal with the loss of Rory!

Enjoy!

***

"Don't you come near me with that!" Amy shouted as the Silurian came closer.

The Silurian paused and spoke to a recorder. "From the clothing, the human female appears to be more resistant to the cold than the male."

"I dressed for Rio!" Amy protested.

"Leave her alone!" the man shouted, struggling. "You've got me!"

Amy cried out when the Silurian pressed a button on a remote, and the clamps on her wrists shut tighter. "Decontamination complete," the Silurian said. "Commencing dissection." He came closer with the scalpel -

"Two hearts!" the Bad Wolf called out, making him pause and turn to her. Amy's eyes widened, and she whipped her head to the side, seeing the Bad Wolf biting her lip. "You heard me," she said. "I've got two hearts. Take a listen if you don't believe me."

"What are you doing?" Amy gasped as the Silurian doctor frowned and headed over to her, using some sort of a stethoscope on her, his eyes widening when he did indeed hear a double heartbeat.

"I've got two hearts," the Bad Wolf nodded to the doctor as he stared at her. "You said she was a female human. I'm not even from this planet. She'll be the same, like him, with just a few differences . . . but what's different about me?"

The doctor turned to his recorder. "Dissection of the human female will be postponed until dissection of the second female of unknown origins is finished."

"Bad Wolf!" Amy whispered in horror.

"Been worried about being put in a lab since I was eleven, Amy," the Bad Wolf forced out a chuckle, clenching her fists. "First time for everything, I suppose."

Amy closed, her eyes, bowing her head. The Bad Wolf bit her lip, took a deep breath, and slammed shut every connection she had to the Doctor as the scalpel sliced into the skin of her wrist.

***

"This place is enormous and deserted," the Doctor was telling Nasreen as they walked down the tunnel. "The majority of the race are probably still asleep. We need to find the Bad Wolf and Ay. Looking for heat signature anomalies . . . " He held out the sonic screwdriver.

"But, Doctor, how can all this be here?" Nasreen asked, looking intently at all of the plants around them. "I mean, these plants!"

"Must be getting closer to the center of the city," the Doctor mumbled before frowning and blinking a bit. He was starting to get a bit of a headache . . .

"You're sure this is the best way to enter?"

"Front door approach," he nodded absently, trying to find Jessie in his mind . . . and frowned when he hit a brick wall almost. "Definitely. Always the best way - "

He cringed when alarms started to wail. "Hostile life forms detected, area seventeen."

"Apart from the back door approach. That's also good. Sometimes better."

"Hostile life forms detected, area seventeen."

"Doctor!" Nasreen cried.

The Doctor turned a full circle as Silurian warriors approached from everywhere, his headache worsening. "We're not hostile!" he told them, holding up his hands, Nasreen quickly doing the same. "We're not armed! We're here in peace!"

He had just enough time to think that Jessie had, for some reason, blocked herself off from him before one of the Silurians gassed him, and he passed out, Nasereen slumping nearby.

***

The worst part about the Bad Wolf being dissected was that she never made a single sound. Amy had her head turned in the opposite direction, cringing and wincing every single time she heard the doctor make a cut or make a comment or start up another tool, sobbing partly to drown the noise out, partly because of the guilt she felt because it was the Time Lady and not her. When she did open her eyes, she could see through her tears that the human man looked like he wanted to be sick, but he never said anything.

As she listened, she now knew that the Bad Wolf's hearts separately beat at 76 beats per minute, an overall rate of 152, and she had a respiratory bypass system, meaning that the gas being used hadn't worked on her. Her core body temperature was at 16 degrees Celsius, and that there was some kind of gold tinge in her blood. The Bad Wolf never made a single sound, only hitching her breath once in a while. Amy, however, whimpered when she heard the sound of some sort of saw start up -

"Area seventeen incursion. Species diagnostic requested. Area seventeen incursion. Species diagnostic requested."

The Silurian looked over his shoulder, then put his utensils down. He left, leaving his remote on his desk. Amy slowly straightened, then heard a muffled groan from next to her. She and the man looked over . . . in time to see the Bad Wolf phase through her cuffs weakly, stumbling a bit, hissing in pain as she leaned against the desk for support. Amy blanched, seeing the slowly healing incisions on her arms from where the Silurian had cut her open to investigate more, only catching a glimpse of the main one as the Bad Wolf pulled her camisole top on before bundling up her off white shirt and sticking it in the pocket of her frock coat, putting that on over her camisole. "Are you all right?" she managed to ask thickly.

"Never been better," the Bad Wolf answered sarcastically, shakily making her way around the desk and finding the remote. She clicked the button to loosen the clamps before leaning against the desk, Amy running immediately to support her. "Thank Rassilon for Asgardian healing powers . . . " She looked wearily at the man as he walked over as well. "Are you Mo?"

"Yeah," he blinked, surprised. "Yeah, that's me."

" . . . nice to meet you," the Bad Wolf said faintly before smiling. "Mind helping me try and get back to my husband before my mind burns?"

***

"That creature, do you think it was an alien?" Mo asked as they walked through the tunnels, Amy's arm around Jessie for the Time Lady's support, Mo in front of them protectively. "Any more of them, do you think? Do you think the Earth's been invaded?"

"Yes," Jessie nodded, wincing as she felt her coat rub up against the cuts on her arms. Better than having her shirt on, though. The camisole was enough for now, and no way in hell was she lowering her shields until she wasn't hurting every single step she took. It had taken all of her willpower not to scream, but she'd managed it. She supposed it all had to come from that soldier side in her now, no thanks to the bloody Master. "Yes. And no. At least not yet."

"We need to get back to the surface and find the Doctor," Amy shook her head.

" . . . down here," Jessie wheezed.

"What?"

"He's down here."

Mo opened up a wall panel nearby, and he gasped, seeing an alcove inside. "Oh, my God, no!" he gasped.

"What is it?" Amy asked, trying to see.

