Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nothing was going to plan for Yasmin Khan.

This was once again demonstrated as she was dragged into a pitch-black, bare concrete room and her hands were bound with a thick chain that was connected to the floor. The burly man who had captured her finally let go of her shoulder, gave her a small shove, and left the room. His footsteps echoed in the empty hall outside. Clearly, he thought the 5’ 5” woman didn’t need supervision.

He could not have been more wrong.

Yaz rolled her shoulders, getting ‘into the zone’ and trying to get the blood flowing back to where her captor had gripped her. She mentally went through a list she had refined through many years and many similar experiences.

The Doctor’s Yaz’s list of how not to die on some far-off alien planet.
Step 1. DON’T UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES LET YOURSELF BE CAPTURED (unless you were the Doctor and had some ingenious plan to escape and save the day like always)

Well, that was a great start.

Step 2. If you are stupid enough to let yourself get captured, access the situation. Because the key to getting out and saving the day is often right in front of you. (Or in some cases right under your nose)

Ok. That was doable, except there wasn’t much of a situation to access, or at least see.

All Yaz could sense was the chill of the room and there was a strange, low, alien-sounding drone coming from somewhere to her right. And her biggest problem, her bound hands. Yaz tugged at the chain, hoping to find some sort of weakness or way to slip her hand out.

Nothing.

“That’s not going to work, believe me. I’ve tried.” Said a smooth, deep voice that cut through the silence suddenly.

Yaz froze like a dewanf in air. Fear clawed at her breathing, she had been too caught up in her thoughts to notice the other presence in the room. Her thoughts and breathing raced. Who was it? Friend or Foe? Was it another one of the guards that roamed the abandoned building? The voice sounded friendly, but Yaz learned long ago to never trust someone too easily.

First getting captured, then not sensing another person in the ROOM? I really have been getting rusty since —

Yaz’s police training took control of her body, injecting it with false confidence.

“Who’s there?” She replied, trying to keep a quiver out of her voice.

“Someone who isn’t getting paid for t—” The mysterious voice started.

It was then that her hand finally grasped the handy touch that she had been fishing for in her pocket. She whipped it out and banished it out in front of her like a weapon as she whipped the bright beam of light around.

The beam of light darted to its source, then down and it revealed, a man? Sitting on the ground. Like this was a normal Wednesday for him.
What?

“Do you mind!” The now-identified man finished, strained, he winced, covering his face with his hands as the beam of light landed squarely in the middle of his face, blinding him.

His accent sounded, American? Yaz mentally chided herself, that was not vital information. She lowered the touch to his chest so he was not blinded, but just enough that Yaz could get a good look at this stranger.

The man was sitting against the wall across from her. He was wearing a lapis jacket over a blue shirt. As he lowered his similarly bound hands from his face, Yaz saw that the man had curly chestnut hair and blue eyes that were staring back at her with a mostly emotionless expression. Still, Yaz saw some annoyance and a hint of curiosity in his gaze.

“Thank you.” He deadpanned, clearly not very greatful. “Now what is a human doing here?” As he spoke, the man stood up and took a few steps until he faced Yaz, studying her. He was a good head taller than her but she met his stare with determination. She was not a fan of the way he had said ‘human’, like she was inferior to him.

“This isn’t the type of place you stumble into accidentally” The man tilted his head “It’s like you’re asking to die”

He broke eye contact first and looked over her shoulder to where the drone was coming from, it seemed to be getting louder.

Yaz scoffed. Nice to meet you too.

“And you’re not? How did you end up trapped here?” She challenged but relaxed slightly, this man was a captive like her, which meant he could have more information.

He glanced back at Yaz quickly but didn’t answer. He instead walked back to where he had been sitting and sat down like he was waiting for something. As he walked away Yaz heard him mutter something about ‘silly humans’ but with some choice words instead.

