The Doctor Rediscovered [Attn: Donna, Rose]

"It's not exactly a prime vacation spot." Rose agreed, making her own way down the stairs after them. She could only imagine that it'd just be worse with the added visibility and lack of one serious motivator. Even if something argued that she should be more motivated this time around, given the nature of the mission back down there.

She swept her own beam as she went, in a regular pattern save for the occaisonal lighting on the ceiling, just in case. There shouldn't be anything in the stairwell with them, but once they got past that door that'd been closed earlier, it'd be another story.

Donna looked over at him and smiled slightly. "I know," she admitted. "It's just, you know...this place..." she said sheepishly.

"I know, Donna. It doesn't exactly bring fond memories for either of us." He smiled back at her.

"All right, so, Doctor, you'll know what you're looking for, yeah? Because, well, I don't know about Rose, but I really don't fancy having to be down there too long, even if we do have to stop those impy little things..."

"I'll know it when I see it, yeah," The Doctor replied.

"It's not exactly a prime vacation spot."

"That it's not. I'll have to take you both to the Cereus 3 Leisure planets one day, or even better, maybe on a shuttle tour of the Amalthium 5 systems. They have five gas giants and glassed in viewing platforms. It feels like your floating in space with only the stars around you." The Doctor rambled a bit, his patter partly an attempt to make his companions smile, but also just because he never could resist sharing the wonders of the universe.

He probably would have continued extolling the virtues Amalthium 5's tourist attractions were it not for the fact that his torch beam was now highlighting a door. They'd reached the bottom of their downward trek.

The Doctor pulled it open a crack, peering around into the black on the other side, before opening the door further and shining his torchlight into the corridor. "Looks okay for now. Let's go!"

"Why 'or'?" She grinned, letting herself try to imagine what the Doctor was describing. Something to look forward to that'd no doubt blow away whatever came to her mind. The door's reveal brought her back to Earth, but that was alright, because the company was was the important part.

"Right." Rose shone her light into the areas still left dark, making her way through the door and starting into the hall some but still staying close. She thought she could hear the faintest sounds of scrabbling feet but they were so quiet she couldn't tell. Light still shone down the hallway she turned to look at the others and make sure they were coming before continuing further.

"That it's not. I'll have to take you both to the Cereus 3 Leisure planets one day, or even better, maybe on a shuttle tour of the Amalthium 5 systems. They have five gas giants and glassed in viewing platforms. It feels like your floating in space with only the stars around you."

"I'll go anywhere you want soon as you clean up my mess, Doctor," Donna joked in reference to talking Rose into joining her in ingesting Huon Particles.

She stepped into the hall behind Rose. "Mind the debris, don't forget," she advised quietly, although she wasn't entirely sure why she was keeping her voice down. If those things were still around, then they were here to stop them, as well, anyway, so they might as well hear that she'd returned.

"Onward ho, yeah?" she asked lightly.

"It's no mess," the Doctor stated, keeping his voice low in the echoing space of the corridor. "And we'll all take a holiday together," he finished.

They kept walking, The Doctor highlighting the debris on the floor, partly for Donna's benefit, since she didn't have a torch. They reached the basement room, still wreaking of ash and mildew smells that made his nose twitch and he stepped inside.

The place was how he remembered it, but completely trashed. Debris and smashed glass, soot covering most surfaces and water dripping from the roof. And then he heard it, like something skittering beyond the light. The Doctor swallowed, talking to his companions, but keeping his eyes peeling into the darkness.

"I think your friends are still here."

"I think your friends are still here."

"Fantastic," Donna deadpanned, frowning slightly. She'd harbored hope that they'd gone on their merry way or that they'd been scared off when the tower had finally burst.

"Speaking of them...I think we ought to let you in on a little something, as well, Doctor," she said slowly as she remembered about the tower. She looked over at Rose in the darkness, raising her eyebrows. Donna wasn't going to say it, that was for sure. She'd already done enough damage. It'd probably go over a bit more smoothly if Rose delivered that particular blow.