"It's my son," Mo breathed, and Jessie looked over his shoulder to see a young boy inside, wires attached to him. "It's Elliot. What've they done to him? He's in there! We need to get him out!"

"Don't need to," Jessie shook her head, checking the monitor by the alcove.

"That's my boy in there!" Mo shouted.

"And they're monitoring him. These are vital signs. He's still alive. He's safe."

Mo let out a frustrated breath. "All right. We find weapons, get that creature from the lab, and force it to release Elliot and pay for what he's done to you. Yeah?"

"Yeah," Amy nodded.

"I need my blaster," Jessie mumbled as they headed off, keeping her shields firmly up as she browsed through her coat's pockets. She really needed to clean them out.

***

Rory swallowed, walking up to Ambrose, seeing her holding Elliot's headphones. "Ambrose," he began.

"You lied," she accused him. "You told us you were the police!"

"It was a misunderstanding."

"Who are you? You and the Doctor? Why is this happening to us? What did we ever do?"

"The Doctor'll get your son back, I promise," Rory told her. "In the meantime, we take turns guarding her."

"Oh, so that's it?" Ambrose scoffed. "We just sit and wait?"

"And then we exchange her for your family," Rory said calmly. "I promise you, Ambrose, I trust the Doctor and the Bad Wolf with my life. We stick to his plan. We keep that creature safe."

***

"Argh!" the Doctor shouted as he was scanned.

"How can they have escaped?" the leader of the warriors asked, pacing. "This proves all prisoners should remain under military guard!"

"I'm sure you'd prefer to be in charge of everything and everyone, Restac, but we rank the same," the Silurian doctor answered calmly. "Is there any word from Alaya?"

Restac sniffed. "No."

"It's fine to show concern, you know. She's part of your gene chain." The doctor turned to him. "I'm decontaminating now."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Decontamination?!" he asked. "No, no, no!" He screamed as the decontamination hit him. "No! Argh!"

"It's all right," the Silurian soothed him. "It won't harm you. I'm only neutralizing all your ape bacteria."

"I'm not an ape!" the Doctor shouted. "Look at the scans! Two hearts! Totally diff - "

The Silurian cut him off. "Two hearts?" he asked, looking at the scans. His eyes widened, and he quickly shut the decontamination off.

The Doctor sighed. "No, complete the process!" Restac demanded.

"No," the Silurian shook his head. "He is like the female."

The Doctor straightened. That meant Jessie was down here somewhere! And that would explain why her barriers had gone up . . . the decontamination had to have hurt . . . but they were still up, and he was getting a migraine now. "Oh, that's much better, thanks," he nodded to the Silurian, now he just needed to get out of this board . . . and he wasn't about to reveal he could just get through these things with just a phase. "Not got any celery, have you?" He shook his head. "No, not really the climate. Tomatoes, though. You'd do a roaring trade with those. I'm the Doctor. Oh, and there's Nasreen!" He grinned when he saw her wake up. "Good."

"Oh, a green man," she mumbled, looking at the Silurian.

"Hello," the Doctor told Restac as she approached. "Who are you?"

"Restac, military commander," she answered shortly.

"Oh, dear, really?" he huffed. "There's always a military, isn't there?"

"Your weapon was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city," the Silurian doctor told him.

"Oxygen pockets, lovely," the Doctor sighed. "Ooo, but not so good with an impending drill. Now it makes sense."

"Where is the rest of your invasion force?" Restac asked.

"Invasion force?" The Doctor snorted loudly. "Me and lovely Nasreen? No, we came for my wife and the humans you took, and to offer the safe return of Alaya." Restac narrowed her eyes. "Oh, wait, you and she . . . what is it, same genetic source? Of course you're worried, but don't be. She's safe."

"You claim to come in peace, but you hold one of us hostage."

"We all want the same thing here."

"I don't negotiate with apes," Restac sneered. "I'm going to send a clear message to those on the surface."

"What's that?"

"Your execution."

The Doctor cringed. "Yes . . . " He had to go and ask, didn't he?

***

"These chambers are all over the city," Amy said, reaching out to touch the scanner of a cryo chamber.

Mo gasped when Silurians were revealed. "Turn it off, quick!" Amy quickly did, and the lights shut off.

"They're not moving," Jessie said, leaning against the wall, her breathing only just beginning to even out. "They're asleep. Look." She turned another one on.

"What are you doing?" Mo asked as she stepped inside, using one hand to support herself as she circled the Silurian. "Bad Wolf, get out of there!"

"Suspended animation," Jessie mused before pointing at the discs on the floor, then at the tunnels above their heads. "That's how they get up to the surface. Powered transport discs. These are our way out once we get to the Doctor."

"Even better," Mo said, turning another one on. "Weapons. Come on. Now we can fight back!" Amy took the gun from the Silurian Jessie was with. "Which way now?"

"Door at the end," Amy guessed, putting an arm around Jessie again.

"Are you sure?"

"No," Amy admitted, but when they stepped through, she gasped, stopping short.

Cryo chambers held warriors as far as the eye could see, at least thousands. "Wow," Mo breathed.

"Yeah," Amy mumbled.

"We don't stand a chance," Mo said.

"We have to find the Doctor," Amy said.

***

"These must be the only ones awake," the Doctor mused as they were led through the gardens. "The others must still be in hibernation."

"So why did they go into hibernation in the first place?" Nasreen asked.

"Their astronomers predicted the planet heading to Earth on a crash course," the Doctor explained. "They built a life underground and put themselves to sleep for millennia in order to avert what they thought was the apocalypse, when it reality, it was the moon coming into alignment with the Earth."

The Silurian doctor, Malohkeh, turned, stunned. "How can you know that?!" he asked.

"Long time ago, I met another tribe of Homo Reptilia," the Doctor answered, and Restac spun, too. "Similar, but not identical."

"Others of our species have survived?" Restac breathed.

The Doctor winced. "The humans attacked them. They died. I'm sorry."

Restac sneered. "A vermin race," she spat, leading them on.

