Travelling With the Doctor

3:10 Saving Cauden

Part Three: The Impossible

Chapter Ten: Saving Cauden

I looked into the man's eyes before spinning around again. Well, I tried to. Mr. Brisby grabbed my arm and spun me back towards him. "I need to hurry..."

"Who are you to my son?"

I blinked at him, trying to fit all my thoughts into one answer. "I... am... his protector, and the one he protects. I am the one who loves him, and I'm pretty sure, I'm the one he loves." My chin trembled and I cursed at the tear that rolled down my cheek. My voice dropped to a whisper and I clutched his arm. "Please, let me find him. I can't lose him again."

To my surprise, Mrs. Brisby appeared beside her husband. "We'll help you." She gripped my shoulder tightly. "I heard what you said."

I nodded and looked around, spotting my father running towards us. "I found where he was taken!" He yelled, spinning and running in the other direction.

I glanced at Cauden's parent before taking off after my dad, almost slipping on the wet street. I crashed into his back as he stopped in front of a rundown shack. "Oof! Dad, what-"

"Shh." He righted himself and hushed me while the Brisby's caught up. "In here..."

I didn't wait to hear anymore. I pushed past my dad and went straight to the door of the shack, putting my ear against it. And fell through it.

~Third person POV~

The Doctor reached for his daughter too late. He watched in horror as she disappeared through the illusion. "No! Adrian!" He ran forward and stuck his head through the fake door, coming face to face with a deep hole.

"Doctor, what's in there?" Mr. Brisby touched the Doctor's shoulder.

"No no no. This can't happen, not this way..." the Doctor ignored the Brisby's and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, aiming it down the shaft. "Adrian! Are you alright? No no no no...." he checked the scan and grit his teeth.

"Dad... go save Cauden!" The girl's voice drifted up, full of pain and followed by coughing. "I- I'll be alright! Just go save him!"

The Doctor took a moment to compose himself before looking around, finding a pull down ladder right above his head. "I will, and then I'm coming back for you!" He aimed his sonic up at the metal ladder, and it fell down in front of him. "Do you hear me, Adrian!? I will come back for you!"

"Doctor, what's wrong with her?" Mrs. Brisby stepped through the fake door, followed by her husband.

"She fell a very long way down. She's hurt. But she'll be alright, I'll come back to get her when he is safe." The Doctor started climbing, mumbling about how clever the whole illusion was.

He led the Brisby's up the ladder and emerged into a circular hallway. "What is this place? Their ship?" Mr. Brisby went to the wall and flattened his palm against, marveling at the pulsing energy he could sense, accompanied by a low humming.

"Yea. Cauden's this way." The Doctor followed the signal on his sonic down the hall. The humming got louder as they moved farther in, and the Doctor came to a stop in front of a door. He soniced the door open and stepped through, the Brisby's on his heels. "Ah, see? There he is..."

Cauden was strapped to a metal table, wires hooked to him all over. He grinned and waved two fingers. "Oh, Doctor. I wondered when you'd get here. You mind helping me?" He looked past the Doctor and frowned. "Where's Adrian? And who're they?"

The Doctor went to Cauden and started messing with the straps on his wrists. "Ah, they're your parents." He got one loose and went to the straps on his ankles.

"Oh. Well, hello there. Um, wow." Cauden worked at his other wrist as he rambled. "I've always wanted to meet you. You look good..."

"Oh my..." Mrs. Brisby covered her mouth, tears gathering in her eyes. "You're so handsome!"

"Uh, thanks. Mum." Cauden grinned again and turned to the Doctor, finally free from the metal table. "Where's Adrian? Is she safe?" His face went serious as he studied the man in front of him.

The Doctor was silent for a moment. "She fell and got hurt. We need to go get her."

Cauden's face went pale and he spun to leave, only to be stopped by the man with the white hair and horns. "You cannot leave! Your energy is needed!" He stepped forward and reached for Cauden.

"No! Wait! We're his parents!" Mr. Brisby and his wife blocked the Daemon's path.

"Take our energy instead. Please, let him go." Mrs. Brisby pleaded, her cheeks wet. "Please. We'll be double the energy, right?"

The Daemon considered this, and while he was focused on the two older Brisby's, Cauden slipped out, followed by the Doctor. He turned and bashed the Daemon on the head, looking at his parents. "Thank you. I love you both."

"Go, save your love." His mother smiled at the son she would never get to hold again as the Daemon came to.

Cauden nodded and ran off, following the Doctor to the ladder and the hole.

"She's at the bottom." The Doctor started down the ladder, reaching ground level in no time.

"You just left her there?!" Cauden glared at the Doctor when he touched ground.

"She wanted me to save you first. Last time I didn't do as she asked, bad things happened." The Doctor scanned the area with his sonic, searching for a way down. "I think we're going to have to-"

"I'm getting a rope. I saw one outside." Cauden ran through the illusion of a door and grabbed the long rope sitting coiled up on the ground. He tied one end around his waist and handed the madman the rest of it. "I'll bring her back up."

The Doctor nodded and gripped the rope, lowering Cauden down carefully. Thankfully, the rope just barely reached all the way down, and the Doctor was able to tie it off onto the ladder. "Cauden? How is she?"

Cauden's voice drifted up, echoing off the walls. "She's fading fast! Doctor, what do I do?"

"Hold on! I'll be right down!" The Doctor grabbed the rope and started down, sliding most of the way. "Ow ow ow..." he landed on the ground at the bottom, waving his hands in the air. "Rope burn..."

Cauden sat on the ground, holding a bleeding, broken Adrian in his arms. "Doctor, I think-"

"I know. It'll be okay. She's my daughter, remember?" The Doctor laid Adrian on flat on the ground gently, pulling Cauden to his feet. "Adrian, you'll be alright."

"I know, dad." Adrian whispered, coughing. "It just hurts like bloody hell." She attempted a smile, got halfway there.

"Adrian. I didn't get to tell you..." Cauden started.

"Shh, Cauden. Tell me when we get back to the TARDIS." She groaned loudly, and suddenly there was a golden light emanating from her body...