!EDITED!

A/N: was 6617 words, is now 7348! Enjoy! :D

"Where are we?" Martha asks excitedly when Kas and I land the TARDIS. Before either of us can answer, she lets out a squeal and runs to the door, flinging it open and stepping out.

I shake my head with an amused smile, following after her with Kas right behind me. I pull my black trench coat - courtesy of the TARDIS - tighter around myself and shiver a bit at the cold air. Taking in a deep breath, I grin widely, "smell that Atlantic breeze!" I bounce on my toes, looking around Liberty Island.

"Nice and cold! Lovely!" the Doctor beams, his hands shoved in his pockets as he walks in front of us backward. "Martha, have you met my friend?" he nods behind us with a smirk.

Martha turns around and her eyes widen as she looks up in awe. "Is that...? Oh, my God! That's the Statue of Liberty!" she squeals.

"Gateway to the New World," Kas wraps an arm around my shoulders. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to break free!"

"That's so brilliant! I've always wanted to go to New York," Martha beams before pausing. "I mean, the real New York, not the new, new, new, new, new..." she trails off, making me giggle.

The Doctor laughs, rubbing my arm when a particularly strong gust of wind hits us. I snuggle into his warmth and he squeezes me before leading me away with Martha on the other side of me. The three of us reach the end of the island, looking out at the Manhattan skyline and I wrap my arms around Kas' waist, letting my light flow around my hands. Kas squirms slightly, making me snicker and he narrows his eyes down at me playfully. I stick my tongue out and he shakes his head, rolling his eyes.

"Well, there is the genuine article," I nod to the city.

"So good, they named it twice," the Doctor smiles, rubbing my arm. "Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally... harder to say twice," he muses.

"Hm, no wonder it didn't catch on," I snort loudly. "New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam... hasn't got the same ring to it."

"I wonder what year it is, cause look," Martha tilts her head, pointing. "The Empire State Building's not even finished yet."

"Work in progress, still a couple floors to go," Kas nods. "And if I know my history, that makes the date somewhere around-"

"November 1, 1930," Martha cuts in, making me blink and I look over to see her with a newspaper in her hands.

"You're getting good at this," the Doctor smiles over at her before rolling his eyes when he sees the paper as well.

"Eighty years ago..." Martha breathes in awe.

I frown and move out from under the Doctor's arm to take the paper from her. Hooverville Mystery? Kas reads over my shoulder while Martha continues to go on. "It's funny cause you see all those old newsreels in black and white like it's so far away, but here we are! It's real! It's now!" she laughs. "Come on, you," she bumps my hip with hers and I look up with a raised eyebrow. "Where do we go first?" she asks excitedly, grabbing my arm with both hands.

I bite my lip, showing her the newspaper, "I think our detour just got longer..."

"Hooverville Mystery Deepens," she reads, her lips pulling into a frown. "What's Hooverville?"

Looking between Kas and Martha, I wiggle my eyebrows, "fancy a walk in the park?"

***

The Doctor, Martha, and I reach Central Park and were walking to Hooverville. I was leaning against the Doctor's side with his arm around me, needing the extra warmth. It was freezing and it wouldn't do to freak out the Humans with my glowing. They were going through enough without seeing a lit-up person.

"Herbert Hoover, thirty-first president of the USA, came to power a year ago," Kas explains. "Up till then, New York was a boom-town, the Roaring Twenties, and then-" he's cut off by Martha.

"The Wall Street crash, yeah? When was that, 1929?"

"Yeah..." I nod. "The whole economy was wiped out overnight and thousands of people became unemployed. Suddenly... the 'huddled masses' doubled in number with nowhere to go."

"So, they ended up here in Central Park," Kas adds.

Martha frowns between us, "what, they actually live in the park? In the middle of the city?" she asks incredulously and Kas simply raises an eyebrow as an answer.

***

Hooverville was a mass of wooden shacks and tents, smoke billowing up from fire barrels throughout the camp. People were huddled together for warmth, many were sick and coughing, and all of them were in dirty rags. My heart aches at the sight and I snuggle further into the Doctor as his arm tightens around me. "Ordinary people lost their jobs," he explains, his voice soft. "Couldn't pay the rent and they lost everything. There are places like this all over America. You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go..."

Shouting starts up in the distance and the three of us head over to a crowd of people forming a circle. In the middle were two men shouting, others trying to hold them off from attacking. In the middle of them trying to break up the fight was a man in an old suit, fedora hat, and long and shabby trench coat. "Now think real careful before you lie to me," fedora points to one of the man sternly, his hand covered with a fingerless glove.

The man hesitates a moment before coming clean, "I'm starving, Solomon..."

