Here's To The Past

((Closed to Theta, Mal, Sonya, and myself))

New Earth, a brand new planet to start fresh. New humans, new land, barely grasping onto the past and moving on to the future. It was glittering, absolutely perfect.

And then there was real life. 

Helen, a simple woman, sat relaxing on her front porch, soaking in the rays on what was probably the best day of that summer. No one else was inside, there were no cars in the driveway, just her, sitting on the porch. Her eyes landed on a figure, and she frowned. It looked violet, but that wasn't the problem, there were tons of races on this planet, no problem. But... they looked lost. It broke her heart, seeing them like that. She knew she had had her own troubles like this before, and if it wasn't for her husband, she'd have never made it this far. 

Standing up, she stepped carefully down from the porch and crossed the street, trying to catch up with the person. That was the problem with a few races, she always had trouble determining the gender. Sometimes there just wasn't one, but it usually didn't matter unless they needed to know where the restroom was. "Excuse me!" Helen called out, waving the figure closer. She smiled, seeing it stop and turn to look at her. "I just saw you wandering, are you alright? Do you want a place to stay for the night or something?" Her smile faded slowly as she caught up to it, getting to response. 

"Hello? Ma'am? Sir?" Trying both, she crossed her arms, wondering what was going on. "I'm sorry, I was just trying to help, I'll be on my wa-" The violet person reached out and clamped a hand on her shoulder, cutting the woman off and leaving her gasping for air. Her mind flooded with memories, so many memories. Of how she met her husband, their family together, then when he was called in to work for the government and never came back. Then the car crash, which killed both of her children. Then her mother and father, passing away side by side in the same hospital bed. "No.. no please! Don't!" She shouted, her body shaking as tears slid freely down her face. The violet alien began to glow, and glow, and the woman broke down until she was on the ground, cradling her legs in her arms and sobbing.

The figure continued on its way, strutting down the sidewalk, looking for the next feed, the next victim. The tentacles on its head waved around happily now, its black, bullet-hole eyes seemed to gleam. Helen would have been sure that if it had a mouth, it would have been smiling. But she didn't think that. She was too busy rocking on the pavement, bawling her eyes out.

A few hours later, she was being assisted into a mental hospital. 


Robin drummed her fingers on the stairs she was waiting on. She thought she saw an alien wander in there, something that didn't look normal, but then again, it could have just been someone with too many tattoos and way too much free time. She would have followed them in, but she knew better than to go in there again. Sighing and contemplating how bad arrest would really be, just over seeing a possible alien, she frowned and stood up. "Okay, enough of that... I think it's time I finally visit my friend." Tapping in some coordinates, she turned around to get one last look into the library, seeing one of the librarians spot her through the window. Giggling, she pressed down on the button, disappearing once again, her only regret being that she had to miss their face.

Reappearing on New Earth, she smiled, just a little. Oh how she missed this place... but there really was never a good time to come back and visit anyone. Thanks, Torchwood. "Which street was it..." Taking a look around, she grinned, seeing she was just about there. Just around a block away. Good thing this friend was in America now, or else she wouldn't be able to wander around like this. There wasn't a Torchwood in America that she knew of... right? Oh well, she had already made up her mind and was strolling down the pavement.

The Streets of New America

A man dressed in all black crouched on a rooftop, staring down at Robin's small form on the streets of New America. They really had to get more creative and clever than that... The sun beat down on him, making him perspire and sigh that he was the one assigned to watch the streets. A veil covered his face from being recognized, items were strapped to his arms and legs for easy access.

'What's your position?' A voice buzzed in the headset on the guy's... head. He moved his head left and right, gauging his placement before answering the call, "24-67-31 x 5. Target located. Prep operation C for commencement and consult the commander." Shifting on the rooftop, the man crawled along so he could keep an eye on the people below. He wasn't worried about being caught, that was what the cloaking device was for.


Some Random Office

A figure sat behind a large desk, sipping on a glass of brandy when a soldier walked into the room, offering the figure a solute and declared, "Status Report!" The figure nodded and waves its hand in a gesture to continue. Clearing his throat, the young man dropped the solute, "Target has been acquired and we have Team 17 currently organizing the mission's go. We will be awaiting your command shortly."

