Searching for the Doctor [attn: Rose] cont

When Rose moved aside, Donna put the second sleeve under the spigot and the tower groaned as if under great duress. She hoped she could fill the thing before it burst and ended up making their escape likely infinitely more difficult.

"Just remember when we can see them, they've been there the whole time. Better for them to be something than for them to have the possibility of being anything, yeah?"

Donna said nothing. She was a bit more than just a little afraid of what she'd see. Nothing in her imagination could be worse than what was probably actually there. She'd never considered herself very creative.

"And anyway- might be good for that last jolt."

"That's a point," she agreed. "But I'd rather not test the theory, if I'm honest," she admitted.

She pulled the sleeve back out from under the spigot and tied off the top. "All right, let's get out of here, yeah?" she asked breathlessly.

Rose gripped her sleeve tightly and nodded. "Out sounds like a plan. Probably better to walk, in case they've got some sort of 'chase it if it runs' instinct." She added after some more thought. A quick glance around to remember what direction they'd come from, and she motioned her head towards where she thought the door should be.

"After you." For all the slight glow Donna had the keylight, and it made sense to use it. Especially since for whatever reason the things seemed to avoid its beam.

"After you."

Donna took a deep breath and nodded, taking a few slow steps forward, shining the blue beam of the small keychain light at the floor just in front of her. The glow was waning again. Possibly because she was walking away from Rose and the tower, and possibly because she was forcing herself to remain as calm as possible.

She heard a few pattering steps and swung the light of the keychain toward the sound. The lengthy shadow seemed to retreat a little ways. "Are they afraid of this light...?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at Rose. "And if so...why?" she wondered aloud. It seemed a little strange, but she wasn't going to argue. It could possibly mean that the tiny, otherwise practically useless blue beam of dim light could keep them safe, after all.

"Still behind me?" Donna asked as she watched the shadow and moved forward again slowly, taking short, slow, small steps, just to be on the safe side. Rose's suggestion had not been a bad one, after all. It was entirely possible that the things would attack if Rose and Donna made a run for it.

"They might be... Maybe because it's blue?" The idea sounded more than a little silly, but it was the first thing that came into mind. It was a nice thought though. "Or it gives off something the glow doesn't that we're not aware of, or they just don't like light in general."

She stayed a step or two behind Donna and a little to the side so she could see the light's beam around her arm. "Still here." Rose assured her, when she realized that putting a hand on her arm to answer the question would probably be a bad idea. She idly doublechecked that the bag wasn't leaking as she walked.

The journey back across the room seemed to go almost painfully slow. Behind her Rose thought she could hear the creak of the tower again, but kept her pace slow. She could hear some scampering behind them, the footsteps seeming to head in the direction they were walking from.

Donna was a few feet away from the hallway through which they'd come when she heard the sound. She paused and stiffened, closing her eyes and hoping against hope that it wasn't what she thought it was.

There was a definitive and crisp crackling sound like the sound she could hear in her head when she bit down on a piece of ice gently - not hard enough to break it. If the tower burst and the Huan Particles left in it spilled all over the unknown creatures on the floor, then it was entirely possible that they would be as magnetically attracted to Rose and Donna as the women hoped to be to the TARDIS.

"Please tell me you didn't hear that and I'm imaginin' it..." she whispered to Rose as she started walking again, carefully and slowly although it was killing her not to run.

Rose carefully kept walking, not wanting to look behind her. "Can't. Sorry." Her voice was quiet as she forced herself to keep her steps even with Donna's. "But..." An idea came to her and she clung to it.

"They're animals right? So they're probably instinct driven more than emotionally. They might not get a strong enough reaction for anything to happen to them." It was just a guess, but she thought the possible reassurance might be worth just going for it. She wasn't even thinking of the possibility of the things being attracted to them, instead her mind had hooked onto an image of...whatever they were suddenly appearing in the TARDIS en masse.

"When we get to the stairs we can pick up the pace, yeah? Finish these off once we get on the other side of a locking door." Rose suggested once they'd reached the hallway.

"They're animals right? So they're probably instinct driven more than emotionally. They might not get a strong enough reaction for anything to happen to them."

"When we get to the stairs we can pick up the pace, yeah? Finish these off once we get on the other side of a locking door."

As they made their way into the hall, Donna heard a much louder crack and then a whooshing sound. "I say we we run, now, actually," she choked, grabbing Rose's free hand and hauling ass down the hallway. "Your theory's not bad, but if it's wrong, we could be very, very screwed..."

"Yeah, think I'm agreeing with you there." Rose commented as she took a moment to speed up so she didn't end up drug along the hallways and returned the grasp of her hand. Her hold on the sleeve of liquid was tightened once more as she swung her arm as she started to run herself.

Behind them she could just make out rapidly less audible footsteps, but the slapping of their own feet against the ground stopped her from being able to tell what direction they were heading.