Fedora, Solomon, holds out his hand and the man reluctantly pulls a large loaf of bread out from under his coat. Solomon takes it, "we're all starving," he shakes his head, pulling the loaf of bread apart. "We all got families somewhere," he hands each man half of the bread. "No stealing and no fighting, you know the rules," he points to each of them before raising his voice to speak to the crowd. "Thirteen years ago I fought in the Great War - a lot of us did! The only reason we got through was because we stuck together! No matter how bad things get, we still act like Human beings! It's all we got!" he tells them and they start to dissipate.

"Come on," Kas nudges Martha and pulls me over to Solomon. "I suppose that makes you the boss round here," he gets his attention.

Solomon turns, eyeing the three of us, "and, uh, who might you be?"

"She's Star, he's the Doctor, I'm Martha," she introduces, her arms folded against the cold.

I move over to the fire barrel that was beside us, putting my hands over it and sighing happily as I begin to warm up.

"A doctor," Solomon looks him over before scoffing lightly. "Well, we got, uh... stockbrokers, we got a lawyer, but you're the first doctor. Neighborhood gets classier by the day," he shakes his head, warming his hands over the fire as well.

"How many people live here?" Martha asks, looking around.

"At any one time? Hundreds," Solomon shrugs. "No place else to go. But I will say this about Hooverville: we are a truly equal society; black, white, all the same. All starving," he breathes out a laugh. "So, you're welcome, all three of you. But tell me, Doctor, you're a man of learning, right? Explain this to me," he gestures for us to follow him a little ways away. He points up at the Empire State Building, "that there's gonna be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do that, and we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?" he shakes his head, walking back over to the fire.

"So..." I follow after him with the Doctor and Martha right behind me. "Men are going missing, is this true?" I take the newspaper out from my coat pocket and show it to Solomon.

"It's true alright," he takes the paper and heads inside a tent. His, I'm assuming.

Kas pulls me over to the opening of the tent with Martha following. "But what does 'missing' mean? Men must come and go here all the time," he points out. "It's not like anyone's keeping a register."

"Come on in," Solomon waves us in, sitting down and the three of us sit opposite him in the small tent. "This is different."

"In what way?" Martha frowns.

"Someone takes them at night," he tells us and I raise an eyebrow. "We hear something, someone calling out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone. Like they vanish into thin air."

"And you're sure someone's taking them?" the Doctor asks, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

"Doctor, when you got next to nothing, you hold onto the little you got. Your knife, blanket - you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, fire still burning."

"Have you been to the police?" Martha asks.

"Yeah, we tried that," Solomon scoffs with an eye-roll. "Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal."

"Who's taking them, then, and what for?" I wonder aloud.

A young man with floppy brown hair and a newsie cap pops his head in the tent. "Solomon, Mr. Diagoras is here," he tells him in a strong southern accent.

***

Everyone in the camp was gathered in front of a man in an expensive black pinstriped suit. "I need men - volunteers! I got a little work for you and you sure like you can use the money!"

"Yeah," newsie, or Frank as he'd introduced himself, scoffs. "What is the money?"

"A dollar a day," Diagoras answers and there's an immediate grumble through the crowd.

"A dollar a day? That's slave wage," Solomon pipes up. "And men don't always come back up, do they?"

Kas and I share a look at that, but Diagoras seems completely unconcerned. "Accidents happen," he waves off.

"What do you mean? What sort of 'accidents'?" Kas cuts in.

"You don't need the work? That's fine," Diagoras gives him a patronizing grin. Snooty bastard. "Anybody else?" he calls. Kas and I raise our hands and he groans, "enough with the questions!"

"Oh, no, we're volunteering," Kas grins.

"I'll kill you both for this," Martha hisses as she raises her hand, making me snort quietly and Kas' grin widens.

***

Solomon and Frank had also decided to volunteer and Diagoras leads us to a manhole cover and into the sewers. The five of us were each given a torch, Frank a rope, and Solomon a shovel. Diagoras looks down the manhole entrance, "turn left, go about half a mile, follow Tunnel 273. Fall's right ahead of you, you can't miss it."

Frank glares up at him, "and when do we get our dollar?"

"When you come back up."

"What happens if there is one of these 'accidents'?" I raise an eyebrow, folding my arms. "If we do not come back up?"

"Then I got no one to pay, sweetheart," he grins, making me shoot him a nasty glare.

"We'll be back," Solomon promises with narrowed eyes.

"Let's hope so..." Martha murmurs, walking off with the other two.

