Some Beauty and the Kind-Of Beast

- 12 -

There was roughly an hour left before the exquisite ornament self-destructed.

It sounded like someone was trying to force their way in.

Adam didn't care. It didn't matter now what happened. Donna was gone, safe. He would not even admit it to himself, but maybe, during those six months where she refused to leave, he'd grown to like her quite a bit. So as long as he knew Donna was safe in her own home, Adam didn't really care what happened in his last hour.

Carter knocked the gates down and had tried to do the same to the doors.

The car is now useless.

Of course, that's not stopping him and his friends from trying to find other ways in.

Nova skidded to a stop as soon as she noticed that the gates no longer stood. Donna nearly fell out of the car. "Come on."

Silently and quickly, the sisters skirted around the border of the property before they reached the back door to the scullery. Nova grabbed the handle and pushed down.

"Lockdown initiated. All protective measures engaged. Access restricted."

Donna sighed and tried to open the door, receiving the same response. "You know who I am, you stupid robot, let me in!"

"Access granted."

The door opened and Nova and Donna just managed to get in before it swung shut and the steel door fell back down.

"Holy shit," Nova whispered.

"Come on, we have to find Adam."

They searched high and low, but they only ran into Adam's droids -- who seemed more like robots without artificial intelligence, all with one sole purpose -- prevent Carter from getting in.

"The basement!" Donna called out. "He's in the basement."

Nova hesitated. "You go. I don't think . . ."

"It's fine, I'll go alone. You wait up here for me, okay?"

Nova nodded, but that's not what she did. Instead, she crept behind her sister and crouched outside the door to the basement. She wanted to know exactly what Adam and Donna's relationship was like, and the best what to do that would be to see how they behaved when they were alone.

"Adam?" Donna asked softly.

Nova poked her head in to see what was going on.

The blond was sitting on a chair with his head on his arm, resting on the little space between the end of the glass dome and the edge of the table. Truth be told, he looked very uncomfortable.

And very asleep.

"Adam," Donna said, a little louder. "Adam, wake up."

Adam grunted in his sleep. "Leave me alone."

"Adam!"

"What?!"

Adam stood up sharply when he realised Donna was standing over him. Nova shot back out of the room, but when it was clear Adam hadn't seen her, she went back to peeking in.

"Didn't I send you away?" Adam demanded.

"Didn't I tell you I'd be back?" Donna retorted.

Nova regretted not believing her sister the first time Donna told her that Adam wasn't the one keeping her here. Or maybe . . . maybe he was, just not in the way Nova had thought.

"You're not supposed to be here, Belle. Please go."

Nova was surprised to notice that her sister did not correct Adam in calling her by the wrong nickname.