***

"I'm a nurse," Rory sighed, checking on the green veins Tony had from whatever Alaya had used on him. "You should have told me - "

A female scream came from the crypt, and Rory took off running, Tony not far behind. He found Ambrose there with a taser, and Alaya curled up on the ground. "Ambrose, what have you done?" Tony gasped as Rory ran to the Silurian.

"She kept taunting me about Mo and Elliot and you!" she gasped.

"We have to be better than this!"

"She wouldn't tell me anything! I thought sooner or later, she'd give in. I would have done! I just . . . I just want my family back, Dad!"

"I'm sorry," Rory whispered to Alaya as Tony hugged Ambrose. "How do we help you? Tell us what to do."

"I knew this would come," Alaya rasped, a smirk on her face. "And soon, the war."

"You're not dying," Rory shook his head. "I'm not going to let you. Not today!"

Alaya just moaned, smiled, and closed her eyes.

***

"You're not authorized to do this!" Malokheh protested as they entered the courtroom.

"I am authorized to protect the safety of our species while they sleep," Restac countered.

"Oh, lovely place," the Doctor remarked. "Very gleaming."

"This is our court," Restac grinned at him. "And our place of execution."

"Let them go!" Amy shouted suddenly, running in, her gun raised.

"Amy Pond!" the Doctor grinned. "There's a girl to rely on!"

"You're covered both ways, so don't try anything clever, buster," Amy threatened, holding her gun up to Restac as the man who had to be Mo appeared behind the soldiers.

"Mo!" Nasreen grinned.

The Doctor was about to ask the more crucial question to him when Jessie strode in, pale and ramrod stiff and only in her camisole top and not the off white shirt she wore with it, but bringing her blaster up on Restac. "And me," she added.

"Now let them go, or I shoot," Amy threatened. Restac just smirked and moved closer. "I'm warning you!" Amy shouted, but Restac just grabbed her gun.

She hissed when Jessie shot at her, but when she tried to use her tongue to get her, Jessie dodged, but nearly stumbled. The Doctor frowned, knowing something was immediately wrong. Jessie's coordination was better than that. There was no way she should have stumbled. "And you," Restac told Mo, who frowned but handed over his gun.

Malohkeh, however, was staring at Jessie in shock. "You're - ?" he breathed.

"Yes," she nodded, pursing her lips. "Not the best feeling ever, but yes."

"Yes what?" the Doctor frowned, pulling her to him tightly, taking a deep sniff of her hair, already feeling his headache go away.

Malohkeh hesitated, but turned to Restac instead of answering. "All right, Restac. You've made your point."

"This is now a military tribunal," Restac told him. "Go back to your laboratory, Malohkeh."

He hissed at her. "This isn't our way," he told her, giving Jessie a sad look before heading off.

"Prepare them for execution," Restac ordered.

"OK, sorry," Amy winced as they were shackled to a pair of columns, Jessie cringing and wincing as her hands were tied behind her. "As rescues go, didn't live up to its potential."

"I'm glad you're OK," the Doctor smiled.

"Yeah," Amy gave Jessie a quick glance, but the girl didn't say anything. "Me, too. Lizard men, though!"

"Homo reptilia," the Doctor explained. "They occupied the planet before humans. Now they want it back."

"After they've wiped out the human race," Nasreen added.

Amy winced. "Right. Preferred it when I didn't know, to be honest."

"Why are they waiting?" Nasreen asked as Restac did something. "What do you think they're going to do with us?"

A green-tinged holographic screen flared up, with Rory, Ambrose, and Tony on it. "Who is the ape leader?" Restac asked loudly, the three humans gawking a bit. "Who speaks for the apes?"

After a bit of quiet discussion, Rory stepped forward, albeit a bit hesitantly. "I speak for the humans," he answered. "Some of us, anyway."

"Do you understand who we are?" Restac asked.

"Sort of." Pause. "A bit." Rory shook his head. "Not really."

"We have ape hostages."

The screen must have zoomed out, because Rory's eyes widened. "Bad Wolf!" he called. "Doctor! Amy!"

"Mo!" Ambrose gasped, leaning in. "Mo, are you OK?"

"I'm fine, love!" Mo called back. "I've found Elliot. I'm bringing him home!"

"Amy!" Rory grinned. "I thought I'd lost you!"

"What, 'cause I was sucked into the ground?" Amy smirked. "You're so clingy."

"Better than not clingy at all," Jessie murmured, making the Doctor frown. She . . . shouldn't be acting like that.

"Jezebel?" he whispered to her. "What is it?"

"You don't want to know."

He narrowed his eyes. "What did they do to you?"

"Not now, Kasterborous."

"Yes, now! What did they do?!"

"Tony Mack!" Nasreen laughed.

"Having fun down there?" Tony asked with a grim smile.

"Not to interrupt, but just a quick reminder to stay calm," the Doctor advised, trying to stay calm himself. Something was wrong with his wife, and she was still blocking him out!

"Show me Alaya," Restac ordered. "Show me and release her immediately, unharmed, or we kill your friends one by one."

"No!" Ambrose shouted, glaring and struggling.

"Ambrose!" Rory shouted, trying to hold her back.

"Ambrose, stop it!" Tony joined in.

"Get off me, Dad!" Ambrose glared. "We didn't start this!"

"Let Rory deal with this, Ambrose!" Jessie shouted.

"And who the hell are you?" Ambrose glared.

"The Bad Wolf!"

She immediately dismissed the Time Lady. "We are not doing what you say any more," she told Restac angrily. "Now give me back my family!"

Restac gave a sick smile. "No." She turned. "Execute the girl!"

"No!" Rory shouted as the Silurians turned guns on Amy. "No, wait!"

"Rory!" Amy cried.

"She's not speaking for us!"

"There's no need for this!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Listen, listen! Whatever you want, we'll do it!"

"Aim," Restac ordered calmly.

"Amy!" Rory shouted.

"Rory!" Amy screamed.

"Don't do this!" the Doctor shouted.