The Doctor and I stay behind a moment, staring Diagoras down before going after them. I really didn't trust this little endeavor of his. There was something weird going on and it was leaving my stomach in knots. People were going missing in Hooverville - being taken in the night and from the sewers. I also just did not like Diagoras. He seems like a pompous arse, not caring about endangering others for his own gain.

"We just gotta stick together," Frank was telling Martha. "It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren... you could hide an army down here."

"So, what about you, Frank?" Martha asks, her arms folded. "You're not from around these parts, are you?"

"Oh, you could talk," Frank scoffs playfully, making me smile. "No, no, I'm from Tennessee. Born and bred," he smiles proudly.

"So why are you here?" I ask curiously, coming up on the other side of him.

Frank's demeanor immediately changes, "uh... my daddy died," he rubs the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry," I place a hand on his arm, squeezing comfortingly.

"Thank you, ma'am," he sends me a small smile that doesn't reach his eyes and my heart goes out to him. Poor thing. "Mama... couldn't afford to feed us all," he sighs. "I'm the oldest, up to me to feed myself. So, I put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads."

"That's a very brave thing to do," I smile.

Frank waves me off, "there's a whole lot of runaways in camp younger than me," he shrugs. "From all over: Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas. Solomon keeps a lookout for us. So, what about you two? You're both a long way from home," he looks between Martha and me.

"Yeah... I'm a hitcher too," Martha smiles.

"You stick with me, you'll be alright," Frank smiles, nudging her with his elbow and she smiles back a bit shyly.

I look past Frank and wiggle my eyebrows, making her stick her tongue out at me and I snort quietly. Frank looks at me with his eyebrows raised, "and you, ma'am?"

I watch Kas walking in front of us, smiling softly, "I fell in love with a madman and I've been running with him ever since," I shrug and Kas sends me a wink over his shoulder. "So," I turn my attention back to Frank. "Diagoras? Who is he?"

Solomon is the one who answers, his dark tone showing his distaste, "a couple of months ago, he was just another foreman. Now, it seems like he's running most of Manhattan."

"How did he manage that, then?" the Doctor asks curiously.

"These are strange times," Solomon shrugs. "A man can go from being king of the hill to the lowest of the low overnight. It's just for some folks, it works the other way round."

The Doctor stops short in the middle of the tunnel, "whoa!"

I hurry forward, only to cover my nose, "oh, that's nasty!" On the ground was a neon green blob... thing. It smells like rubbish.

"Is it radioactive or something?" Martha asks, coming over and looking over my shoulder. "It's gone off, whatever it is," she covers her nose.

I kneel down with Kas to examine it, him slipping his 'brainy' specs on. I try not to gag when he picks the thing up and moves it under my nose teasingly. Arse. There's slime coming off it!

"... and you've got to pick it up," Martha sighs.

"Shine your torch through it," the Doctor orders, chuckling at my disgust.

Martha puts her torch under the thing and I watch the light shine through it. "Composite organic material..." I mutter, glancing at the medical student. "Martha? Medical opinion?"

"It's not Human, I know that!"

"Hm, very scientific," I tease and she whines quietly, nudging me with her elbow.

"She's not wrong, though," Kas cuts in. He stands and puts the blob in my coat pocket.

"Eww," I huff and he taps my nose with a smirk. I wrinkle my nose, wiping the slime off it and glaring at the Doctor.

With a quiet snort, he turns to the Humans, "I'll tell you something else: we must be at least half a mile and I don't see any sign of a collapse, do you? So... why did Mr. Diagoras send us down here?"

"So, where are we now? What's above us?" Martha asks, folding her arms.

"Manhattan," I shrug, starting to walk off with the others following.

***

"We're way beyond half a mile," Solomon pipes up. "There's no collapse. Nothing."

"That Diagoras bloke, was he lying?" Martha frowns.

"Looks like it," I nod, chewing on my bottom lip.

"So, why did he want people down here?" Frank asks with furrowed eyebrows.

"Solomon, I think it's time you took these two back," Kas gestures between Martha and Frank. "Star and I'll be much quicker on our own," he starts to pull me down the tunnel when there's a loud squealing sound, making us all freeze.

"What the hell was that?" Solomon asks with wide eyes.

"Was that...?" I frown, looking up at Kas.

"Sounded like it, yeah," he nods, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Hello!?" Frank shouts down the tunnel, making Martha and I shush him quickly.

"Frank," Solomon hisses.

He lowers his voice to a whisper-shout, "what if it's one of the folks gone missing? You'd be scared half-mad down here on your own!"

"Do you think they're still alive?" Kas asks, his eyebrow raised.

"Heck, we ain't seen no bodies down here," he retorts and I hum in agreement. "Maybe they just got lost."

