Breaking Point

Telepathy

They landed hard on the ground. Above them stood three rather large men, and the one in the middle had a blaster that was pointed right at the Doctor's lone heart.

"These two look wealthy," one of the men grunted. He looked like nothing else but a hairless bulldog. "We could get a fortune off of them from their families."

The Doctor laughed. "Oh, you're barking up the wrong tree mate. You'll find that she-" He nodded his head towards Rose. "-has no family, and I. I have a...brother, but he'd be perfectly happy to be rid of me, as he'd get everything, so don't expect to get any kind of ransom from him." He didn't add that he and his other self would and could burn up suns for Rose, had done just that, literally, when they were still one person. He also didn't add the fact that Rose did indeed have a family, but Rose's family was sixty-six hundred years in the past. They had to keep advantages after all. But Rose couldn't believe that the full Time Lord Doctor would let anything happen to his other self if he could stop it.

Rose knew that with only one heart, the blaster could kill him before regeneration could start. She resolved that they wouldn't be able to get a blast off if it came to that. She tensed up to get ready to disarm this thug. The Doctor had apparently saw her determination and sent her a wordless plea to relax, for now.

"Silence. I don't believe you. Your brother had better pay." The one who had spoken was apparently the leader. He waved his blaster, and the other two came around Rose and the Doctor, grabbed them, and pulled them to their feet. They were patted down quickly for weapons, then they were marched through a door in the alley.

"Or what? You'll kill us? You need a better script," the Doctor cajoled as soon as they were through the door and heading down the stairs behind it. Rose knew that he was baiting their kidnapper, and was wondering what his plan was. For her part, Rose was remaining silent for now, choosing to play meek in order to better surprise them later.

"No, we sell you. I said 'silence.' Do you have no fear for your life?" the bulldog man said. "Then maybe you have fear for hers." The blaster's nose moved from the Doctor to Rose. Rose could practically see the switch in his mind flipping. But the Doctor showed no outward signs of the Storm raging inside, at least none that someone who didn't know him could see. These people were kidnappers and slavers. She almost felt sorry for them, emphasis on the almost. She was sure that the other Doctor was now apprised of the situation, and wondered what would happen when the Oncoming Storm is angered twice over.

The thought sent hardly controlled shivers through her.

They were being led through dark, dank tunnels that were obviously underneath the city above. The ceilings of the tunnels were low, so that the taller people of the party had to stoop a little bit, and they were just wide enough to fit the Doctor and Rose side by side. They had made turns at several junctions now and Rose was quite lost. She had tried to remember the turns, but started getting the sequence mixed up. She had even tried to find something that marked where the turns were to be made at, but couldn't find anything.

Finally, they were led into a room lined with doors. Behind each of these doors were cells, and most of the cells seemed to be occupied with people, all apparently being held for ransom. When they got to the last cell, the Doctor was pushed into it, falling on the floor. Rose had thought that she was going to be placed into the cell as well, but she was led down the hallway past the cells to a room that would be called nothing other than an interrogation room. She was pushed to the door, and resisted a little to test them. Her resistance was rewarded with her being shoved roughly into the room, hitting the doorway as she went in. Pain blossomed in her shoulder, and she fell.

When she got up, she took a look around. The interrogation room was a standard affair: a couple of chairs, and a small table. Everything was chipped and rusted. She could practically feel the tetanus in the room. Still, it was better than many places she had been thrown in. At least it was cleaned.