Donna almost missed the doorway to the stairwell when she couldn't slow her momentum. The hallway was nearly lit, albeit dimlly, by the women now. "I think my heart's about to explode out of my chest, it's pounding so hard," she gasped as she grabbed the door frame and slingshot herself into the stairwell. As soon as Rose got inside, as well, Donna could shut the door and at the very least slow the things down if they ended up following.

"How's your bag? Still good?" she asked as she started up the stairs a little ways to allow Rose the room to burst into the stairwell the way Donna had, if she so needed.

"Definitely on the right track than..." She replied breathlessly, more to herself than Donna. Afterwards Rose managed her entry with slightly more grace thanks to have the small bit of forewarning provided by Donna's going first. She hit the wall inside the stairwell's door instead, clear of it. A moment's breath and she moved to help with the door.

"Still good." Rose told her after a quick check once the door was closed. "How'bout yours?" They were all that was left of the particles if they were to trust that the sounds had been that container giving up. They had to be enough.

Donna let out a heavy sigh once the door was closed and leaned herself against it to rest. "Good," she panted back to Rose, exhausted. "Mine's leakin' a little, but not enough to be concerned. I think it's the rubbish knot I tied," she admitted. "Let's get up and outta here. We can gag down the rest of this stuff once we're out, yeah?"

Rose leaned back against the wall for a moment, pushing her hair back out of her face as she looked upwards. "Up and out sounds like a plan to me, yeah. Only makes sense we get stuck going up some steps, all the down them we've been doing." She joked lightly, giving Donna a hint of a smile as she pushed herself back off the wall and started up.

Donna gave an airy laugh in reply to Rose's comment, too winded, still, to give a hearty one. "Too true, that," she breathed, grinning back. After taking a deep breath, Donna nodded. "Right, then, up we go..." she sighed as she started to ascend the stairs. This was going to be torture...

"You remember how many floors down it was?" Rose asked, taking her time on the stairs. Until they heard something, there wouldn't be much of a rush. "We don't want to end up further up than we have to be." She didn't remember noticing if the floors had been labelled, either.

"Ground floor, basement, lower basement..." Donna replied. "So, up two floors and out on the third, yeah?" she asked, too tired and now a little dizzy from being winded to really think clearly. She looked over her shoulder at Rose.

"Sounds right." Rose commented, taking a few stairs quickly so she was more or less beside Donna. Then we can find something out there to sit and get caught up with ourselves before we gulp this down." She suggested easily, thinking that it'd probably be a good idea.

"Sounds like a plan," Donna said.

As the women ascended the stairs, Donna got lost in thought. If, after all the work to get the particles, they didn't work and the women weren't sucked into the TARDIS---

"I'm a pencil in a mug?"

---Donna would almost certainly begin to lose hope. She wondered, though, if she was going to be disappointed, just how awful it would feel for Rose, having come from so far to find the Doctor after having been ripped away from him without a choice, when Donna had simply left of her own accord. It had to work. If not for Donna, then at least for Rose. She owed the girl that much for helping as much as she had.

In retrospect, that was when Donna made the decision.

If Rose ingested all of the particles in her own bag and remained static, Donna would give up her own bag to Rose; it was the least she could do.

Rose stayed mostly silent herself as they climbed the stairs. The casual pace seemed high in contrast to the rest of the day so far. She wondered in retrospect if this lull was really the best idea if the particles needed strong emotions.

But all the same she knew her anticipation was growing, and even the thought of how she'd be able to drink an arms worth of the foul-tasting stuff didn't put much of a damper on the idea of what would hopefully happen when she had. The day'd almost flown by, and it'd gotten her this close. A few more steps, a few more minutes and then...

"End's in sight." Rose noted as the rounded the last turn of the stairwell before the door they'd take out. Just the one flight of stairs left. She smiled over at Donna.

"End's in sight."

Donna let out a happy, soft sigh. "Thank God," she practically whispered. The stars were beginning to come out, speckling the sky. The night was balmy and Donna took her jacket off, overheated from the running and wanting to truly enjoy the breeze she could feel on her face.

"You first," she said to Rose seriously. "You first, because you knew him much better than I did and if it doesn't work, you'll still have what I've got in my bag," she told her. The look on Donna's face was drawn and solemn. Rose wasn't going to talk her out of this, even if she wanted to try. The decision was made.

Rose opened her mouth to argue, possibly to point out that Donna was the one who'd done this before. What if it ended up being something specific about her that let it happen? The older woman's expression and tone stopped her though, and she got the impression that she wouldn't end up winning the arguement.

Still holding the sleeve Rose searched her pockets one handed, and upon freeing her mobile handed it to Donna. "Alright, but you hold onto this. That way if we've got a single serving, when I get there we can ring it up, and I'm sure he can lock onto the signal or something and pick you up." She hoped that wouldn't have to be the case, but it would be better than nothing if it was.

Taking a step back, Rose gave the sleeve one last look before resituating her grasp on it, and started to drink.