There's more squealing and it echoes in the tunnels, making it sound like it's coming from multiple directions. "I know I never heard nobody sound like that," Solomon shakes his head, looking around and clutching the shovel.

"Sounds like there's more than one of 'em," Frank notes.

"This way," Kas grabs my hand and drags me after him.

"No, that way," Solomon's voice stops us.

I pull Kas back over to the others and Solomon shines his torch down the adjacent tunnel. There was a figure huddled on the ground down a little way down, making me frown.

"Star..." Martha trails off warily and I take her hand in my free one, giving it a comforting squeeze before letting go.

"Who are you?" Solomon asks the figure and it makes a grunting noise.

"Are you lost? Can you understand me?" Frank asks, his tone soft. "I've been thinkin' about folks lost-" he goes to move forward.

The Doctor grabs his shoulder with his free hand, stopping him. "It's alright, Frank," he assures him. "Just stay back, let us have a look," he lets go of the young man and pulls me toward the figure, keeping me slightly behind him. "He's got a point, though, my mate Frank. I'd hate to be stuck down here on my own."

The figure curls in on itself, squealing and grunting quietly. "We know the way out. Daylight. If you want to come with us," I smile, kneeling down in front of the figure. I shine the torch on it a bit and my eyes widen at the pig-man. "Oh..." I breathe, looking him over. "What are you?"

Solomon speaks up from where he, Frank, and Martha are, his voice a bit shaky, "is, uh... that some kind of carnival mask?"

"No, it's real," Kas murmurs, kneeling beside me. "I'm sorry," he tells the pig-man gently. "Now, listen to me, I promise we can help."

"Who did this to you, sweetheart?" I ask softly.

"I think you'd better get back here," Martha calls warily, making me look at her with a slight frown. "Star! Doctor!" she raises her voice, pointing behind us.

I look and my eyes widen at the group of pig-men coming toward us, snorting menacingly. The Doctor stands, pulling me up and behind him. "Actually... good point..." he backs us up to the others.

"They're following you!"

"Yeah, I noticed that thanks," Kas rolls his eyes, keeping a tight hold on my hand. "Well, then... Star, Martha, Frank, Solomon..."

"What?" Martha asks when we reach them.

"Um, basically..."

"Run!"

The five of us run down the other tunnel and reach a cross-section. "Where are we going!?" Martha shouts, looking around frantically.

"This way!" the Doctor shouts, turning right and dragging me after him with the pig-men right behind us. "There's a ladder!" we skid to a stop and he pulls me over to the ladder, ushering me up. "Stop nicking my sonic!" I hear him groan from under me as I hurry up.

"Stop making it so easy," I roll my eyes with a slight smile, getting it out of my pocket and using it on the manhole cover. Hurrying up, I crouch down and help Kas and Martha up as well.

"Frank!" Solomon shouts.

I poke my head into the hole upsidedown and roll my eyes when I see Frank holding a metal rod, ready to fight off the pig-men. "Oh, for the love of- Solomon, come on!" I shout and he hurries up the ladder. "Be right back," I hand Kas his sonic back, sending him a wink. I hop down the hole, hearing Martha scream my name. "Frank, up the ladder! Now!" I grab the back of his jacket and push him to it, making him stumble before he hurries to safety.

Turning to the pig-men I let my light flow around me to light up the whole tunnel. The pig-men squeal and back away from the brightness. I amp it up a bit to temporarily blind them before heading up the ladder, not letting up on my light.

"Close it!" I shout, crawling out and laying on my back. The manhole gets slammed and locked shut with the sonic. I close my eyes and breathe out slowly, only to groan when there's a weight that slams into me.

Martha hugs me tightly, "that was awesome, but you scared the hell out of me!"

"Glad I could impress," I laugh, hugging her back quickly before sitting up. "And I can take of myself!" I roll my eyes, pushing her shoulder playfully.

"Thank you," Frank holds his hand out to me and I let him pull me to my feet. "I don't know how you did that, ma'am, but I'm mighty grateful," he smiles, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You're very welcome," I smile, standing on my tip-toes to kiss his cheek.

"Alright, then! Put 'em up!" a female voice makes all of us turn to a blonde holding a gun on us.

Martha puts her hands up and I pull her behind me, my hand on my holster as I narrow my eyes at the blonde. "Hands in the air and no funny business!" she cocks her gun and the Doctor, Frank, and Solomon raise their hands. "Now tell me, you schmucks, what've you done with Laszlo?"

"Uh... who's Laszlo?" Martha frowns.

"Before you answer that," I cut in with a glare, getting my blaster out. "Might want to put the gun down," I aim and her eyes widen.