The darkness crowded into the room, pushing aginst her, the chill of the room plunged into her body. Yaz deflated, the weight of failure settling over her. How had Yaz thought that she could continue to go chasing adventure and danger without the Doctor? Everything always ended up going to plan, there was always a way out or some secret to find that solved the mystery. But that life was gone, it died with the wondrous and amazing woman that had crashed in and changed Yaz’s life. All she was doing now was trying to find the same high that came with the adventure and helping others.

PING

The sudden burst of sound from her phone saved Yaz from her downward thoughts, echoing around the room, Yaz scrambled for her phone.

15 new messages in the Companion Support Group chat

Shit! Yaz had completely forgotten about the others. They were still out in the winding rooms of the building and had last seen her being dragged away by the guard.

Yaz opened the group chat and quickly typed a message. Not bothering to read any of the messages.

Me: I’m alive, at least for now

Jo: Thank God you’re alive
Graham: You had us worried there
Dan: Nice to hear that you’re alright Sheffield
Jo: Are you ok?
Ryan: Where did they take you??

The replies were instantaneous. Yaz sat down on the ground in the light of the touch and typed a reply.

Me: They took me to another room, not sure where exactly, and I’m a little tied up currently, but I’ve had worse.

Yaz hesitated for a second before looking over at the man on the other side of the room. His arms were crossed over his stomach and his eyes were closed. Was he really taking a nap?

Me: there’s also someone else here

Tegan: Who?

Me: don’t know, but he’s not involved with Deck

Me: very unhelpful and rude

The strange man suddenly jolted to life, searched the ceiling, and rushed over to Yas.

“Shut that off, now!” He implored her in a whispered tone.

Yaz startled. “What?” He wanted nothing to do with her before.

The man wouldn’t hear any complaints. He snatched the touch from the ground and shut it off. He then crouched close to her and pressed a finger up to her lips. Yaz wanted to protest, but she heard him shake his head. Common sense caught up to her as she kept quiet and listened for whatever caused the man to react like this.

A few seconds later, another sound could be heard over the low drone, a disgusting squelching came from the same direction as the drone and made its way towards the pair. Yaz’s body stiffened like it was prepared to run if needed, but she was quite literally chained to the floor, she was a sitting duck for whatever that alien was. Yaz stopped breathing and prepared for the thing making the sound to collide with her. But she was stunned when nothing happened, and the sound was coming from not next to, but right above her.

It was on the ceiling.

Chapter Text

There was a faint sound, it was like sticky molasses flowing. Yaz left the air shift above her as the hairs on the back of her neck (and just about everywhere) stood up straight.

Yaz sucked in a large breath, heart hammering as the room plunged into silence. Whatever ‘it’ was had stopped moving, right above them.

Heat blasted her suddenly as the air grew warm and stagnant.

Unnaturally.

It was not a welcome change from the slight chill in the air, it was in fact the opposite. The heat got under her skin. It was like standing in front of an open oven, and trying not to get burned.

The moisture in the air precipitated and made everything feel sticky. And despite the moisture in the air, her mouth was bone dry. She swallowed to no avail, her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth like a lead weight. Yaz felt sweat roll down her back, it did not cool her but rather it only added to the uncomfortable feeling. Yaz’s head felt full of fuss for a second before she cleared her ears, the pressure in the room must have increased.

There was a plink to her side as some liquid dripped down from above. Yaz had watched enough movies to know that if she wanted to stay alive she should stay still, quiet, and not look up for any reason. Yaz squezed her eyes and tried to calm her racing heartbeat.

She imagined that she was in the TARDIS console room, the soft yellow lights were casting a warm comforting glow. Yaz could imagine touching one of the crystal columns and feeling the warmth and comforting hum of the TARDIS.

Yaz breathed out slowly and back in, her body calming.

Her heartbeat slowing to an even pulse.

PING

That wasn’t normal

Yaz opened her eyes, suddenly brought back to reality. The phone clutched in her hands vibrated and a second later turned on, blinding Yaz with the bright blue light that lit up her face. The man stared at her, fear in his eyes.