Sitting straight in the desk, the figure chuckled and downed the rest of the brandy. "Excellent! It's about time."


In the TARDIS

Mal clung to the rail and screamed as the TARDIS shook violently. Okay, this was a bad idea... again! Another bad idea. Was her whole life gonna be made up of bad ideas? At this rate.. probably. "I thought you said you knew how to drive this thing! Better than the Doc! Were you lying to me?!" She shouted over to her pilot who happened to be Sonya. Mal had just wanted to go to New Earth. The amount of times Theta or even the Doctor talked about New Earth made her crave to go just to smell the grass or wonder around. It would be cool to see the second Earth.. well the new earth. It still confused the brown-haired girl. Was it a clone with modifications? She really had to brush up on her space knowledge.

Sonya shot a sharp look over at Mal, her face screwed up in concentration. "I am! She's just refusing to land! Now hold on, I have to put in a place to set down manually, it might gt a bit bumpy!" She added quickly, one hand gripping the console tightly as the other flew over the keypad in front of her, struggling to get the code in before the TARDIS decided to go flying off into space without her permission.

"Damn it, Lady! Calm down, I don't know what it is, but you had best relax before you end up sending us flying into the void!" Sonya snapped at the machine, only to be rewarded with a large spark flying in her face and another sharp spin that nearly made her loose her grip on the console. Swearing under her breath in Gallifreyan, she grimly held on and continued tapping in several lines of codes, trying to override the TARDIS's natural code not to land wherever it was they were going.

"Alright, I have it, now hold on!" Sonya shouted over at Mal before she gripped a lever next to her in both hands, straining with all of her strength to pull it down. Screwing her eyes up tightly, she planted one of her feet on the edge of the controls, using it as leverage while she fought against the resistance she met while trying to pull it down. "Come on, Come on, Come on!" She shouted before it finally came loose and slammed down, knocking her off balance and onto the floor as the TARDIS landed on a grassy field with a loud thump and a groan of protest.

Looking up wearily, Sonya flashed Mal a grin and thumbs-up before letting her head fall back again with a low groan of exhaustion. "We... Have landed.."

Robin crossed her arms, looking left and right for anyone that looked suspicious. All she wanted to do was visit her friend, not be experimented on. Reaching the street corner, she looked down each side of the road for any vehicles - specifically Torchwood vans - then hurried across to the other side. "A few more houses..." She sighed, looking for the right address. "7712, 7714... 7718!" She giggled, grinning at the house of her old friend. Hopefully she still lived there... Strolling up to the door, she knocked on it 3 times, waiting for an answer. Looking a bit to the right of the door, she saw a doorbell. "Oh, that's new." Shrugging, she reached out and pushed it once... then again... no answer. "Hm." She tried the handle, pushing the door open before stepping back. "Okay..." Slowly making her way into the house, she peered around cautiously. "Hello?" She called, closing the door behind her. "Must have moved out...." Sighing, she crossed her arms again and hurried to the backyard, not liking the feeling of the empty home. Once outside, she shut the door behind her and leaned against it, scowling down at the grass. What a bummer. Maybe she could find if she moved back to- hold on. A screech echoed down the street, Robin's eyes popping open. "What?" A few moments later, a loud thud ended the noise, the TARDIS appearing a few yards away in the middle of the vast yard. She grinned, her eyes catching sight of the brilliant blue box. "Not a total waste of a day, then." Giggling, she sprinted to the TARDIS's doors, knocking on them eagerly.

The Streets...

The man on the roof top followed Robin throughout the area, watching her as she tried to find a house number. He knew which one before she approached it, 7718. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a hand held device that resembled a remote. As Robin entered the house he clicked down on a button several times. "Photos sent." Placing the remote back into his pocket, he stood and started making his way back the way he came. That was until he heard the odd, familiar, whirring of a TARDIS. "Er... HQ." He murmured in his headset, "We've got company."


