Heaven's Light ✿ The Doctor [2]

23- The Lazarus Experiment (pt. 2)

"Where are they?" Martha asks as soon as they are out of the elevator.

Avery turns to the Doctor and reminds him, "Fluctuating DNA will give off an energy signature."

His eyes widen, "You're right." He reaches into his suit pocket and pulls out his sonic screwdriver, "I might be able to pick it up." He scans with his sonic screwdriver, "Got him."

"Where?" Avery questions.

He points upwards. "But this is the top floor." Martha protests before quickly realizing, "The roof."

It is a quick sprint up a flight of stairs and Avery is out the door onto the roof with the Doctor just behind her and Martha not far behind him. Lazarus is speaking to Tish softly, "I find that nothing's ever exactly like you expect. There's always something to surprise you. 'Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act–'"

"'Falls the Shadow.'" Avery finishes the quote from The Hollow Men, an oddly fitting poem for the man who is quoting it.

"So the mysterious Ms. Smith knows her Eliot. I'm impressed." His compliment sounded patronizing to Avery's ears.

"Martha, what are you doing here?" Tish asks her sister.

"Tish, get away from him." Martha warns.

"What? Don't tell me what to do."

"I wouldn't have thought you had time for poetry, Lazarus, what with you being busy defying the laws of nature and all." The Doctor muses.

"You're right, Doctor." Lazarus confirms, "One lifetime's been too short for me to do everything I'd like. How much more I'll get done in two or three or four."

"It doesn't work like that." Avery disagrees, "Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It's not the time that matters, it's the person."

"But if it's the right person, what a gift that would be."

"Or what a curse." The Doctor counters, "Look at what you've done to yourself."

"Who are you to judge me?" Lazarus spits, a sneer pulling at his lips.

"Over here, Tish." Martha beckons.

"You have to spoil everything, don't you?" Tish accuses as she moves to stand in front of Martha, "Every time I find someone nice, you have to go and find fault."

Behind Tish's back, Lazarus spasms and falls, making Avery's eyes widen and fall behind the Doctor ever so slightly. Meanwhile, Martha exclaims, "Tish, he's a monster!"

"I know the age thing's a bit freaky, but it works for Catherine Zeta-Jones." Then Tish turns and sees the transformation in progress. Lazarus is now a massive bony scorpion with a human face, "What's that?"

"Run!" The Doctor commands.

They turn and run through the roof door, the Doctor stopping to sonic it shut and they run down the first set of stairs. Martha pulls Tish to a halt to ask, "Are you okay?"

"I was going to snog him." Tish breathes, horrified.

The lights flicker as the creature tries to break in, alarms blaring and a computer repeating, "Security one. Security one. Security one."

"What's happening?" Martha questions.

"An intrusion." Tish answers, "It triggers a security lockdown. Kills most of the power. Stops the lifts, seals the exits."

"He must be breaking through that door." The Doctor says before turning quickly, "The stairs, come on!"

They rush down the flights of stairs before there is a loud growl and a crash. Martha stops and looks up before exclaiming when she sees him, "He's inside!"