SHIT

At that moment, his hands shot out as he pushed the phone down, blocking the light from shining up. Yaz’s heart stopped and she could almost feel the space it took up in her throat. He glanced up and she couldn't help following his gaze.

As the light blinked out of existence and the phone went dead Yaz could see a great midnight-purple ooze not just above, but around her. Like it was wrapping around them to swallow them whole. The thing above them moved slightly and as it did Yaz could see it was made of layers on layers that shifted and moved separately. There were layers like muscles moving under the surface constantly moving and reforming, while the surface looked like layers of slime had flowed over each other.

The creature moved at a snail's pace down and slowly as layer after layer moved aside each one getting darker and darker as a hollow into the creature was created. Yaz looked straight up into the dark, and a faint orange glow shone in the cavern to meet her just as the final layer of an almost black sludge dripped down like wax and revealed the true center of the creature.

A large, orange, glowing sphere.

Yaz winced, blinking, the light burning her eyes. While she was blinking the light into her eyes the creature made a disgusting Squelch, then a POP as the sphere started to rotate at a snail’s pace. As it spun the slime that the creature was made of stuck to the surface and created dark streaks. While it moved the dark streaks joined together and created a spiderweb of dark splotches on the surface. There was another loud Squelch as the sphere stopped moving.

When it had stopped and some of the muck dripped down Yaz could see that the dark cracks and crevices were not the slime but they were cracks going deeper into the sphere. The darkness inside contrasted with the warm glow of the surface and drew Yaz in.

Yaz looked up, the darkness of those cracks grew and filled her vision until it was all she could see. It was like looking into the void of space, there was somehow everything and nothing to be found inside as it drew you deeper. It was like sorrow, or the deepest depression, it was like rage and hate and horror. Like a supernova of darkness. She couldn’t look away. She didn't want to. It was like being exposed to the universe for the first time, the wonder of it. Yaz wanted to swim in the dark space and find the knowledge hidden inside and learn its secrets. Yaz blinked slowly, for a second the void looked like the space in the Doctor’s gaze, so familiar. Then it was gone.

The Doctor!

Yaz was thrown back to that terrible day when she was forced to stop traveling the stars. Standing still as the TARDIS and the best time of her life left without her. The pain she felt that day and every single one after, crashed over her.

But, the darkness answered, it drew her in further. Whispering that there was safety and calm to be found in the storm.

Yaz could do nothing but stare at the wonder and its vast wrongness. Take it all in. The dark was soothing, Yaz felt more complete than she had in months, and she felt lighter. The weight and guilt on her shoulders fell away. Yaz wanted it all. This was her gateway to the universe, to the Doctor again. She knew it in her soul, somehow. She tried to reach out to grab it. Grab onto the vastness, but something stopped her arm from moving. Odd? But that was OK, she dived deeper with her eyes.

Then it was quiet, too quiet, the rushing of blood swirling in her head and the black hole in front of her silenced.

C-

C-
CC-
CRRR-
CCRRRAACKKKK
BOOOM

Like the sphere was blinking the cracks closed shut like a clam. Yaz reached out trying to save it from closing, but it was too late. It was always too late. All that was left of the surface was the smooth, unmarred sphere pulsing a soothing orange light. Like there was nothing deeper. Yaz felt robbed.

Next, layer after layer, slid over the surface of the sphere smothering the light of the sphere. The light got darker and darker and further away. Before all that was left was the soulless black, and eyes aching for the light.

Then quicker than It had sunk down the Creature ascended back up, slowly away from her and back to the ceiling. It continued to move on across the room and out, the shifting of the air and the silence when an occasional group of drips had plunked to the ground, were the only indications that it was truly gone.

Chapter Text

The air rushed away from her, the moment shattered.

Yaz felt alone, vulnerable and suddenly drained. Speaking of the air in the room, the temperature plummeted as a shiver dripped down her body. The cool air did not cool her down. Her body felt like a furnace, and the sweat dripped down leaving a sticky trail.