In the TARDIS

"Praise the lord." Mal muttered as she pried herself from the rail. Looking over at Sonya she let out a breath she was holding before shaking her head, "Thanks for not getting us killed." The knock on the door caused Mal to leap into the air, squeaking in surprise before she shot Sonya a look of annoyance. It wasn't directed towards the Time Lady, just sort of happened. She hesitantly walked to the TARDIS door and cautiously opened it. "Whoa! Robin! It's you... how'd you get here? Why do we always run into each other in the oddest of places?" She grinned at the younger girl before stepping outside the blue doors and looking around outside. It smelled like pears! The Doctor wasn't lying..

Sonya let out another groan from where she lay before getting to her feet and wandering over to the doors so she could peer out at their location. "Well... Not what I was expecting, but good enough, I suppose." She murmured, reaching in for her jacket and slipping it on as the doors shut behind her. Turning her attention to the young girl, she flashed a smile at Robin, truly happy to see her. "Well, long time no see, girl. How have you been? I've been fine until Mal here called me up for a ride, then complained about it the entire time." She grumbled, shooting another glance over at Mal then straightened back up and stared around the area.

"So... What are we doing here exactly?" Sonya asked curiously, the cheerful expression melting from her face as she caught a whiff of something in the air. "Surely we didn't show up just so we can be watched." She added, her gaze turning from the street and up to the roof the figure stood on with a slight scowl. "One thing I can't stand is being stared at."

Robin's eyes widened at the mention of being watched. "What? No, no no no no no..." Looking up to where Sonya was, she couldn't see anything, but guessed that Torchwood was after her again. "Crap.. Okay, I can't even visit my friend across the globe from you people without being stalked... We have to get out of here. Now." She ran into the TARDIS, her heart pounding. Nope. This was not okay. Couldn't visit her family and now her friend. Speaking of which, where did she go? If Torchwood got her, so help her God... "Come on, we need to leave. Preferably somewhere still on the planet, though, something is going on and I don't like it." Crossing her arms, she leaned against the railing,  waiting for the others to get in. "No time to explain, the longer we're here, the longer you're in danger because of me."

Mal blinked at Sonya then followed her gaze to the top of the roof where some guy was crouching.  Well if that wasn't the creepiest thing she's seen... no wait, she saw creepier.  But this was still creepy.  She shook her head before giving Robin an odd look.  "Who is that guy, Robin?  Why's he followin' ya?"  Mal quickly entered the TARDIS to get away from the man, totally spooked about this situation.

--
The guy on the roof narrowed his eyes on Sonya before turning and leaping from roof top to roof top, leaving the three and escaping from view.  "HQ, lost sight of contact.  She entered the TARDIS.  Scans show... scans show... Commander!"  The man was staring at the scanner in his hands, eyes wide.  A response came 'What does it read.'  Clearing his throat, the man calmed himself and read the readings to the person on the other side of the radio call, "The target, one time lord, and an advanced human."


The Office
"Send me the readings.  Now."  The commander snapped at the man standing at attention.  The soldier scrambled over to the computer and started making the call to transfer the data.  Once completed, it popped up on the screen and the figure behind the desk leaned in, glaring at the information before leaning back in astonishment, "How will this affect the mission?  I want analysis to run tests, scans, worst case scenarios... the whole bit.  Do you understand me?  If there is any sign of something going wrong, you let me know and you delay the mission until I give you the okay."

"Yes, commander."  The soldier soluted and quickly strode off to do as told.  This would be a long and tedious process with the Target's friends around.

Sonya cast another glance around the area before turning and following the two into the TARDIS, closing the doors tightly behind her before locking it securely. "Well... Care to explain exactly what that was going on out there?" She asked pointedly, an eyebrow raising up to disappear behind her red hair as she walked past the two girls and up to the controls, already setting the scans for the area. Tapping her fingers on the edge of the console, she frowned, trying to make out what the screen was showing her as static raced across it.

Slapping the side sharply, she nodded at the clear image before leaning closer and studying the information being displayed. "Torchwood? How on earth a girl your age could get wrapped up in Torchwood, Robin?" She asked quietly, her voice hovering on the edge of anger as she looked over at her then sighed, the hot flash of frustration leaving her instantly as she took in her expression. "Never mind, the real question is, what are we going to do about it?"