Then Jessie struggled and got free of her restraints, bolting in front of Amy. "No!" Rory shouted, eyes wide, before the screen cut out.

"Fire!" Restac ordered, not caring that another ape was getting in the way. All of her men fired -

Jessie held up her hands, and the shots fizzled out harmlessly in front of a wall of Aether and Vortex, a mix of red and gold, before she groaned and dropped to her knees, curling in on herself, wincing as she felt the incisions stretch. That hurt. A lot.

"Jez!" the Doctor blurted, struggling with his own cuffs.

"Stop!" an authoritative voice shouted, and an older Silurian elder walked in, Malohkeh behind him. "You want to start a war while the rest of us sleep, Restac?" he asked, glaring at Restac.

"The apes are attacking us!" Restac protested.

"You're our protector, not our commander, Restac. Unchain them."

"I do not recognize your authority at this time, Eldane."

Eldane just smirked. "Well, then, you must shoot me."

Restac glared, but gave a swift hand motion, and the guards moved to unchain the others. The moment the Doctor was free, he ran to Jessie's side, wrapping his arms around her, feeling her shaking . . . in pain. "What did they do?" he whispered to her.

Malohkeh watched the two non-humans, husband and wife so he'd heard, mates in Silurian eyes, seeing how they did care for one another. He bowed his head slightly, seeing the female human do the same. His mood was not helped when Restac stormed up to him and glared at him. "You woke him to undermine me!" she accused.

"We're not monsters," Malohkeh said. "And neither are they."

"What is it about apes you love so much, hmm?" she challenged.

"While you slept, they've evolved. I've seen it for myself." Malohkeh swallowed, looking over. "I saw one . . . take dissection for another." He wasn't about to tell Restac they were nonhuman.

The Doctor's head shot up, his green eyes darkening in fury. "You did what?!" he shouted, starting to rise to his feet, a flare of the Aether in his eyes as well.

He was only stopped by when Jessie reached up and grabbed his wrist, whimpering slightly. The Doctor instantly paused and looked down at her, his eyes widening, seeing the sharp red of an incision mark in the curve of her wrist. He swallowed, crouching back down, gently rolling up the sleeve of her coat, seeing the line stretched all the way up to her elbow. He swallowed. "He did this to you?" he asked lowly.

"She volunteered," Amy whispered, swallowing hard and hugging herself. "She did it so he wouldn't dissect me."

The Doctor looked up, anger in his eyes, ready to go off on her, when Jessie lowered her barriers. He winced, closing his eyes, feeling the pain she wasn't showing, feeling through her point of view what the dissection had felt like. But he could hear Malohkeh's apologies whenever she made a noise, if ever, felt his guilt even now about what he had done to her. He hadn't known what the decontamination would do to her, and had tried to numb what he'd been doing, not knowing that it wouldn't work. Malohkeh swallowed as the Doctor slowly opened his eyes again, reaching out to cup Jessie's cheek before leaning in and kissing her. "Go into a healing coma," he whispered.

"No," she replied instantly.

"Do it," he ordered.

"No."

"Do it, or I'll put one on you."

Jessie swallowed. "Don't know if I have the strength . . . "

The Doctor looked up at Eldane. "If I may?" he asked, nodding to one of the benches on the side of the room. Eldane bowed his head, holding out a hand, and the Doctor kissed Jessie's forehead before putting his fingertips on her temples. She closed her eyes and fell backwards, out cold, but the Doctor caught her, standing slowly with her in his arms.

Restac had been watching silently, something almost human in her eyes, but the moment the Doctor headed towards the bench, his back to her, the moment was gone, and she glared at Eldane. "We used to hunt apes for sport," she told him. "When we came underground, they bred and polluted this planet!"

"Shush now, Restac," Eldane ordered, smiling softly as he watched the man care for his mate. "Go and play soldier." He didn't see Amy wince, remembering Donna's words from her journal. "I'll let you know if I need you."

"You'll need me," Restac promised darkly. "Then we'll see." She turned on her heel and left, her soldiers following.

***

Rory cursed, trying to get the computer they'd seen the Silurians on to work again. "Nothing. I've got to get down there."

The screen suddenly turned on, and the Doctor appeared, looking a bit tired, but still cheery. "Rory! Hello!"

"Where's Amy?" Rory demanded. "Where's the Bad Wolf?"

"Amy? She's fine." The Doctor reached off screen and pulled the ginger into view. "Look! Here she is!"

"Oh, thank God," Rory breathed.

"Keeping you on your toes," Amy grinned.

"And the Bad Wolf?"

The Doctor's eyes darkened. "Recovering her strength," was all he said, and Rory knew not to push further. "No time to chat. Listen, you need to get down here. Go to the drill storeroom. There's a large patch of earth in the middle of the floor. The Silurians are going to send up transport discs to bring you back down using geothermal energy and gravity bubble technology. It's how they travel, and frankly, it's pretty cool. Bring Alaya. We hand her over, we can land this after all. All going to work, promise. Gotta dash. Hurry up!"

"The moment we get down there, everything will fall apart," Tony whispered.

"We have to return her," Rory shook his head, turning to where they'd covered Alaya in a tarpaulin. "They deserve at least that."

***

The Doctor clapped his hands and turned to the conscious ones in the room. "I'd say you've got a fair bit to talk about."

"How so?" Eldane asked.

"You both want the planet. You both have a genuine claim to it."

"Are you authorized to negotiate on behalf of humanity?"

"Me? No." The Doctor grinned and put his arms around Nasreen's and Amy's shoulders. "But they are."

"What?" Nasreen gasped.

"No, we're not!" Amy denied.

"'Course you are!" the Doctor encouraged. "Amy Pond and Nasreen Chaudhry, speaking for the planet? Humanity couldn't have better ambassadors. Come on, who has more fun than us?"

Amy turned to him, folding her arms. "Is this what happens, in the future?" she asked in a whisper. "The planet gets shared? Is that what we need to do?"

"Er, what are you talking about?" Nasreen asked.