The Doctor did look back at his companions then, raising an eyebrow curiously. "What's that?"

Rose caught the look, and and had to think for a few moments before she realized what Donna was talking about. She shone her torch in the direction of the towers idly as she listened to the noises of the things moving and tried to figure out how to spit it out already.

"The towers, y'see... The one we used sort of...burst on our way out. Didn't stay around to watch the aftermath but.." She trailed off there, looking at the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded. "Is that all? Okay." He shrugged. "Well, let's hope the same thing didn't happen to the anti-huons." ...if they're even here, he added silently. "Huons are inert without an organic host, so they shouldn't be a problem."

The Doctor swung his torch about, striding toward the towers. It seemed like, everywhere, just outside of the beam of light, there were small scrabbling noises. Sort of like you might expect from an old house with a rat infestation. It was a little disconcerting, but so far, it seemed the light did indeed keep them (whatever they were) at bay, so they may as well get to work.

"If the anti-huon tanks were ruptured on the other hand -" The Doctor paused, his torch picking out the first tanks, both clearly ruptured. "-well, that could be a problem."

He thought it might possibly even explain the creatures in the dark, but he didn't want to jump to any conclusions just yet. "Let's keep moving. Anti-huons will absorb any light you try to see them with, so they may not be obvious at first."

"But what about those things? They're prob'ly organic, aren't they?" Rose pointed out as the thought hit her. "They were in here when it burst." It was stating the obvious some, but sometimes it didn't hurt to.

She followed after him, watching the debris with much more ease than the last time. She squinted into the darkness, noticing that the things seemed far more active than they had been earlier. The bursting had excited them probably, she figured. She wasn't quite sure exactly how soon after she'd gone they'd gotten back.

"Most've them weren't when we were down here, at least not that we saw." Still listening, she started on further, shining her beam on the next tower. The one, she recalled, that she'd had trouble cleaning a spot on. "Next one after this's empty."

"But what about those things? They're prob'ly organic, aren't they?" Rose pointed out as the thought hit her. "They were in here when it burst."

Donna nodded. "That was my main concern," she agreed. "That they're organic beings, I'd wager, so if they absorbed the particles, aren't they going to be drawn to Rose, myself, and the TARDIS...?" she asked tentatively.

As she followed Rose forward, approaching the towers again, Donna furrowed her brow. "So, what exactly are we looking for? I mean...how do we tell the anti-huons from everything else if they absorb any light we try to see them with...?"

"That was my main concern. That they're organic beings, I'd wager, so if they absorbed the particles, aren't they going to be drawn to Rose, myself, and the TARDIS...?" she asked tentatively.

The Doctor nodded, then turned about, letting his torchlight flash out into the darkness around them. "I don't see any creatures glowing in the dark, though, do you?" the Doctor asked, quietly. "In fact, I'd say, our lights don't even touch them, almost like... they're absorbing it."

He flashed his torch on the ground. "I don't even see any traces of huon particles in the puddles and if a whole tank emptied out here..." The Doctor rubbed a hand over his face, then scritched his hand back and forth through his hair, thinking. "What if an anti-huon tank ruptured first, before you got here?" The Doctor looked out into the darkness again... at the creature that the light never seemed to touch.

She didn't see them, and, as usual, she realized he had a point. If they were glowing, they would've. It was too dark in there not to, off beyond the reach of their lights. Rose frowned slightly as she tried to make sense of the idea of the lights not touching them. If it didn't touch them... wasn't the lights and spectrums or some such what made things visible? It'd sure explain why they hadn't been able to see them.

Rose listened as he continued talking, mulling over the question. "You mean...whatever spilled before, it could've just counteracted the regular ones?" She looked from the floor to him, concentrating. "What if it did, and they got into it? What'd that do? You said they absorb light, yeah?"