Yaz’s legs shook from under her and she blinked, coming out of a haze to realize at some point she had stood up and was trying to reach up, towards where the creature was. Strangely, Yaz didn't remember anything. The last thing she recalled was, was? There has been something, something important!

What was happening?

A beam of light appeared on the ceiling, spotlighting where the creature had been. Now all that was there was a large streak of purple slime, right above her.

Yaz followed the light down to see the man holding her flashlight and studying the slime like it was evidence. As she was watching the man, a drip from above fell on her arm, Yaz recoiled, bringing it up to her face, examining the purple slime.

Mmmrmrrrrrrrrrrr

The low drone hummed again, barely audible, like it had to keep unnoticed.

Yaz let out a shaky breath as she uncoiled. The hum felt like an added presence, keeping that thing away.

The man looked at her, and Yaz realized she had been staring at her arm for far too long. He looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it. Instead, he tilted his head like a confused puppy dog, and she gave him a small nod, hoping she wasn’t shaking.

Yaz broke the silence first, redirecting the forces back onto him “What was that?” she asked breathlessly, not wanting that creature to return. She had never encountered anything close to what was haunting the building.

“A patrol,” He replied, looking around the room “There won't be another one for 40 vexics. If you want to get out of here, now’s the time” The man suddenly sat up straight, the chain rattling. He twisted his wrists and strained his arm out like he was reaching out, a second later the chain binding his hands released and fell to the ground with a loud Clonk.

Yaz looked up at him stunned. He made it look easy. “You're telling me you could have done that this whole time?”

The man gave her a small smile, hopped onto his feat, and moved over to free her hands too.

And here I was thinking that he was too serious to smile, he really is full of surprises Yaz thought slightly bitterly

“But what species was that?” Yaz pressed hoping to get some actual answers out of him.

He paused for a second. “Nothing you should be concerned about” He answered dismissively.
Yaz instantly latched onto that answer with a realization, He didn't know. The man made a bee-line to the other side of the room where a small brown lump was on the ground. As he pulled it over his head Yaz could see it was a small satchel bag, he then reached in and pulled out a small black cylinder and tossed the touch back to Yaz as another beam of light pierced into the darkness.

A second later after some shuffling around in the bag the man strode up to Yaz meeting her eyes with a serious expression. Yaz couldn't help but feel scrutinized and bare under his calculating gaze. He held out his hand and in it was a small cyan truncated cone, it buzzed and sparked a few times before a wash of blue light from a light blue hologram, that looked straight out of a Sci-fi movie, filled the space between them.

The hologram displayed the winding hallways and floors of the building they were trapped in. He held out his hand so she could see 2 blinking dots in a large room. One red, and one yellow. That must be them. She examined the room before seeing 2 exits, a small adjacent room to one side and a hallway leading out of the room on the other.

Yaz examined the image further, tracing her path back to where she was separated from the group. There was a spattering of other dots moving throughout the building, including one bright violet dot just a few rooms away, the light blinked rapidly, which got fainter as it moved away. After a few seconds, it blinked off the edge of the hologram and Yaz felt she could truly breathe again, it was gone. Whatever ‘it’ was.

Yaz spent a few more seconds looking for the others but realized that the man was talking.

“-At the end of the hall you turn right, then go straight for 2 doors, then left. When you get to the end you turn right. Then you take the 4th door on the left but really it’s the 7th door. . . “ He rambled directions quickly. Yaz couldn't hope to keep up as he went on and on. “Then at the stairs go down as many as you can, but do not go down the stairs for the 3rd floor.” He continued.

“Wait, wait, wait” Yaz tried to interrupt but he kept talking, “Stop!” She raised her voice, “What are you talking about?!”

“- and after that you’re home free” The man finished slowly as an afterthought.

“Were you giving me directions out? I’m not leaving, and what about the others” She added after a beat.