"I'd say leave the planet, but that house was my friend's house. And she wasn't there. And I'm pretty sure I got the date right, so why isn't she here?" Robin fidgeted, her eyes moving back and forth between Mal and Sonya. "If Torchwood is a part of this, then we know they're not gonna stop until we stop them. Right now we just need to get away from this street, throw them off our trail while we investigate or something." She knew how foolish she sounded right now, but she couldn't help it. There was no way she was going to let them cut off all her ties to her home planet, and if that meant she was going to do something stupid, oh well. She knew it was going to happen sooner or later anyway.

Mal froze at the mention of Torchwood and her breathing became heavier. No, no, not Torchwood! Why did it always have to be Torchwood moving around and doing scary things? She began to pace around the TARDIS, listening to Sonya and Robin talk as she tried no to panic. Oh, great, so she was going to have to wonder around Torchwood, eh? That was terrifying. Mal wasn't sure she'd be able to do it without having a heart attack. She didn't like to associate herself with the alien organization yet here she was, figuring Robin needed help and Sonya would never back away from helping a friend in need. Great.

"Wh-what can we do about it? I mean... why... why is this happening? What do they want ya for? Or your friend?"

Sonya looked over at Mal with a small frown on her face, accessing the woman's reaction to Torchwood before shaking her head and walking back to the controls. "Hold on to something, she dosen't care for Torchwood much, so she might cause some problems with the landing." She said idly, ignoring any protests they might have as she started the TARDIS back up and began preparing her for flight.

Stopping suddenly, she stared at the controls with a small sigh slipping out of her. "I honestly don't know why you lot always seem to be wrapped up in Torchwood, they're turning out worse than Unit anymore. I won't have anything to do with them myself, I don't see why you have to ask me to help when you know full well I have issues with them. And anyone I have problems with, I can hardly control my anger, you know how that gets..." She explained softly, not really caring if they could hear her properly or not. Her eyes flicked up from the blinking buttons and over to Robin. "Don't expect this to happen again."

Robin bit her lip, not really sure how to explain it. It wasn't like she wanted to go to Torchwood, actually she wanted the opposite. But there really was no good way of explaining that she was an escaped experiment without Sonya kicking her out of there and never talking to her again. She wasn't just going to throw it all away, she had to think of something to keep her out of there. If they worked fast, they could figure out what was going on and stop it before they were caught, right? Well at least Sonya wasn't wanting to go anyway, that meant they could get out quickly without any questions. Apparently Mal didn't want to go there either, so it was all lining up. Go in, get her friend, and get out. Simple, right? ... Sure...

Mal rubbed her face frantically with her hands before lifting her head and continuing her pace. "I-i'm not a big fan of Torchwood either. I'd rather just... not go there. It freaks me out, you know? So Sonya, I know where you're coming from, yeah?" She glanced at the Time Lady and huffed heavily. She then turned her attention to Robin and wondered what it was Torchwood wanted with her. Until she remembered the wings. Those black wings that she saw when Robin was taken over by that alien. Talk about a confusing night. Was that the reason Torchwood wanted her? Because she was an alien they wanted to understand? Or what? That was proof enough why Mal always worked to avoid them. They were nothing but trouble in uniform.

Sonya stopped what she was doing and looked over at the two of them, testing their emotional level before reaching over and flipping a switch, cancelling everything she had done and turned to stare at them again. "Alright. So what do you suggest we do? Torchwood, find out what's going on, erase any information about you from their computers then leave. Or we can be cowards and run off in hopes they won't find you again?"

She slapped a hand on the edge of the console in frustration, her eyes turning onto Robin's, locking onto her gaze with an intensity rarely seen on her face. "How many times have you run and sat in some hiding place, hoping they wouldn't find you? How long was it before they did again and you had to run off once more? How many places, how many times, Robin? You can run for the rest of your life, or you can face this and get it over with so they'll leave you alone."