"Oh, Nasreen, sorry," the Doctor shook his head. "Probably worth mentioning at this stage. My wife, Amy, Rory, and I travel in time a bit."

Nasreen paused. "Anything else?"

He sighed. "There are fixed points through time where things must always stay the way they are. This is not one of them. This is an opportunity. A temporal tipping point. Whatever happens today will change future events, create its own timeline, its own reality. The future pivots around you, here, now. So do good, for humanity, and for Earth."

"Right," Amy took a deep breath. "No pressure there, then."

"We can't share the planet," Nasreen hissed. "Nobody on the surface is going to go for this idea. It is just too big a leap!"

"Come on," the Doctor coaxed. "Be extraordinary!"

"Oh," Nasreen glared at him before huffing.

"OK," the Doctor grinned as Eldane sat down on his side, Amy and Nasreen on the other. "The first meeting of representatives of the human race and Homo Reptilia is now in session. Ha!" He grinned. "Never said that before. That's fab. Carry on. And don't let my wife wake up until I get here," he ordered, all three of them nodding. "Now, Mo," he clapped the man on the shoulder. "Let's go and get your son. Oh, you know, humans and their predecessors shooting the breeze. Never thought I'd see it!"

***

"So we get on those, and they take us down through the Earth?" Tony asked as they stood in the store room, looking at the four discs waiting for them.

"Geothermal gravity bubbles," Rory nodded before frowning, he sounded like the Doctor. "Or something."

"They sent four," Ambrose whispered. "She was our only bargaining chip."

"We have to hand her back," Rory said.

"Wait," Ambrose held out a hand. "Before we go down, there's something I've got to do." She turned to Tony. "Dad? I need you help."

Rory waited for them to do what they had to do . . . unaware of their plans with the drill.

***

"Elliot," the Doctor smiled when they saw the boy. "There you are."

"If you've harmed him in any way," Mo warned.

"Of course not!" Malohkeh shook his head desperately. "I only store the young."

"But why?" the Doctor asked.

"I took samples of the young, slowed their life cycles to a millionth of their normal rate so I could study how they grew, what they needed, how they lived on the surface."

The Doctor paused. "You've been down here working by yourself, all alone?"

"My family, through the millennia, and for the last three hundred years, just me," he nodded. "I did not intend to harm your mate, I promise."

The Doctor blinked. "Actually, she's my wife, not my . . . " He sighed. "Yes, I suppose you would call her my mate."

"And I never meant to harm your child," Malohkeh added to Mo.

The Doctor smiled. "Malohkeh, I rather love you," he said, offering a fist bump.

Amused, Malohkeh reciprocated and opened the chamber. "It's safe," he said, going to unhook the wires. "We can wake him." When he took off all the wires, he gestured Mo in. "Come."

"Elliot?" Mo whispered, crouching in front of his son. "Ell, it's Dad."

Elliot blinked. "Dad?" he asked.

"You're safe now," Mo promised, hugging him tightly.

"Where are we?"

"Well . . . I've got to be honest with you, son. We're in the center of the Earth, and there are lizard men."

Elliot blinked, staring wide-eyed at Malohkeh. "Hi," the Silurian offered.

"Wow," Elliot breathed.

"Elliot," the Doctor crouched down. "I'm sorry. I took my eye off you."

"It's OK," he smiled, giving him a hug. "I forgive you."

"You go on, Doctor," Malohkeh said. "I'll catch up."

***

"We lived on the surface of the planet long before you did," Eldane was saying back in the courtroom. "Our sole purpose has been to return to our rightful place."

"And we've got a planet that can't already sustain the people who live there," Nasreen shook her head. "And you want to add a whole other species to drain resources - ?"

"So what about the areas that aren't habitable to us?" Amy suggested. "Australian outback, Sahara desert, Nevada plains. They're all deserted."

Nasreen paused. "Yes, fine, but what happens when their population grows and breeds and spreads?" she asked. "And anyway, what benefit does humanity get, and how will we ever sell this to people on the surface?"

"If I could get a word in, maybe I could tell you?" Eldane offered dryly, and both turned to him. "You give us space, we can bring new sources of energy, new methods of water supply, new medicines, scientific advances. We were a great civilization. You provide a place for us on the surface, we'll give you knowledge and technology beyond humanity's dreams. If we work together, this planet could achieve greatness."

Nasreen paused, then smiled. "OK," she nodded. "Now I'm starting to see it."

"Oh, yeah," Amy grinned.

Applause sounded behind them, and they turned to see the Doctor enter, clapping, with Mo and Elliot behind him. "Not bad for a first session," the Doctor praised. "More similarities than differences."

A whoosh sounded overhead, and Eldane looked up. "The transport has returned. Your friends are here."

"Which means," the Doctor walked over to Jessie, sighing. "Sorry, love," he apologized, putting his hands on her temples. "Time to wake up early."

Jessie stirred slightly, then blinked her eyes open. "And just when I was getting comfortable," she croaked.

The Doctor chuckled and gestured Elliot over. "Elliot? Remember how I was telling you about the Bad Wolf?"

"Hey, little guy," Jessie smiled weakly.

His eyes widened. "It's you!" he gasped, running over.

Mo blinked, as did the Doctor. "You know her?" Mo asked. "How?"

"I was scared, when I came down here," he answered. "But there was this nice lady, in my head, telling me I would be OK. It's her voice!"

"I was right, wasn't I?" Jessie asked with a smile as she sat up, hugging him gently as he hugged her back. "Nice to meet you, Elliot."

The Doctor looked over to the doorway to see Rory enter, followed by Ambrose. "Here they are," he smiled.

"Mum!" Elliot cheered.

"Rory!" Amy beamed, before pausing, seeing the devastated look on Rory's face.

It was something Jessie noticed, too, as she slowly stood, narrowing her eyes. "Rory?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

Tony entered next, something wrapped up in a blanket . . . and both Time Lords immediately knew what it was. "Doctor, what's he carrying?" Amy asked.