“Others?” He said dumbfounded, latching on to the most insignificant detail of what she had said. Reminds me of someone else a small voice added. The man was staring at her like she had grown a second head (which was a lot more common than people might think) The man closed his eyes as his head tilted back looking like an overworked and underpaid manager.

“Of course there are others” he grit out. Then pressed a few buttons on the base of the hologram, a few sparks of light shot out, before the hologram zoomed out. It focused in on a large cluster of dots a few floors away, the hologram flickered and the dots changed from orange to the same yellow as the dot showing Yaz.

“What do you mean ‘you're not leaving?’” He demanded, looking at her again, after a second like he just remembered she existed.

“You're a human in the 21st century, with no chance of contact with anything beyond this planet, let alone anything farther than that, and you should be miles away by now, I'm surprised you’re still conscious after all of this” Rogue said with an air of superiority Yaz was very familiar with.

Yaz scoffed “Conscious? Listen, Mr. … whatever your name is”

“Rogue” He supplied, the word rolling off his tongue.

“Rogue?” That’s your name, really? “more of a title than a name” She remarked, mumbling the last bit to herself. The void in her stomach nudged up against her heart, she had known someone else with a title for a name.

The ma- Rogue opened his mouth to defend his dramatic name choice. Seriously, what kind of a name is Rogue? It sounds like a dramatic bad boy Yaz didn't let him.

“Ignoring that name choice, I’m not your ‘typical human’ and I’m definitely not going to faint like a Victorian woman at the sight of blood. I have been to so many places beyond this planet, I have traveled to the edge of the universe and back, and I have seen things even you wouldn’t begin to understand. I have seen so many things, beautiful and terrible, I have seen the universe be destroyed and saved it so many times. Now, there is something wrong with this building, people have gone missing and I believe that they have been kidnapped and are being held here for some reason. I’m going to find out what is going on here, with or without you. And I am going to find the others, save everybody here, and figure out what that thing was, to make sure it doesn't hurt anyone else. If you want to help, be my guest. And if you don’t, stay out of my way.” She stated.

After a few seconds with no biting reply, she turned to see Rogue standing starstruck with his jaw hanging slightly open. After a long few seconds, he snapped out of his trance and exhaled a quick, stunned laugh.

“Tell me, are all humans like you in this time period?” He inquired.

“No ..? Not normally” Yaz stammered out, taken dumbfounded by the absurdity of the question.

Rogue hummed, apparently enlightened by her response, “I suppose I can’t convince you not to go charging out there” After her nod he continued “And, we both want the same thing-“

“Which would be?” Yaz inquired.

Yaz mentally ran through all of the very limited information she had on Rogue. She knew that Rogue wasn't going to hurt her, and they were both in the same situation, meaning he was not involved with the building. From the way he spoke, calling her ‘human’ and saying ‘this time period’ it could be assumed that he wasn't human, or from this time. But that opened up a completely new can of questions, including: Why was a time traveler here? What was he here for? What were his intentions? Yaz felt like she was drowning with too little information and too many questions.

“Not dying, for a start” Rogue quipped monotony.

“Well, I’m guessing you’re here for a reason, why don’t we stick together? Power in numbers?” Yaz suggested. She could see a plan forming, Rogue knew what he was doing, and sticking with him would be good. Not only could she keep an eye on Rogue. She was not about to let an alien time traveler wander around. she could also answer some of her burning questions. Also, she could also rejoin with the group. It was strategic. Yaz smiled, hope bubbling up in her chest. Her thumb ran over her palm, searching for the letters that were not there. WWTDD.

Well step 3 just so happpenes to be: Try and reason if possible, words are stronger than a fist or some well worded metaphor with the same meaning.

Rogue considered the offer. “I am looking for someone too, can I trust you not to do something stupid? um…?” He looked at her expectantly.

