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***

Fitz grimaced as he moved his right arm around in its joint and felt the wound on his shoulder being pulled. It hurts when I do this,' he complained.

'Don't do that, then,' said the Doctor.

'Funny man.' Fitz shuddered as the Doctor placed the leech in a jar full of saline solution, grateful at least that the thing was out of him now.

Suddenly, he noticed the other leech in its dish of congealed blood.

'What's wrong with that one, anyway?'

'Dead,' the Doctor replied curtly, emptying an impossible amount of equipment into his case. Fitz didn't blink an eye. 'Watson must've damaged it when he drained my machine here for the information on Roley's brain. It was still trying to reformat the simulated neurons for activation of the program.' The machine, too, fitted mysteriously inside.

'So why are you packing up?' asked Fitz. 'I thought you were going to whiz up some potion to -'

'I'm not a magician, Fitz,' said the Doctor, now lifting the case as if it weighed nothing at all. 'It could take days, or weeks, to find the answer.'

'Sam doesn't have that long, right?'

The Doctor looked grave. 'Right. So I'm going back to the people who did this to her, to find out what exactly it was they did do to her.'

'You're going there now?'

'In the TARDIS. Take this for me.'

Fitz took the offered case. It really did weigh nothing at all. 'The TARDIS.

That's your police box, isn't it?' he said.

He nodded as he scooped Sam up in his arms. 'Come on, quickly.'

'What about Roley?' asked Fitz. 'What about my mum?'The Doctor ignored him and carried Sam out of the door. Fitz shouted after him. 'Doctor!'

The Doctor turned, agitated, and spoke very quickly to him. 'Whatever these people did to Sam, they're responsible for your mother's state as well. If we're to stand a chance of helping anyone here, we need their knowledge. Otherwise, we're just stumbling round in the dark.'

Fitz slouched along behind him. 'I never used to be scared of the dark,' he said.

***

Maria could crawl now; it hurt, but she could do it. She'd dragged that dark-haired witch away from her boyfriend again and was heaving herself slowly up the stairs.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching. Before she'd had time to react, the Doctor was practically jumping over her to get past, Sam in his arms, Fitz right behind him.

'Where are you going?' she demanded. 'Have you left Charles alone up there?'

'We're... we're getting help,' said Fitz.

'What kind of help?' Maria was suspicious. "The police?'

'No,' called the Doctor, peering at the front door. It was still welded shut.

"That's the worst thing we could do.'

'We're going to find the people that started this whole thing in the first place,' Fitz explained.

'Oh, I see. Going to invite them round to tea, are you? Going to show them how well everything's turned out thanks to them, are you?' Fitz turned away, giving up on her. 'It's not fair: you're helping her and not Charles,'

Maria insisted. 'My legs are getting better. Charles could get better, too.'

'Your paralysis was only suggested by Watson and the others,' said the Doctor, straining to keep calm. 'Once their influence was taken away you regained feeling in the nerves and muscles.' He shook his head, sadly. 'I suspect the damage to Roley's mind was very real. The brain can't just bounce back from something like that.'

With that, the Doctor made for the direction of the drawing room.

'And you're just going to let them get away with it, are you?' she yelled after him.

'We'll be back soon with knowledge that can help them,' were the Doctor's last words as he and Fitz vanished from sight. Then he popped back round the corner. 'If Fitz carries Sam as well as my case, perhaps I could carry -'

'Forget it,' Maria bristled. She imagined the embarrassment of his trying to lift her, and Charles alone in the house with these animals.

'Be careful,' said the Doctor, anxiously glancing down at Sam again