"No," the Doctor shook his head fiercely, walking over as Tony laid the blanket on the ground. "Don't do this. Tell me you didn't do this!" He crouched down and lifted the blanket up, seeing Alaya's lifeless face. He dropped the blanket and glared at Tony and Ambrose. He knew, he just knew, Rory hadn't done this. He was too good, too kind, and Jessie's companion. He would never do something like this. That left two people. "What did you do?"

"It was me," Ambrose admitted. "I did it."

"Mum?" Elliot breathed.

"I just wanted you back," Ambrose sniffed, trying to move forward, but Elliot just backed away, into Jessie, who put a hand on his shoulder.

Eldane stared at Alaya sadly, and the Doctor shook his head, turning to the Silurian. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't know. You have to believe me, they're better than this."

"This is our planet!" Ambrose exclaimed angrily.

"We had a chance here!" the Doctor shouted at her.

"Leave us alone!"

"Then here's what you do," Jessie glared at her angrily. "Tell people there was a chance, but you were so much less than the best of humanity."

Ambrose glared at her, about to start up, when Restac marched in with several Silurian troops. She laid eyes on the blanket, and her eyes widened. "My sister!" she gasped, dropping down to lift the blanket. She moaned sadly, closing her eyes before glaring at the Doctor. "And you want us to trust these apes, Doctor?"

"One woman," he told her. "She was scared for her family. She is not typical."

Restac narrowed her eyes. "I think she is."

"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!"

"It's too late for that, Doctor," Ambrose shook her head.

"Why?"

"Our drill is set to start burrowing again in . . . " She checked her stopwatch. "Fifteen minutes."

"What?" Nasreen gasped, staring at Tony, the only other one who knew how to operate the drill.

"What choice did I have?" he protested. "They had Elliot!"

"Don't do this," the Doctor told the Silurians. "Don't call their bluff."

"I don't think it's a bluff," Jessie said slowly.

"Let us go back," Ambrose told Restac, holding up the stopwatch. "And you promise to never come to the surface ever again. We'll walk away, leave you alone."

"Execute her!" Restac sneered.

"No!" the Doctor shouted as guns fired around them.

Jessie grabbed Ambrose and yanked her back. "Back to the lab!" she shouted. "Go!"

"Execute all the apes!" Restac ordered.

Two sonic screwdrivers made the guns short circuit. "These are deadly weapons!" the Doctor warned. "Stay back!" He turned, seeing a Silurian right above him, and quickly phased through the tongue lashing at him. "Take everyone to the lab!" he told Rory when they ran out into the tunnels. "We'll cover you!"

"Go!" Rory shouted, getting the others back as Jessie stood with the Doctor. "Go!"

"Ah, ah," the Doctor warned, pointing his sonic screwdriver at Restac as she and her troops followed them. "Stop right there, or I'll use my very deadly weapon again! One warning. That's all you get. If there can be no deal, you go back into hibernation. All of you, now. This ends here."

"No," Restac shook her head. "It only ends with our victory!"

"He did say one warning," Jessie said darkly.

The guns short circuited again, and they took off.

***

The Doctor sealed the laboratory door shut. "Elliot, you and your dad keep your eyes on that screen," he ordered, pointing. "Let me know if we get company."

"Amy, keep telling us how much time we've got," Jessie added, handing the stopwatch to her.

"OK," she nodded, taking a look. "Um, er . . . twelve minutes till drill impact."

"Tony Mack," the Doctor turned. "Sweaty forehead, dilated pupils. What are you hiding?"

Tony swallowed, then unbuttoned the top of his shirt, revealing the bulging green veins. Nasreen gasped in horror. "Tony, what happened?"

"Alaya's sting," he answered. "She said there's no cure. I'm dying, aren't I?"

The Doctor did a run with the sonic screwdriver. "You're not dying, you're mutating."

"How can I stop it?" Tony asked.

"Decontamination program might help," Jessie said. "Eldane, can you run the program on Tony?"

The elder nodded and moved to help. "Bad Wolf, shedload of those creatures coming our way," Mo warned. "We're surrounded in here."

"So, question is, how do we stop the drill given we can't get there in time?" the Doctor thought out loud. "Plus, also, how do we get out, given that we're surrounded?" He snapped his fingers. "Nasreen, how do you feel about an energy pulse channeled up through the tunnels to the base of the drill?"

Nasreen blinked. "To blow up my life's work?!"

"Yes," he nodded. "Sorry. No nice way of putting that."

She took a deep breath. "Right, well, you're going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in . . . er . . . "

"Eleven minutes, forty seconds," Amy reported.

"Yes!" the Doctor grinned. "Squeaky bum time!"

"As it usually is," Jessie shook her head fondly.

"Yes, but the explosion is going to cave in all the surrounding tunnels, so we have to be out and on the surface by then," Nasreen added.

"But we can't get past Restac's troops," Rory frowned.

"I can help with that," Eldane volunteered. "Toxic Fumigation. An emergency failsafe meant to protect my species from infection. A warning signal to occupy cryo-chambers. After that, citywide fumigation by toxic gas, then the city shuts down."

"You could end up killing your own people!" Amy's eyes widened.

"Only those foolish enough to follow Restac."

"Are you sure about this?" Jessie asked.

"My priority is my race's survival," he nodded sadly. "The Earth isn't ready for us to return yet."

"Oorah," Jessie nodded.

"Ten minutes," Amy reported.

"But maybe it should be," the Doctor spoke up. "So here's a deal. Everybody listening? Eldane, you activate shutdown. We'll amend the system, set your alarm for a thousand years time. A thousand years to sort the planet out, to be ready. Pass it on. As a legend, or prophecy, or religion, but somehow, make it known." He bent down and smiled at Elliot. "This planet is to be shared."

Elliot smiled. "Yeah. I get you."

"Nine minutes, seven seconds," Amy called.

"Fluid controls!" Jessie called, working.

