THE ADVENTURES OF THE DOCTOR'S AMAZING HAND

Chapter Fifty Two

The Doctor was relieved when they realized that the lab was empty except for a lone Toclafane who was patrolling the building. The building was three stories so they only encountered the ball once on his rounds. They froze and let it pass and when it was gone, they continued with their search. The Doctor quietly described Donna's appearance to everyone so they'd know what to look for. They decided to split up into two teams with the Doctor and John each taking a group. The Doctor took Martha, Ianto and James while John took Rose and Kameko. John's group stayed on the ground floor while the Doctor's group went to find a lift.

"D'ya think Donna's still alive?" Rose said softly to John while they walked.

"Dunno, I hope so," he said.

"You don't know her, right?"

"No, I've never met her before but I s'pose if she's here, she'll recognize me," he said.

They walked towards a door and John tried it. It was unlocked and he opened it and looked in. It was somebody's office. They looked around and then closed the door and walked on. They tried several more doors but all of them were offices.

"Blast," John said. "No labs in sight."

They were heading towards another door when Rose suddenly stopped John and Kameko. They turned and saw her pointing to the ground. They looked down and saw a steel handle was embedded deep in the concrete floor. John made the women step back and then he tried it. He was shocked for a moment when he realized that it was a hidden trap door designed to look like concrete. When he lifted it though, he saw wood underneath the faux concrete. He lifted it up all the way and back, laying it back on the floor. He pulled a torch out of his pocket and shined it down at the opening. They saw wooden steps leading down.

"What is this?" Kameko said.

John translated for Rose and translated back to Kameko when Rose said, "Maybe it's where they're keeping the prisoners."

They went down the stairs with John taking the lead. When they reached bottom, they were in a narrow corridor. On either side of them were cells that were embedded in the walls. A Perspex wall covered the only opening into the prison. They walked to the first one and looked inside. It was empty. The walls were made of concrete and there was a ratty old quilt in the corner that served as bedding. To John's distress, he also saw dog's bowls for food and water. Shaking his head, they turned around and looked in the cell across from it. They saw a young Asian woman lying on a quilt, half naked and shivering. There was half eaten food in her dog bowl and the other bowl was filled with water. John felt disgust at what he was seeing. He noticed there was a keyhole in the left side of the Perspex and could see the thin outline of a door.

"I don't have the screwdriver," he said to Rose. "We need the Doctor to come here."

"I'll go get him," Rose said.

John nodded and told her to be careful before she ran back up the stairs. They walked to the cell next to it and saw a black woman inside. She was also shivering and half naked. John shook his head sadly and they went across the corridor and checked the cell. That one was empty and so was the one next to it. But when they went across to the last cell, they saw a half naked woman lying on her quilt staring up at the ceiling. She turned her head towards them and stared at them with dull, empty eyes. Her hair was short, as short as the Ninth Doctor's had been but John could tell it was ginger colored.

"I think this is Donna," he said to Kameko in Japanese. "But we have to wait till the Doctor comes because he has the lock pick. Donna? Are you Donna?" he said to the woman.

Donna stared at him for a moment in silence.

"Doctor?" she said. "Is that you or am I imagining things?"

"Well…I am technically the Doctor but I'm not the original Doctor. He's coming though. Are you alright?"

"No," Donna said.

"Hold on, we're going to get you out of there," John said.

"How did you find me?" Donna said weakly.

"Um, there's a lab in London that had journals that mentioned this lab and your name was listed. The Doctor saw it and came here to rescue you along with these other women. What did they do to you?"

"Beat me," she said. "Starved me or fed me dog food. They kept saying they wanted to brainwash me and use me to make babies."

John's hearts went out to her. He reassured her that the Doctor was coming before he heard feet on the wooden steps. He looked up and saw Rose and the Doctor coming downstairs. He walked over to John and John saw the anguish in the Doctor's face when he saw Donna.

"Oh, Donna," the Doctor said, getting out his screwdriver and unlocking the door.

He called for everyone else to come down and John showed him where the other two women were. The Doctor unlocked their doors and the Doctor went inside Donna's cell while the others tended to the two women.

"Donna," the Doctor said, kneeling down beside her. "Are you alright?"

Donna looked at him.

"Are you the actual Doctor?" she said.

"Yes. The other Doctor is a clone," he said. "Speaking of, did they mention you mating with one of my clones?"

Donna was taken aback.

"Just how many clones do you have?" she said.

"Um…John, this clone that's supposedly here and two dead ones back in London."

"I see. And are you sure you counted them all?" she said.

"No, I'm sure by the time this is over and done with, there'll be many more. Did they tell you why you're here?"

"No, they failed to mention that while they were beating me," Donna said. "Did say I was suppose to mate with someone."

"Yes, that someone is supposed to be one of my clones."

Donna was stunned into silence. Her mouth opened but at first she couldn't bring the words out.

"What?" she finally said.

"I'll explain everything but first I want to get you out of here and get you and these other women to safety. Can you walk?"

"Think so, I'm aching though."

The Doctor nodded. He helped Donna to stand and put the quilt over her half naked body. She was stiff and sore but with the Doctor's help, she managed to walk out of her cell. John and James helped the other two captives and they walked them up the stairs. Once they were upstairs, the Doctor handed John and James perception filters and he put one around Donna while they did the same with the other two women. Then they walked them to the nearest office and helped them sit down on a sofa on the right side of the room. Once they were resting and comfortable, Rose and James volunteered to stay with them while the others looked for the clone. The others closed the door and left while Rose and James stayed behind. Rose found a mini refrigerator in the corner beside a window and looked in it. She found some cans of soda pop and they gave one can to each of the women. They quietly asked the two unfamiliar women their names and where they were from.

"Sheila," the black woman said softly, "I'm from Detroit."

"Imiko, I'm from Osaka," the Asian woman said.

"Are there any other women here?" James asked.

The three women shared a glance.

"There were two other women but I think they killed em," Sheila said.

"They used them in experiments?" James asked.

"Dunno," Donna said. "They were imprisoned with us and beaten and starved and then one day they came and got them and we never saw them again."

"And you were gonna be next eventually," James said.

"S'pose so," Donna said. "I was too busy just trying to survive to give it much thought. The way they were treating me, I was ready to welcome death."

"Don't worry, we'll take care of you and get you healed up," Rose said. "We might find somewhere to spend the night so everyone can rest."

"Anywhere sounds good as long as it's not that cell," Sheila said.

Meanwhile, the others were on the second floor searching for the clone. They had run into the Toclafane once and stood still while it passed by before moving on. The Doctor used his screwdriver to unlock any locked doors but they only found offices, a kitchen and lavatories. No laboratories.

"Maybe the lab's on the third floor," Martha said.

"Or there's another hidden room," Ianto said.

"Should we split up and have two people search the third floor?" Martha asked.

"Yeah, you and Ianto go ahead. I'll take Kameko," he said before translating to her what he just said.

Kameko nodded and the Doctor and she walked off while Ianto and Martha went back towards the lift.

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