Robin nearly jumped as Sonya smacked her hand down, her eyes wide. She didn't have the guts to tell Sonya that it would barely help, that even if they wiped her records, they have memories and could still try and kidnap her. It wasn't going to erase what was already done to her, so why bother? But at the moment, Sonya was probably the most frightening alien she'd seen in a long time, so she wasn't about to go against her. "Alright, we can go deal with it..." Her voice came out weak as she fidgeted under her glare, truly not believing they'd go in there and manage to get her back out alive. "Let's just, erm... yeah..." She bit her lip, starting to wish she could melt into the floor. Although that wouldn't help, Sonya'd still be mad at her for messing with Lady.

Mal froze and stared at Sonya with wide eyes. She swallowed heavily before dragging her eyes over to Robin. She began to nod dumbly when Robin declared they were going in. Oh great, going head first in the face of danger as usual. Well... here goes nothing, then. "R-right, okay... we gonna go in with a plan at least?"

Office

"Oh we can't be having that, can we? This just won't do." The commander was tsking as the data flashed across the screen. "You will have to stop her from running in here, yes?"

"Ser?" The soldier was back in the office, arm up in a solute.

"She isn't to run into me, private, is that understood?" The commander turned to the man, eyeing him with hard eyes.

"Ser." He confirmed and backed out of he office once more.

The commander was left in silence, poured another glass of brandy and sipped it while humming. Well, this just got a little more interesting but it was time to bring the boat to shore. Leaning in and pushing a communication button, the commander declared, "Wait for arrival and capture on sight."

Sonya stared at the two of them for a moment before nodding to herself and turning back to the TARDIS controls. "One thing I cannot stand is a coward that hides and expects everyone to do things for them. One thing, and that seems to be all there is in the universe anymore." She mumbled under her breath, focused once more on what she was doing in front of her without paying attention to anything around her. Finishing up, she hesitated with her hand on the lever beside her, looking over at the two girls with a small smile on her face.

"I plan on making less cowards and more self-heros every day by doing crazy things. The Doctor does the same thing just with a less in-your-face attitude about it." She said cheerfully, her eyes sparking with excitement before yanking the lever down harshly, sending them all spiraling into the Vortex and landing them in the basement of Torchwood seconds later. Striding past them, Sonya made her way to the doors and stopped beside them, a hand on the wood as she looked over her shoulder at them. "Anyone not ready for this?"

Robin closed her eyes tightly and sucked in a breath. This was it... oh God... Opening her eyes, she nodded to Sonya, then looked over at Mal. She didn't have any words for what was going on right now, she was too afraid that they would be her last and just didn't want to think about it. It didn't matter how hard she concentrated on something else, Mal's eyes or Sonya's ear or something, she just kept feeling that she was in big trouble. Well... she was. Crossing her arms, she took a few steps towards the door before stopping and looking at the floor. "If we go out there and I get killed, that's fine, but if either of you do, just know I'm never going to forgive myself for getting you into this mess..." Taking a deep breath, she finished the walk to the door, deciding on stalling and letting Mal join the group first.

Mal was shaking a bit, eyeing Sonya and then looking over at Robin. She closed her eyes and drew in several breaths, trying to calm herself down and actually managing to steady her breathing. It was a rare occurrence but it was still possible. Mal walked over to Sonya and Robin, nodding silently before finally saying hoarsely, "Let's go then... Robin, don't say that. Y-you're not gonna get killed, okay?" She shook her head, refusing to believe it and stepped out of the TARDIS behind them.

Right outside the doors, Torchwood soldiers had their pistols, rifles, and odd alien technology raised and pointed at the trio. "Freeze! Don't move!" One of the men wearing a triple star on his upper arm, a badge of some sort, pointed his rifle at Mal and snarled menacingly, "You, back up! Back into the TARDIS. Now!"

Mal froze and rose her hands over her head, beginning to shake as anxiety pumped through her veins. Oh god, what had she done? She couldn't leave Sonya and Robin... but if she didn't do as told she was going to get shot and she was going to die.

"I said into the TARDIS! Move it!" Mal looked at the two girls and lipped an apology and backed into the blue box, shutting the door behind her. Oh crap! What was she gonna do? What were they going to do with her friends? How did find them so fast? Mal slid down the door's length and started to have a panic attack. This closed up her thinking as she struggled to breathe and even rocked back and forth in search for comfort.