“Can you?” She parried, not giving Rogue her name just yet. She could see Rogue was smiling, so this is a thing, a partnership. Born out of Quid pro quo or even mutual respect. However positive this was going, Yaz couldn't afford to get distracted. She has a mission to do, and people to save.

“Of course I can, I didn't let myself be captured and dragged here” Rogue defended.

“Oh, then why were you on the floor bound, that seems a lot like being captured” Yaz teased, still not giving up her name.

He opened his mouth shocked someone had the audacity to question his ways.

“It was a part of the plan” He weakly defended.

“Oh, I see, what's next then?” Yaz questioned, taking the opening, she had to figure out the plan somehow. She had the feeling Rogue wasn't a very talkative person.

“That.” He breathed.
He stepped around her and wandered towards the adjacent room.

The air stopped.

Noise was like dust in the air, drifting downwards, and pilling up in the corners. Into nothing.

As Rogue approached the hologram fizzed out, taking the calm blue glow with it. Leaving the pair in the darkness. As if warded away by the light the somehow ever-present drone grew in its absence. This time it ebbed and flowed, like peaks. At its loudest the hum invaded her body, flowing through her bones, her body fell in sync with the beat of the noise. She couldn't think over the hum, she just drifted along, until it quieted.

Rogue shined the torch at the entrance, the surrounding darkness of the room swallowed the light. Inside another light shone back, it was faint but present. It was cold.

The hum rose again, like drifting on the sea. The current sloshed, pushing her to that room.

Yaz followed the pull, until she was shoulder-to-shoulder with Rogue. They looked at each other. It was the kind of moment before you plunge into the unknown. Sizing the other person up so see if they back out first. The kind of look that said are we really going to do this? For Yaz that answer will always be Yes.

Yesterday —
Yaz had originally been drawn to the old abandoned Dech Mining HQ through another crazy rumor Graham and Dan had proposed in the Companion Support Group. He had somehow heard from one of his many friends that something suspicious was going on with the international Mining company.

Because even though the company had quietly ended almost 2 years ago there was a lot of activity and energy use for the abandoned building. Also one small favor later, Graham discovered that the company had been on a UNIT watch list for potential alien activity, but because the company was no longer active, none had ever gone to investigate.

The real kicker, as Graham would say, is that several people had gone missing in the area over the years, but recently they had exploded. 17 people disappeared within 2 months.

That had been the thing to convince everyone else it was worth investigating. So the group decided to turn it into a trip, and kill 2 birds with one stone: Help UNIT out by investigating and it was a chance to get out into the feild. Thus the next week 8 of them (Ace, Mel, Tegan, Jo, Ryan, Dan, and his unexpected friend and accomplice Graham) had set out in the official group van chasing adventure as they had been doing for so many years.

She wondered for a second, where this one would lead as she followed Rogue through the door in the darkness. This moment felt important, like the start of something great. There was a mystery here, not just the mystery of the building. But the enigma of Rogue. Where there was mystery, there was always an adventure, Yaz was ready to solve this one head first.

Chapter Text

Everything had been going to plan.

(at least, about as perfectly as it can)

That was not a new thought to cross Rogue’s mind. In fact, it was strange for it not to. Scarcely had a plan gone perfectly, and that often signalled a trap. 

But with time and too many split-second changes in the heat of a chase, he began to predict which things would inevitably go wrong. Setting an alarm off was practically a given, getting captured or missing a deadline were commonplace, and he had grown used to it; it was as much a part of the job as the bounties. 

Of course, Rogue had planned for things to go wrong; it was good practice. However, for this specific bounty, despite running through the plan until it was memorized down to the second, there was one big uncertainty. 

You see, Rogue was a bounty hunter. He came in, captured (or killed) his bounty, and left, never bothering to stick around or deal with the cleanup. And Rogue loved his job, he loved the chase, the adrenaline, (and no, Doc, ‘meeting handsome strangers’ is not a regular occurrence, I just got lucky), and as much as he would deny any morals or good doing, seeing a terrible person get justice always gave him a nice feeling. 

