The Orphan and Her Family

Chapter Five

*Doctor & Sophie*

The Doctor leads Lazarus down a maintenance corridor. They clamber around various pipes. The Doctor leaps over a control panel, turning around, and picking Sophie up and over it. Lazarus chases the duo, easily avoiding the obstacles by climbing onto the ceiling. The Time Lord steps lightly on the floor, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Sophie follows his lead, sneaking around as well. Lazarus' voice echoes through the room, "It's no good, Doctor. You can't stop me."

The Gallifreyan looks around, trying to pinpoint where the creature is. A shadow crosses over a wall, the large frame clearly outlined. The Time Lord looks up at the ceiling, "Is that the same arrogance you had when you swore nothing had gone wrong with your device?"

"The arrogance is yours. You can't stand in the way of progress."

The Doctor wraps an arm around Sophie's waist, pulling her around another corner, hiding behind a pillar, "You call feeding on innocent people progress? You're delusional!"

"It is a necessary sacrifice," Lazarus snarls.

"That's not your decision to make."

*Jack & Martha*

Back in the lobby, Martha and her family, as well as everyone else, are pressed up around the glass doors. The Jones' are stuck in the middle of the crowd, but Jack is lingering near the back. He looks all around him, seeing the security desk up in the corner. "Martha!" he shouts.

The medical student whips around, "What?"

The captain holds his hand up in the air, gesturing to the security desk. "I can trigger the override switch, but-"

"You need the sonic screwdriver," she finishes, tossing it over to him. He grabs it, dashing over to the desk. Sliding across it, he barely lands before soniccing the switch. The lights turn on, the doors unlocking. With a collective sigh of relief the doors open, the crowd streaming out.

*Doctor & Sophie*

Sophie watches as the shadow moves across the ceiling, until right above their heads, the mutant peers down at them, "Peek a boo," he snarls.

The Doctor meets the creature's eyes, whilst reaching for Sophie's hand, "Oh, hello." They immediately take off running. He leads the way to the labs, "What are you doing here," he whispers, "I thought I told you to help Jack."

"Jack has Martha. No way was I letting you go alone, I'm not losing another one of my friends, not this soon after I just lost one."

The Time Lord closes his eyes for a moment, even though they continue to run, "Morgan. I'm so, so sorry, Soph. I should've been there for you. I wasn't exactly the best at comfort back then, was I?"

"It's fine, Doc. We can talk about this later. Right now we have bigger issues."

The Gallifreyan looks behind them, "Right." He turns into one of the labs, pulling Sophie in behind him. She immediately shuts the doors behind them, pushing a chair under the doorknob.

"It won't hold him long."

"We don't need it too,'' the Doctor grins.

*Jack & Martha*

Jack follows everyone out, pulling the doors shut behind him. He shoves the sonic into his jacket pocket, making his way over to the Jones family. "Is everyone out?" Martha asks.

"Mostly."

"I've got to go back," she states.

"You can't!" her mother argues, "You saw what that thing did. It'll kill you."

"I don't care. I have to go."

She turns to reenter the building, but Jack grabs her wrist. "Your mothers right, Martha. The Doctor sent us out here for a reason."

"But he's in there. He doesn't even have his screwdriver. He needs my help."

Jack sighs. "He's not alone in there, Soph's with him. He'll be alright. Anyway, there were people injured in that attack. They need medical attention, and I'm sure you know that the faster the receive it, their chances will be better."

Martha glances back at the building again, before nodding, conceding to Jack's point. She rushes off into the crowd of people to try and them as much as she can.

*Doctor & Sophie*

The Time Lord leaps onto a nearby bench, and pulls off a light covering. He sets it down on the desk, pulling the fitting apart. "What can I do?"

He nods down at the desks, "Start turning on as much gas as you can. The more the better." She nods, immediately turning on the nearest bunsen burner, making sure there is no flame. She continues around to each burner, twisting them all on. The Doctor leaps off the bench, pulling off a tube of a gas fitting.

The doors burst open, the mutant creeping into the room, "More hide and seek, Doctor? How disappointing. Why don't you come out and face me?"

Sophie ducks behind a desk, the Doctor crouching and moving around to crouch next to her, "Have you looked in the mirror lately?" he calls. Standing up, he meets the monster's gaze, "Why would I want to face that, hmm?"

The Gallifreyan grabs his friend's hand, racing to the exit. As they leave, Sophie flips the light switch. The Doctor pushes her in front of him, and leaps onto the floor, the room behind them exploding.

Sophie sits up, flipping her hair out of her eyes. The Doctor is already to his feet, offering her his hand. She looks down, seeing that the hem of her dress is singed, "D*mnit, I really liked this dress." The woman glances back at the room, "Did that kill him?"

Lazarus bursts out of the room, tearing down the corridor toward them, "More like annoyed him!" the Time Lord snaps, grabbing her hand and running down the corridor away from the monster.