The man who scared Mal back into the blue box walked up, four soldiers accompanied him as he got closer and stood in front of Robin. Though he wasn't dumb enough to get in arms reach. Speaking through his radio, he called, "Target acquired. Securing experiment 29."

The answer to the call was a disorientated voice, a voice changer obviously used, "Excellent! Bring them to the breaching room." The man nodded though the one on the other side couldn't see. Two female soldiers moved up to get between Sonya and Robin and their escape back into the TARDIS. They used their guns to shove the girls forward while the others moved to encircle them. Escaping seemed futile at the moment.

(I hope this isn't godmodding <_< it's just.. part of the plan. I know Sonya is super clever and could probably kick everyone's Nice Screwdriver you have there but i didn't know what else to do xD)

Sonya shot a glance back at Mal, her eyes searching the woman's sharply before she nodded to the TARDIS doors and returned to being marched from the room and down a hallway. Hopefully she'd realize she can't stand there with the doors wide open and not expect anyone to just waltz right in, the Doctor would never forgive her if that happened, she wouldn't forgive herself actually. Glancing over at Robin, she slipped a protective arm around the younger girl's shoulders as they walked down the hallway towards Rassilon knows where.

Leaning over so her lips were right next to the young girl's ear, her eyes on the guards in front of her as she did, making sure they weren't looking back at them before whispering frantic instructions to her. Looking in her face with a bright smile afterwards, she slipped something into the girl's pocket and winked then suddenly collapsed onto the floor with a low groan of pain. "Ah! Ah! My hearts!" She cried out, a hand clutching at her chest in pain as she arched her back off of the floor as if in pain. "Good god man, get me something! They can't take this strain on them! Haven't you ever done any research on Time Lords? Too many surprises as well as shock can stop a heart easily!" She snapped in mock anger, her eyes narrowing at one of the guards as he turned to look at her in surprise.

Her eyes darted over to Robin standing next to her and winked again before letting herself fall still, kicking in her bypass to keep her chest from rising and falling, creating the illusion of death as she lay there. Mentally, she slowly lowered her body temperature to be sure it wouldn't be noticed then slowed her hearts to a near-stopped pace in case they tested for a pulse. Her body lay there limp on the floor as she slowly slipped into the coma-like state, going over the instructions she had given to Robin before her performance.

They want a Time Lord body to study properly. Only they haven't had a chance to do it up close. I can survive an autopsy. Have before, long story and can't explain now. But when they start freaking out and frantically trying to bring me back or trying to decide on what to do exactly, they'll be too distracted. You need to slip away and hide somewhere, remember our last visit to Torchwood? The ducts will be monitored, but this ring, it's a bio-damper. They won't notice you as long as your slow and very quiet.

Robin yelped as Sonya pretty much faked her death, it coming as a surprise to her even after she knew it was coming. She was on edge right now, though, since she knew they were after her. Looking down to the ring in her hand, she slipped it on, her eyes moving back up to stay aware of what the guards were doing. They all seem distracted enough, but what would she accomplish by moving through the ducts? Get back to Mal? Why was she in the TARDIS anyway...? Deciding on going to find Mal before doing anything else, she slowly made her way towards the duct opening, luckily placed on the very bottom of the wall. Prying it off as quietly and quickly as she could, she set it to the side and crawled in, glancing over her shoulder to make sure everyone was still distracted by Sonya's scene. As soon as she was in far enough, she turned around carefully, grabbing the cover and pulling it back on, before turning around once more and setting off to find the TARDIS.

At Sonya's display, the majority of the soldiers started to run around in a panic, shouting at each other to try and find supplies to keep the Time Lord alive so they could use her for extracting knowledge. This was truly a tragedy they needed to prevent or else the Commander would not be pleased. The man in charge had wide eyes as he looked down at Sonya and crouched, pressing his fingers against her neck but not finding a pulse.

"Commander, the Time Lord is down. I repeat, the Time Lord is down." He sounded panicked as well, worried what the consequences for another failure would be. But the next reply made him stop dead and feel like a fool.