The complication was humans. Somehow, in the grand scheme of the universe, it always went back to Humans. Your planet in shambles? Humans. War? Humans, it was always humans. They were just like any other species, except they had decided that Humanity was the most important and expected everyone else to go along with it.

Humans were a problem because the abandoned warehouse, Rogue was now trapped in, was the epicentre of a string of disappearances. It has started small, a person went missing every few months, and only the type of people whose absence wouldn't matter. (Just thinking about it sent a wash of disgust swirling in Rogue’s stomach, ‘they’ were smart, he had to give them that.)

However, as the plan progressed, the disappearances increased, and ‘they’ became sloppy; now people vanished from right in front of the building’s entrance. Fortunately, (for the bounty), none of the local authorities had put enough effort into the case to put two and two together. But for a time-traveller, the link was clear. So, The Doctor, being the pure-hearted and amazing person he was, had decided to take the bounty. More specifically, the only bounty Rogue had ever seen, without an actual named bounty. 

All of that being said, Rogue had a problem. Not because he had been found and captured, or that he was now chained to the wall (which was a part of the plan and had gone perfectly). But because Rogue was not the only prisoner in the dark. 

Rogue heard a scrape (and yelled protests) of something being dragged into the room, and knew immediately that the plan was going to change. Because, as Rogue was now realizing, the plan had assumed that the Doctor would be the one to deal with any humans. (This was because his social skills and ‘small talk’ left a lot to be desired.)

Not Rogue.

For the record, Rogue would like to include in large font: that he thought this was a bad idea from the start, and for the circumstances, he really tried to be ‘approachable’ as the Doctor would say. 

Because the Universe loved to mess with Rouge, he was paired with the one Human with a death wish.

He matched the Human’s stare. She was a little shorter than Rogue, but the sheer determination in her unflinching expression made up for it. 

The question in her eyes was a challenge, echoing her words from earlier. “I’m going with or without you, so will you help me?” 

And Rogue was struck with the strangest feeling. That she had done this before, in fact, quite a few times.  Which was impossible, as 21st Century Humanity was light-years away from the future Human Empire's lowest point. And this time was only marginally better than 1831; the only difference was that humans had invented a few flashy screens. The life expectancy wasn't even over 150 yet. 

Along with the fact that Humans hadn’t even made it to Mars, so it was impossible that she had ‘travelled the universe’.  

But then again, almost every other human Rogue had ever met, from this time or before, shut down at the mere thought of aliens. Only one human (now 2) ran towards them instead. 

Rogue remembered that night, that wonderful night. And the Doctor’s enthusiastic sidekick, Ruby Sunday. He remembered her kindness and bravery, even when faced with the death sentence of a barren dimension. Most importantly, he remembered The Doctor and Ruby’s friendship, how well they worked together and felt the sting of bittersweet. He had never seen Ruby after that night, and the Doctor gave a curt explanation that she was back home now with her new parents. He guessed there were some lingering feelings; it was not his place to push. 

This human and Ruby were too similar, brave, stubborn, but painfully human. 

Whatever experience she had would not save her from Rogue’s bounty. He had seen the way it had controlled the human and left her shaken in its wake.  And Rogue had enough sense that leaving the Human alone to face the building’s haunter was a mistake. And he was determined to get to the bounty first. 

“Hey! Over here!” The human’s voice filled the space despite being whispered in the other room. Rogue followed the trail of her voice as his flashlight flickered, losing the fight against the looming darkness. The flashlight flickered on, the brightness shining off an immense wall and Rogue’s impending collision. A second later, the light flickered out for good.

Fortunately, Rogue could still see. There was a teal light emanating from somewhere hidden. Rogue followed the light and its absence to the other side of the wall. In a wash of light, was the Human, looking to an opening into the wall- no a container. He looked through the tunnel of light into the source, but something was blocking it. A body.

The human gasped, “Are they alive?”