"It's just a prop, lady!" she squeaks, tossing it into a chair. "Jeez... it was that or a spear," she mutters as the others behind me relax, lowering their hands.

Hm, good prop. "Maybe don't point a fake gun at someone if they have one," I roll my eyes, holstering my blaster.

"Well, how was I supposed to know you had a gun!" she glares. "Anyway... Laszlo's my boyfriend - or was my boyfriend until two weeks ago," she sighs and I raise an eyebrow in question. "No letter, no goodbye, no nothin'! And I'm not stupid," she points to me. "I know some guys are just pigs, but not my Laszlo. I mean, what kinda guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?"

"What do you think happened to Laszlo?" Martha asks.

"I wish I knew," blondie sighs. "One minute he's there, the next, zip, vanished!"

"Listen, ah... what's your name?" Kas cuts in.

"Tallulah."

"Tallulah-"

"Three Ls and an H," she adds, making me snort loudly.

"Right..." Kas nods slowly. "Um, we can try to find Laszlo, but he's not the only one. There are people disappearing every night."

"And there are creatures... such creatures," Solomon reads.

"Whaddaya mean 'creatures'?" Tallulah frowns.

"Trust us," I cut in. "Everyone is in danger and we need to find out exactly what this-" Kas reaches into my pocket and takes out the blob. "-nasty, rubbish thing is," I point to it, wrinkling my nose. "Because then we will know exactly what we are fighting."

"Yech!" Tallulah rears back, her face scrunching up in disgust.

"Yeah... tell me about it," I sigh.

***

I was sitting on a table in the props room with Kas standing beside me. We were trying to fix up a small DNA scanner to see if we could find out what the hell the blob is. Solomon was helping us find stuff for it and Frank was watching over Martha and Tallulah, keeping them safe and calm. "Martha seems to have taken a fancy to Frank," Kas murmurs while we work and I hum in agreement.

Glancing at him with a smirk, I shrug, "he's cute and sweet." I giggle when Kas scoffs, pushing me playfully and I have to catch myself before I fall off the table.

"How about this?" Solomon's voice makes me jump slightly. "I found it backstage," he brings over a radio.

"Oh, you're brilliant," I beam, taking it from him. "The capacitors are what we need," I mutter, taking the radio apart.

"We're just rigging up a crude little DNA scan for this beastie," the Doctor explains, pointing to the blob.

"If we can get a chromosomal reading... we will find out where it is from," I use the Doctor's sonic on the radio, separating the capacitors. If Oberon were here, he'd have already figured out what the blob is. My lips pull into a frown and I ignore the Doctor's curious glace as I continue to work.

"How about you?" Solomon looks between us. "Where are you from? I've been all over... I've never head anybody talk like you two. Just who exactly are you?"

"Oh, we're just sort of passing by," Kas shrugs, blowing the dust off one of the capacitors when I pull it out of the radio. He takes it from me and fixes it to the scanner.

"I'm not a fool, Doctor," Solomon folds his arms. "Your wife glows," he glances at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course you aren't a fool," I agree, getting another capacitor. "Sorry..."

Solomon nods and walks over to the manhole on the floor, "I was so scared... I almost let them take Frank cause I was just too scared. If it hadn't been for you, ma'am, he could-" he shakes his head and I feel a tug of sympathy for the man. "I gotta get back to Hooverville. With these creatures on the loose, we gotta protect ourselves. Ain't no one else gonna help us."

"Good luck," the Doctor nods.

"I hope you find what you're looking for... for all our sakes," Solomon sighs before leaving.

***

The Doctor and I get the DNA scanner finished and take it up to the theatre balcony. The Doctor fixes his sonic up to it and hooks the blob to it. Sitting beside the scanner, I let my light flow through my right hand and hover over the blob to heat it up. Music starts up and I glance over the balcony, smiling when I see the show starting.

"That's it," Kas smiles, laying on the floor beside me and holding himself up on his elbow. "Let's warm you up," he slips his 'brainy' specs on.

"... this is artificial," I frown, looking at the readings. "Certainly smells like something organic gone rotten, though," I wrinkle my nose.

"Genetically engineered," the Doctor nods. "Whoever this is, oh, you're clever!" he grins.

"Cleverer than you?" I smirk with an eyebrow raised.

Kas scoffs, rolling his eyes as he gets his stethoscope out and uses it to listen to the blob. "Fundamental DNA type 467-989..." I pale, my stomach twisting. Why? Why them? "989... hold on, that means planet of origin..." he trails off, his own face paling as I get waves of anger, horror, and grief that was blending with my own and making us both wince. "Skaro..." he breathes, looking at me with wide eyes. "Come on," he stands and yanks me to my feet, making me stumble after him as he leads me to where we left Frank and the girls.

