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By Root 340 0

figure in filthy wet clothes collapse forward into the debris and grime hiding the metal floor. A girl - the one who had tried to help her when Vasid had gone mad. It seemed like such a long time ago... Sam. Her skin was red, badly burnt. When the girl raised her head, even from this range, Anstaar could see that the eyes were wild and frightened.

Anstaar opened her mouth to call out, to say something, but no words came. She realised how tired she was, how much she was hurting.

Sam had crawled on her hands and knees over to a shape on the floor.

Looking through the glass shield that had stayed intact above the instrumentation panels, Anstaar saw it was the crumpled form of the Doctor. Her dark eyes widened in alarm, but the effort of thinking too hard hurt, and the noisy chugging of the engine was lulling her back down to a sleepy lethargy.

She saw the girl stroking the Doctor's face, gingerly - she must have seen the cuts there. She put a hand either side of his ribcage - then a wail escaped the cracked lips.

Anstaar guessed the Doctor must be dead, then. The Doctor had lost Sam, and now Sam had lost the Doctor. Anstaar watched the girl scream and shout and start crying, seemingly oblivious to anything around her.

Sam pulled at the buttons of the Doctor's shirt, beat his chest, crouching over him protectively.

Tilting his head back, pressing her lips against his, breathing hard, trying to resuscitate, pounding the chest.

Pressing her lips against his - lips hard-pressed -

Kissing him. The jaw moving almost mechanically, hands scrunching up his shirt. Pulling at the fabric.

Light fading.

Anstaar had slumped forward. A blaring noise struck up suddenly from near the steering mechanism, woke her with a jolt, threw her back. Vision swam back into focus.

The girl was at the window, tears streaming down her crumpled face. She looked ridiculously young. 'You're Sam,' she began.

'What are you doing in our car?' Sam sobbed, accusingly,her eyes spiteful.

'I'm Anstaar.' She closed her eyes. 'I was...'

'I don't know - I don't believe -' The words wouldn't leave Sam's mouth. She walked helplessly back to the Doctor's body on the filthy floor.

The control room had become freezing cold, and Anstaar shivered, opening the door and trying to haul herself out. 'I saw you.' Anstaar didn't know what to say. Sam looked at her and collapsed in angry tears.

'You saw me what? What?' The words resounded round the dead room.

'What?' The girl was hitting the Doctor's body, hitting herself.

Anstaar hobbled over.'But isn't he...?'

'No!' Sam looked at the Doctor's prone body in anguish. She ran from the room, leaving Anstaar alone in the dim light. 'No!'

Anstaar could see a slight layer of frost forming on the Doctor's skin, hiding the cuts and grazes. He looked beautiful, and at peace.

She left him then and hobbled painfully through the littered Kusk bodies in pursuit of the girl.'Come back! Sam, this place is shutting down. We'll die if we don't get out!'

Sam's voice screamed back at her, hysterical.'I don't care!'

There was the sound of more debris falling, some way off, ahead of her.

'Sam?'

Silence.

Anstaar wondered if all the Kusks were dead. Nothing stirred in the thick blackness, but that didn't mean -

Then she heard the sobbing, a child's sobs, inconsolable in the darkness.

Why was it dark at night?

Anstaar had always hated the dark.

***

'Liz and Simon... married...St Oswald's...'

The Doctor stirred, groggily raising himself on to his elbows. Anyone there?' Silence.'We're still here! We did it. "Boom"!' He breathed in deeply.

'Yes, a palpable "Boom"!' Then he sniffed, like a dog catching a scent. His voice came in a hoarse whisper. 'Sam!'

He scrambled to his feet, exuberant, ignoring the pain twisting his body.'Sam! "This time it was a proclamation.'Sam, you're here,you're -'he felt the chill in the thin air - 'alive?'

The corridor beyond was shrouded in blackness.'Sam?' The car was empty, the door ajar. 'Anstaar?'

Silence. Under the car