"Sarge... Did someone shoot her? Please tell me she did not feign a heart attack. We talked about this... Time Lords have the ability to stop breathing for a while."

"But she doesn't have a pulse..."

".... What?!"


The Office

The Commander ripped the mic off of her and started to rummage around the desk before picking up a phone and punching in a few digits. "This is the commander. Send Squad 1 into the basement. Secure the TARDIS and make sure that girl does not leave it. Do you hear me? I also need the medical team to locate our mission leader and assist in reviving the Time Lord." Slamming down the phone, the commander began to pace around until the headset buzzed. Retrieving it, the commander snapped, "What?"

"Er, we have lost visual on experiment 29."

A pause. A long, long pause until the Commander sprang to the drawer, ripped it open, and pulled out an odd looking gun. It was different than a regular Earth pistol, it glowed a faint white as it was loaded and cocked so it was ready to fire. "I am going to have a bloody aneurysm!"

And with that, the Commander stormed out the office doors and went paroling solo.

Robin grinned in relief, finally finding something that wasn't a dead end. Looking through the grate, she could see the bottom edge of a blue box. Yes! Pushing the metal out of the way, she slowly crawled out into the room, looking around for anyone before turning around and putting the grate back on. Tiptoeing towards the TARDIS, she kept her eyes moving about, not exactly sure what she would do if someone came, but liking the idea of knowing they were there better than not. Reaching the door, she pushed it, finding it wasn't budging. Crap. "Pst, Mal. Let me in." She whispered, knocking as quietly as she could as she turned around to face the other way. Her eyes darted about, knowing if they heard her, she was toast. "Mal, let me in...."

Mal was sitting against the door, her crying was instantly cut off by the knock. She wanted to scream and freak out but soon heard it was Robin. Oh! She was alive! The relief washed over her like a wave and she made an odd noise as she breathed out. She couldn't move or even talk for a moment as she kept her eyes closed and take in steadying breaths. Then she finally spoke, "I-I don't know. I-is anyone there? Why d-did they want m-me in here? I-I don't understand!"

Mal spoke as she turned onto her hands and knees, shakily standing and touching the wooden door. But before she could open them, something hard and cold was pressed to the back of Robin's head and the robotic voice of the Commadner spoke, "Open the door and the girl dies. A bio-dampener, huh? I would have walked right past you if you hadn't opened your mouth, Robin dear. But now it's time to say tah-tah to your friend and come with me peacefully. Everything has been complete."

The TARDIS relocked the doors even when Mal had them unlocked. The brown-haired girl started shaking again, staring at the lock with wide eyes. Why? What? How? Dread flushed out her relief instantly and she banged on the door. "Robin! Robin! Oh my god!" Tears were falling again though at least she wasn't sobbing.

"Are you deaf? I said stay in the TARDIS. Trust me, it would be in everyone's best interest if you simply listened to me. Jeez, I never thought you'd put friends before your own life." And with that the Commander was laughing as if the funniest thing was said.

It was around then that a fresh squad of Torchwood soldiers entered the basement and pointed their guns at Robin. "You're late! But since you're here you will escort us to the breaching room like I had previously indicated. I prefer not to make a mess anywhere else."

Mal, still inside the TARDIS, quivered against the door as she listened to the multiple footsteps, along with Robin, march out of the basement and to where ever it was this breaching room was located. Where was Sonya? Couldn't she fix this? Oh hell, why did she always rely on other people? Especially someone who made it clear she loathed people like her... Then she thought about the Doctor. Her Doctor. Where was that bugger when she needed him most?


In Sonya's General Area

Soldiers were still hustling around the halls and around Sonya. Finally, someone had brought over a white stretcher and two men lifted the Time Lady up and onto it. With quick steps the whole crew began to march down the hall and to the medical bay until a radioed voice stated, "Bring the Time Lord and the appropriate medical supplies to the breaching room" The one in charge, three star badge man, wanted to question his orders though knew it wouldn't be in his best interest. You weren't suppose to question these things. But why would they risk the life of the Time Lady just to bring her where the Experiment was going?

With a sigh he motioned with his hands for everyone to follow as he changed his direction and headed for the assigned room.