Looking around and not seeing them, I start to panic a bit, "they must have gone off to watch the show..."

The Doctor nods and drags me after him backstage. When the two of us get there, all the women dressed in devil outfits were huddled together and talking frantically. I see Tallulah in her angel outfit and pull the Doctor over. "Where is she? Where is Martha?" I ask quickly, clutching onto the Doctor's hand.

"I don't know, she ran off stage," Tallulah shrugs.

I go to ask more but two screams sound through the theatre. My heart nearly stops when I recognize one as Martha's and I drag the Doctor in the direction they came from. The two of us end up back in the prop room and I look around frantically, trying to find our companion and Frank. "Martha!" Kas and I call as fear and anger and worry wash over me.

Noticing the manhole cracked open, I rush over with the Doctor right behind me. Tallulah barges in, "oh, where are you goin'?"

"They've taken her," I answer quickly, sitting on the edge of the hole and starting to climb down the ladder.

"Who's taken her?" Tallulah frowns, but Kas and I ignore her as he follows me. "What're you doin'? I said, what the hell are you doin'?" she demands before huffing. "Crazy couple!"

I hop down off the ladder and the Doctor hops down right after. A second later, Tallulah comes down the ladder as well in a ridiculous fur coat on. I groan in annoyance, "absolutely not! There is no way in hell you are coming with us!" I grab her shoulders and try to push her back to the ladder.

"Hey! Quit with the man-handling, honey," she slaps my hands away and I roll my eyes, folding my arms. "Tell me what's going on."

"There's nothing you can do," Kas shakes his head, pointing to the ladder. "Go back."

"Look, whoever's taken Martha and Frank, they could've taken Laszlo, couldn't they?"

I sigh, running a hand through my hair, "Tallulah, you are not safe down here."

"Then that's my problem," she shrugs. "Come on, which way?" she asks, starting to head off in the wrong direction.

Grabbing her shoulder, I turn her the right way, "you could at least wait for an answer before just wandering off," I shake my head, rubbing at my temples as I move down the tunnel with her and Kas following.

"When you say 'they've taken her', who's 'they' exactly?" Tallulah asks, falling into step on the other side of me. "And who are you two, anyway? I never asked," she looks between us and we shush her. "Ok, ok," she raises her hands, rolling her eyes.

"Shh, shh, shh," the Doctor hisses, shooting her a look.

There was a shadow up ahead - one of a Dalek - and I back into Kas and grip his hand tightly, my heart pounding in my chest.

"I mean, you're handsome and your sweetheart is pretty and all-"

Groaning in annoyance, Kas puts his free hand over Tallulah's mouth and pulls us both with him into a little alcove. I start to breathe quicker and Kas lets go of my hand, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me against him. The Dalek passes right by us and I cover my mouth to stop any noise from coming out as pain shoots through my head along with the memory of Kas screaming 'no!'. The second it's gone, I turn into Kas' arms and clutch onto him as tears well up. "No, no, no, no, no, no," I whimper and he rubs my back soothingly. "They survived! They always survive while we lose everything!"

"That metal thing? What was it?"

"It's called a Dalek and it's not just metal, it's alive," Kas answers through gritted teeth.

"You're kidding me," she laughs.

"Does it look like he is kidding?" I shoot her a glare and she immediately quiets. "Inside that metal casing is a creature that was born to hate! Who's only thought is to destroy anything and anyone that is not a Dalek!"

"It won't stop until it's killed every human being alive," the Doctor murmurs darkly.

"But if it's not a human being... that kinda implies it's from outer space," Tallulah laughs nervously, making us both give her pointed looks. "Yet again, that's a 'no' with the kidding," she mutters. Breathing out shakily, she shakes her head, "boy... well, what's it doin' here in New York?"

The Doctor squeezes me and kisses the top of my head before letting me go and grabbing Tallulah's arm. I follow after him as he drags her down the tunnel. "Every second you're down here, you're in danger," he shakes his head. "We're taking you back, right now."

All three of us skid to a halt when we round the corner. There was a pig-man just standing there, leaning against the wall of the sewer. Tallulah screams and hides behind the Doctor. I pull out my blaster and aim it at the creature as I approach. "Where is Martha? What have you done with her?" I snarl. "What have you done to Martha!?"

"I didn't take her," the pig-man whimpers, pushing himself into the wall further. I blink in surprise at him talking and holster my blaster, making him relax just the slightest bit.

Kas comes up behind me, looking at the pig-man intently, "can you remember your name?"