"My favorite!" the Doctor grinned, helping her. "Energy pulse, timed, primed, and set. Before we go, energy barricade. Need to cancel it out quickly."

"Fumigation pre-launching," Eldane reported.

"There's not much time for us to get from here to the surface, Doctor," Rory warned.

"So it's super squeaky bum time," Jessie smirked. "Now that's more like it."

"Get ready to run for your lives," the Doctor smirked. "Now!"

"But the decontamination program on your friend hasn't started yet!" Eldane frowned.

Tony sighed. "Well, go. All of you, go."

"No!" Ambrose's eyes widened. "We're not leaving you here!"

"Granddad!" Elliot stared.

"Eight minutes, ten seconds," Amy warned.

"Now, you look after your mum," Tony told Elliot, crouching down and putting his hands on his shoulders. "You mustn't blame her. She only did what she thought was right."

"I'm not going to see you again, am I?" he whispered.

"I'll be here, always," he promised, pointing at his heart. "I love you, boy." He hugged Tony before looking at the Doctor. "You be sure he gets home safe."

"This is my fault," Ambrose whispered, sounding heartbroken.

"No, I can't go back up there," Tony told them. "I'd be a freak show. The technology down here's my only hope."

Ambrose sniffed. "I love you, Dad."

Tony hugged her before giving her a small push. "Go. Go!"

"Come on," Mo told his wife, taking her hand.

"Go on!"

"Toxic fumigation initiated," a computer voice announced. "Return to cryo-chambers. Toxic fumigation initiated. Return to cryo-chambers. Toxic fumigation initiated."

"They're going," Amy said, looking at the computer. "We're clear."

"OK," the Doctor nodded. "Everyone, follow Nasreen. Look for a blue box."

"Return to cryo-chambers."

The others headed out, and the Doctor looked at Eldane. "I'm sorry."

"I thought for a moment, our race and the humans," Eldane began.

"Yeah, me too," the Doctor nodded.

"Doctor, we've got less than six minutes," Amy warned.

"Go," the Doctor waved her on. "Go! We're right behind you." He turned to Nasreen, who was still standing by Tony. "Let's go."

Nasreen shook her head. "I'm not coming, either."

Jessie blinked. "What?"

"We're going to hibernate with them, me and Tony," she smiled.

"Doctor, you must go," Eldane urged.

"I can be decontaminated when we're woken," Tony smiled. "All the time in the world."

"But, Nasreen, you - " the Doctor began.

"No," she shook her head. "This is perfect. I don't want to go. I've got what I was digging for. I can't leave when I've only just found it."

Jessie smiled, understanding. "Must be why I never did."

The Doctor looked back and forth before nodding, understanding as well. "Doctor!" Amy shouted angrily, standing in the doorway. "Bad Wolf!"

"Thank you, Doctor," Nasreen smiled, going over to Tony. "Thank you, Bad Wolf."

"The pleasure was ours," the Doctor smiled.

"Come and look for us," Nasreen asked before they headed off.

***

"Immediate evacuation."

"Other way, idiot!" Amy shouted as they passed by Rory, who had started to head back for them. Jessie just laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him along, the two of them grinning like idiots.

"Toxic fumigation is about to commence. Immediate evacuation."

"Come on!" the Doctor encouraged, heading for the TARDIS.

"Toxic fumigation is about to commence."

"No questions, just get in," the Doctor ordered, opening the doors to the TARDIS, ushering the Northovers inside. "And yes, I know, it's big. Ambrose, sickbay up the stairs, left, then left again. Get yourself fixed up. Come on, five minutes and counting!"

Jessie paused, looking at the wall behind them. "Doctor," she breathed, eyes wide.

The Doctor turned, and blanched, seeing the wide crack there. "Not here," he shook his head furiously. "Not now! It's getting wider!"

Amy's eyes widened. "The crack on my bedroom wall!"

"And the Byzantium," the Doctor nodded.

"And from Starship UK and the Cabinet Rooms," Jessie added.

"All throughout the universe, rips in the continuum," the Doctor nodded. "Some sort of space-time cataclysm. An explosion, maybe, big enough to put cracks in the universe. But what?"

"Four minutes fifty," Amy looked at the stopwatch. "We have to go."

"The Angels laughed when we didn't know," the Doctor frowned. "Prisoner Zero knew. Everybody knows except us."

"Doctor, just leave it," Amy advised.

The two Time Lords just walked over. "But where there's an explosion, there's shrapnel," the Doctor said, pulling out a red cloth.

"Doctor, you can't put your hand in there!" Rory protested.

"Why not?" the Doctor asked with a grin before reaching inside.

"Because it hurts?" Jessie suggested wryly as he started gasping in pain.

"Argh!" he grimaced before his eyes widened. "I've got something!"

"What is it?" Amy asked as he pulled his hand out, something in the cloth.

He eyed it. "I don't know."

"Bad Wolf!" Rory warned.

She turned, seeing Restac crawl in. "She was in there when the gas started," Amy realized. "She must have been poisoned."

"You," Restac sneered, pointing at the Doctor.

"OK, get in the TARDIS," the Doctor ordered, pushing the humans forward. "Both of you!"

"You did this!" Restac accused, raising her gun.

"Doctor!" Jessie cried, about to push him away, when Rory did it for her, and the shot hit him full force.

"Rory!" Amy screamed, running to his side.

Jessie blanched, then drew her gun and shot Restac before she died of the poisoning. Restac gasped and fell back, dead, and she ran to Rory's other side, the Doctor leaning over them. "Rory, can you hear me?" she begged.

"I don't understand," Rory gasped, his voice faint.

"Shush," Amy said, shaking her head, holding his hand tightly. "Don't talk." She looked up at the Doctor. "Doctor, is he OK? We have to get him onto the TARDIS!"

"We were on that hill," Rory whimpered. "I can't die here!"

"Don't say that," Amy demanded.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, voice cracking. "I'm sorry," he breathed before he closed his eyes.