The answer came not through words, but in silence as the person exhaled. 

Rogue was still examining the person when the silence was broken.

“There’s another one up here”, She shuddered.

Rogue glances up to see the human peaking through another slit above Rogue. He looked back as she gasped. The teal light made her face look ashen, disclosing the sheer number of containers stacked together, sharp lines against the dark. 

So this is where-

“The missing people!” the human gushed in a burst of excitement. 

Rogue was very confused. “Here?” 

“What are you talking about?” The human turned on him sharply, her excitement halting. 

This was not good. More humans. “We assumed that the humans were being used for something, but this is nowhere near the control room, that's on the top floor?” Rogue mumbled that he would have to completely rework the plan. Again. 

“We can figure that out later; there are people to rescue.” She said, sliding her hands across the surface, looking for a handle. Meanwhile, Rogue looked at the large units scattered around the room with no apparent rhythm. Each one was made of dark glassy panels, with no obvious handles or doors. The human groaned, clearly realising that there was no way to get the people out. 

“Well, at least we know where all the missing people are.” She reassured, pulled herself up, “I can come back later.”

Rogue had to agree there; he took the opportunity to highlight the room in green on his hologram. He scanned the room again, imagining the logistics of getting 25 people out of the cases and out. There were 8 units with 3 people each … which meant.  

“It’s one short!” 

The human jumped. “What are you talking about? Everyone’s here! The 24 missing people.”

“25” He countered, only to be met with a glare.

A pause. 

“Fine, say there are 25 people, who’s the lucky extra, and how do you know that it is 25?” A challenge. She was confident in her information; it must be the ‘others’ she mentioned. 

Rogue (only briefly) considered withholding the information. Any other time or place, and it would be the case. However, the information was not sensitive, at least to Rogue. Time travel made his job much simpler. Rouge knew how disastrous false information could be for a mission, and having the human on the same page would improve efficiency. So it was a risk he decided to take. 

*Sigh*

Also, Rogue wanted to be right.

“Deck, after the company went under” 

“But that was over 3 years ago!” She exclaimed, surprised at the admission and information in equal parts.

The human looked at Rogue, really looked. 

“Who are you, Rogue?”

He thought Rogue was a pretty descriptive name; it worked for his enemies. 

“Don’t lie!” She pushed. Talking over Rogue’s immediate response.

He shut his mouth.

“I know you’re not from this time, and not human, so I am going to ask you this one time: Why are you here? And what’s the plan?” She explained, asking the more important questions. 

Smart 

“I’m here to collect my bounty”

Silence

She backed away.

Not even the drone rose to fill it. 

“You’re a bounty hunter.” She hissed. Disgusted. “I can’t believe I trusted you!”

The blood thumped in Rogue’s veins.

Then she stopped, eyes clear but wide. 

“You don’t care about the missing people, you’re only here to get paid!”

Rogue reeled; he was no stranger to backlash for his occupation. Those closest to him were always the loudest. Although he hadn’t expected such a strong reaction. 

He thought they were similar, he and the human. He saw the same drive for justice in her. So what if it was not fully legal? Rogue had seen too many guilty escape unpunished. No legal route could touch those with power; that was a simple fact. 

What really stung was that The Doctor picked this bounty, and Rogue did care; he just didn't want to deal with the humans alone.

Rogue stepped forward, ready to speak his mind (not a grand speech like the Doctor, Rogue was not a man of words) but to spell it out: because yes, it was his job, but he does care and –

–

BOOM

–

It echoed.

The light was gone, and there was nothing to see. 

Everything to hear. 

Rogue padded silently over to the human. Argument forgotten.

They bumped into each other, and his arm was seized in a frightened grip.

Quick breathing, air buzzing.

A strained gurgle.

SPLAT

WOOOSH

Rogue felt the air shift. He started moving a second too late. 

Because there was something in the room.

Something heavy collided into his body, and the air was forced from his lungs. 

And it was out to get them.