"Don't look at me!" he tries to hide his face, making my heart ache. Poor thing.

"Do you know where she is?" Tallulah comes forward.

"Stay back! Don't look at me!"

"Hey, it's alright," I put my hand on his shoulder.

The pig-man flinches away from my touch and hides his face more, "don't touch me," he whimper.

"What did they do to you?" I whisper, tears welling up. Placing my hand back on his shoulder, I ignore his flinch this time and use some of my light to soothe him.

"What are you?" he asks quietly, starting to relax.

"A friend," I smile softly, grabbing his hand with my free one.

The pig-man looks at me and my eyes widen a little. He was more of a Human than any of the pig-men that had chased us earlier. It's as if he were in a half-way stage. "They made me a monster," he shudders, leaning his head on the wall.

"You poor thing," I shake my head sadly, rubbing soothing circles into the back of his hand with my thumb.

"Who did?" Kas asks gently.

"The masters," the pig-man answers.

"The Daleks... why?"

"They needed slaves. They needed slaves to steal more people so they created us - part animal, part human," he whispers. "I escaped before they got my mind... but it was still too late."

"Do you know what happened to Martha?" I ask, amping up my light a bit when his breathing starts to quicken.

"They took her," he breathes, relaxing again. "It's my fault... she was following me," his voice cracks a little in guilt.

"... were you in the theatre?" Tallulah asks.

"I never-" he breaks off. "Yes," he admits softly and my eyes widen as I look between him and Tallulah.

"Why? Why were you there?"

"I never wanted you to see me like this," he whispers, his voice thick and I squeeze his hand.

"Why me? What do I gotta do with this? Were you following me? Is that why you were there?" Tallulah fires off, not understanding or it just hasn't sunk in yet.

Laszlo turns from me and I back up next to Kas to give him and Tallulah as much privacy as I can. "Yes..." he whispers.

"Who are you?" she looks him over with a frown.

"I was lonely..."

"Who are you?"

"I needed to see you..."

"Who are you!?"

"I'm sorry," he turns away.

"No wait," Tallulah grabs his arm and turns him back around. "Let me look at you," she pulls him over to where some light was shining into the tunnel. "Laszlo?" she breathes out and he nods. "My Laszlo? Oh, what have they done to you?" her voice cracks as she brushes off his jumpsuit.

"I'm sorry... so sorry..."

I put a hand on his arm and he looks at me. "Laszlo, I am so sorry for what's been done to you, but I need to know if you can show us where they are."

"They'll kill you," he pulls away, staring at the Doctor and me with wide eyes.

"If we don't stop them, they'll kill everyone," Kas retorts seriously.

Laszlo eyes us both for a moment before sighing, "then follow me," he heads off down the tunnel.

***

The Doctor, Tallulah, and I follow Laszlo through the tunnels until we reach a cross-section. There was a line of prisoners, but I smile when I see Martha and Frank standing together and I grip the Doctor's bicep with both hands. The pig-men who were guarding them start to squeal nervously and I tighten my hold on his arm, having a good guess at what was frightening them.

"What're they doing? What's wrong?" Frank asks, pushing Martha behind him. "What's wrong!?"

A Dalek glides into view and I freeze, gripping the Doctor's arm even tighter as my light starts to crawl up my arms. He grabs one of my hands, releasing his arm from my grasp and intertwines our fingers as he pulls me close.

"Silence! Silence!" the Dalek orders.

"What the hell is that!?" Martha stares at it in shock and fear. Oh, Martha.

"You will form a line!" the Dalek orders and the pig-men push everyone into a line against the wall.

"Just do what it says, everyone, ok? Just obey!" Martha tells the others.

"The female is wise," the Dalek notes. "Obey!"

Another Dalek comes over, "report!"

"These are strong specimens! They will help the Dalek cause! What is the status of the final experiment?"

"The Dalekanium is in place! The energy conductor is now complete!"

That makes me frown, "energy conductor?" I whisper and Kas just shrugs, making me roll me eyes.

"Then I will extract prisoners for selection!" the first Dalek announces and a pig-man brings one of the prisoners forward. "Intelligence scan, initiate!" it raises its manipulator to his face. "Reading brain waves! Low intelligence!"

"You calling me stupid?" the man glares.

"This one will become a pig slave," the Dalek orders and two pig-men lead the man off.

"No, let go of me! I'm not becoming one of them!" he screams as he's dragged away, making me wince.

The Dalek moves onto the next prisoner, "intelligence scan initiate!"

"They're divided into two groups: high intelligence and low intelligence," Laszlo explains quietly. "The low intelligence are taken to become pig slaves like me."