There had been one broken tower, after all, Donna thought upon hearing the Doctor's thoughts aloud. "If the anti-huons tower is the one that was already broken and empty when Rose and I got here, then...we're in a bit of a spot, aren't we...?" she asked uneasily. "If it did and they ingested the anti-huons, it would explain why we could never quite see 'em, though, yeah, Rose? Even now..." she said quietly as she followed close to the Doctor, being for lack of her own torch to light her own way.

She frowned and looked at Rose. "I'm really sorry, y'know...if we can't get the Huons out. I know it worked the way we wanted it to, but since they're dangerous; if anything happens to you, that's my responsibility and I'm really sorry," she apologized.

"You mean...whatever spilled before, it could've just counteracted the regular ones?" She looked from the floor to him, concentrating. "What if it did, and they got into it? What'd that do? You said they absorb light, yeah?"

"Yeah, they do. Anti-huons are still very high energy, but it's negative energy. It sort of sucks in different types of positive energy, like light, until it reaches neutral again." As the Doctor explained, he waved his hand about, sending the light from his torch swaying about wildly too.

"If the anti-huons tower is the one that was already broken and empty when Rose and I got here, then...we're in a bit of a spot, aren't we...?"

"Maybe, maybe not," the Doctor stated cryptically, as began moving up the row of towers again, still looking for a possible tank of anti-huons as he spoke. "Even if the anti-huons aren't in a tank, they're still an incredible source of negative energy... even if they've been ingested by--" The Doctor frowned, looking to the ceiling as he searched for the appropriate word. "--something," he finished lamely.

"Ooh!" The Doctor paused, squinting curiously through his glasses to peer into the tank in front of him, before he frowned. "Huh, nope, false alarm. Where was I?"

"If it did and they ingested the anti-huons, it would explain why we could never quite see 'em, though, yeah, Rose? Even now..."

"Yeah, it would. More than them just being too fast to see, though I s'pose that could be part of it, too." Rose mused. She swept her light into the darkness for a moment before looking at Donna when she spoke again.

"I'm really sorry, y'know...if we can't get the Huons out. I know it worked the way we wanted it to, but since they're dangerous; if anything happens to you, that's my responsibility and I'm really sorry,"

"I know." She opened her mouth to argue that she hadn't exactly had a moment of better judgement when she drank them. An argument wasn't exactly something they needed just then. "But it'll turn out." Rose told her instead, and it was easy to believe considering she felt fine.

"Ooh!" The Doctor paused, squinting curiously through his glasses to peer into the tank in front of him, before he frowned. "Huh, nope, false alarm. Where was I?"

Rose had been watching and listening, but she fell victim to the Doctor's own distraction, and had to think for a moment before answering. "You were talking about how they're still high in energy if they've been ingested by something." She paused thoughtfully. "But isn't it still the same problem of how to get them out? Or would it work if we...I dunno, managed to catch some of the things and hugged'em or something." The idea, she had to admit, sounded bloody ridiculous, and she didn't have much faith in it as she spoke.

"But isn't it still the same problem of how to get them out? Or would it work if we...I dunno, managed to catch some of the things and hugged 'em or something."

"No, I mean..." The Doctor paused, thinking a moment. "Yes actually, that's exactly what I mean. Whether they're in a tank, or in you, or... something else, they're... huons and anti-huons that is. They're still equal and opposite and they'll cancel each other out. Push them close enough together and--" The Doctor brought his hands together in what would have been a loud clap, had he not been still holding the torch. "-- well, cancellation of energy. Problem solved."

The Doctor peered over his glasses at Rose and Donna. "Honestly, I don't remember the two of you being so pessimistic," he stated.

"Anyway, I don't think hugging will be necessary. We just need to create an attractant force between the particles in them --" He flashed his torch out into the darkness. "--and the particles in you." He flashed the torch into Donna's face. "It's not like we want you to hug, just the particles." The Doctor paused to look into yet another column, finding this one broken like so many of the others. Its contents lost.

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