Jessie checked for a heartbeat before closing her eyes and bowing her head, trying hard not to cry. She'd been so strong the entire day, never making a sound when she was dissected, never when the metacrisis started to kick in . . . but losing her first companion, in this way? That hurt more than anything. "Gods help you," she whispered, kissing his forehead.

"Bad Wolf?" Amy asked, lip trembling, before she turned to the Doctor. "Doctor, help him!"

The Doctor swallowed, then he saw light from the crack swirl around Rory's feet. "Move away from the light," he warned, taking the girls by their arms and pulling them back to the TARDIS. "If it touches you, you'll be wiped from history. Amy, move away now."

"No," Amy shook her head, trying to get away. "I am not leaving him! We have to help him!"

"The lights's already around him. We can't help him."

"I am not leaving him!"

"We have to!"

"No!"

"Come on," Jessie said, her voice sounding dead as she grabbed Amy's arms and started hauling her back, the Doctor helping her.

"Get off me!" Amy shouted, trying to push away, but the two Time Lords were stronger than her.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor apologized, whether to her or Rory, he didn't know. Maybe both.

"Get off me!" Amy screamed as she was dragged into the TARDIS. "No!" Jessie quickly sonicked the door shut before going up to the console, setting the flight plans. "No, no, no, no!" Amy banged on the door, hysterical, trying to get back out. "Let me out! Please, let me out! I need to get to Rory! That light, if his body's absorbed, I'll forget him! He'll have never existed! You can't let that happen!" Jessie just kept flipping levers, no expression on her face at all. "What are you doing?" Amy demanded, just as the TARDIS engines started. "Bad Wolf, no!" she screamed, running up to her, trying to get her to stop, but unable to do so, Jessie phasing through her every attempt. "No! Your own companion!"

"I know that, Amy!" Jessie snapped, glaring at her. "Don't you think I would help if I could?!"

Amy swallowed before turning to the Doctor as he walked up next. "Doctor, we can't just leave him there!"

"Keep him in your mind," the Doctor ordered, sitting her in one of the chairs. "Don't forget him. If you forget him, you'll lose him forever."

"Don't tell me it's going to be OK," Amy whispered. "You have to make it OK!"

"It's going to be hard, but you can do it, Amy," he told her, taking her hands. "Tell me about Rory, eh? Fantastic Rory. Funny Rory. Gorgeous Rory. Amy, listen to me, do exactly as I say. Amy, please. Keep concentrating. You can do this!"

"I can't," she shook her head.

"You can," Jessie walked over next, crouching down as well, putting her hand on Amy's knee. "You can do it. We can't help you unless you do. We can still save his memory. Come on, Amy, come on. Don't let anything distract you. Remember Rory, and keep remembering. Rory's only alive in your memory. You must keep hold of him. Don't let anything distract you. Rory still lives in your mind."

Amy closed her eyes, thinking . . . when the TARDIS jerked to a halt. They all fell to the floor, the ring box with Amy's engagement ring landing with a thud in front of Jessie. Her eyes widened, and she quickly grabbed it as Amy sat up, a bright look on her face. "What were you saying?" she asked.

Jessie closed her eyes and bowed her head, swallowing. That was that. Amy had forgotten Rory . . . it was just she and the Doctor who remembered now. "I have seen some things today, but this is beyond mad," Mo decided as he and his family came back.

Amy took a look at the stopwatch, and his eyes widened. "Doctor, five seconds till it all goes up!" They ran outside of the TARDIS, just in time to see the drill explode. "All Nasreen's work, just erased."

"Good thing she's not here to see it," Mo chuckled. "She's going to give Tony hell when they wake up."

***

Ambrose looked over sadly as Jessie walked up to her. "You could've let those things shoot me," she said. "You don't even know me, and you saved me."

"An eye for an eye," she said, shrugging and lean against the door. "We do what we can for family, and I respect that. But today, you killed someone in cold blood. I don't know what you were like before you went down here. All I'm judging you on is how I saw you." Ambrose swallowed. "And everyone else would see it that way as well. So show your son how wrong you were, how there's another way. Make him the best of humanity." She shook her head in disgust. "The way you couldn't be," she finished before heading back down.

Ambrose swallowed and looked down.

***

"You're very quiet," Amy observed before grinning. "Oh, hey, look! There I am again. Hello, me!" she called, waving.

Jessie watched the one figure on the side of the valley wave back, but their Amy paused, a small frown on her face. "You OK?" she asked.

"I thought I saw someone else there for a second . . . " Amy mumbled before brightening, not seeing Jessie's blanched face or her looking away quickly. "I need a holiday. Didn't we talk about Rio?"

"You go in," the Doctor advised. "Just fix this lock. Keeps jamming."

"You boys and your locksmithery," Amy chuckled, going inside.

The Doctor pulled out the red cloth and held up a charred piece of wood. Jessie blanched even more, grabbing the piece of wood and holding it up against the TARDIS sign. Both of them looked at each other in horror.

The wood was a perfect match to the TARDIS.

***

I know in the episode, it was the Doctor and Nasreen first, but I always did wonder what it would be like if someone was dissected before Malohkeh was called off . . . and, well, I've been so mean to Jessie recently, I had to do it to her. :( And we've started to see the soldier side in her now.

But, sneak peek time! :D

+++

"It could be any form of light modulated species triggered by specific wavelengths," the Doctor said, sonicking hers and Rose's cuffs off. "Did it say what it wanted?"

"The Queen, the Crown, the throne." Rose shrugged. "You name it."

"I like Fred," the girl nodded, then blinked when both looked at her. "What?" she protested. "You said to name it!"

"Figure of speech, sweetheart," the Doctor chuckled.

She pouted. "One day I'll get it right."

+++

Maybe one day, sweetheart. *grins* She is probably my favorite one to write.

And now, I'll have to cut off her sneak peeks there, because from there on are HUGE spoilers for her series. I'll start up with TL5 next, and let me tell you, she's probably the most badass of them all. ;)

Comment away! "42" is next for "Apocalypse Rising!"