"Well, that's not fair," Tallulah frowns, forgetting to keep her voice down.

"Shh," the Doctor hisses.

Tallulah lowers her voice, "you're the smartest guy I ever dated." I smile slightly despite myself.

"And the others?" Kas whispers.

"They're taken to the laboratory," Laszlo answers.

"But why? What are they using them for?" I frown.

"I don't know," he shakes his head. "The masters only call it the final experiment..."

"Superior intelligence!" the Dalek screams and I look to see that it'd just scanned Frank before it moves to Martha, making me bite my lip anxiously. "Intelligence scan initiate! Superior intelligence! This one will become part of the final experiment!"

"You can't just experiment on people!" Martha screams. "It's insane! It's inhuman!"

"We are not Human," the Dalek retorts. "Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory!"

The pig-men start to herd the high intelligence prisoners forward and Kas pulls me with him against the wall. "Look out, they're moving," he warns.

"Doctor, Star, quickly!" Laszlo whisper-shouts, pulling Tallulah after him down the tunnel.

"We're not going," I shake my head, making him stop.

"I've got an idea, you go," the Doctor nods down the tunnel.

"Laszlo, come on," Tallulah pulls on his arm when he just stands there.

"Can you remember the way?"

"Yeah, I think so..." she frowns.

"Then go, please?"

"But Laszlo, you gotta come with me," she shakes her head, tears in her eyes and my heart goes out to her. This wasn't fair, they don't deserve this.

"Where would I go?" he retorts. "Tallulah, I'm beggin' you: save yourself. Just run. Just go," he pushes her slightly. "Go!" he raises his voice slightly and she runs off, her hand over her mouth.

Laszlo comes back over and I give his hand a comforting squeeze with my free one. He manages a weak smile before the Daleks pass by us with the pig-men and prisoners between them. The Doctor and I fall in line between Frank and Martha quickly while Laszlo rushes over to pretend to be a guard with the other pig-men. "Just keep walking," the Doctor whispers when Martha looks back with a wide grin.

"I'm so glad to see you!" she whisper-shouts.

"Yeah... well, you can kiss me later," I roll my eyes, the words coming out before I could stop myself. I wince when Martha bites her lip and faces forward quickly and shyly. "You too, Frank, if you like," I add, wincing again when I hear Martha sigh quietly.

Kas breathes out a laugh behind me and I step on his foot, shooting him a look. He raises his hands in surrender, smirking and wiggling his eyebrows. "Heartbreaker," he mouths and I roll my eyes, facing forward and folding my arms. Stupid arse, making me feel even guiltier.

***

All of us were lead to a laboratory of sorts and the Daleks head over to two others. The Cult of Skaro, bloody brilliant. I really wish I could just melt them to nothing. They're like space cockroaches, surviving anything the Doctor or I do to them. The black one - can't remember his name for the life of me - was smoking and jerking about. What the hell?

"Report!"

"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution!"

Ah... that was it.

"Scan him! Prepare for birth!"

"Evolution?" the Doctor frowns.

"What's wrong with old Charlie-boy over there?" Martha nods to the still-smoking Dalek Sec.

"Ask them," I nudge her with my elbow.

"What? Me? Don't be daft," she stares at me in incredulity and fear.

"Kas and I really don't want to get noticed at the moment," I give her a pointed look, softening when she looks at the Daleks with wide eyes. "You can do it, Martha, I know you can," I whisper, giving her hand an encouraging squeeze. "Ask them what's going on."

She takes a breath to steel herself and stands in front of the other prisoners. "Daleks, I demand to be told: what is this final experiment?"

"You will bear witness!"

"To what?"

"This is the dawn of a new age!"

"Oh, look a that," I whisper to Kas, rolling my eyes. "The Daleks are being bloody vague again," I huff, making him snort quietly.

"What does that mean?" Martha frowns.

"We are the only four Daleks-" rubbish, really. "-so the species must evolve a life outside the shell! The Children of Skaro much walk again!"

Dalek Sec's casing opens and some sort of horrifying, human-esque Dalek in a pinstripe suit steps out. I swallow hard as my stomach churns. The suit looks suspiciously like the one Diagoras was wearing. I put my free hand to my mouth. The creature has a head like a Dalek - one eye with tentacles and it's brain exposed - the body of a Human, and hands almost like claws. "Oh, my God..." I whisper as a wave of horror and disgust washes over me, making me tighten my hold on the Doctor's hand.

"What is it?" Martha asks, her voice quiet with shock.

"I am a Human-Dalek! I am your future!"

A/N: thanks for reading, let me know what you think by dropping a comment or vote! :*