Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and never will, but I do own Sophie McQueen and any other characters I make up.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews guys!

I know another long awaited update! I'm sorry the updates have been so spaced, but this episode has been a lot more difficult to write than I thought it would, and it's so long too and been a little hard to figure out where I want to go with the rest of the episode. Thankfully, I got it now at least I hope so lol. Hopefully the rest of the episodes won't be as hard. Anyway, please leave reviews and tell me what you thought!

After making it to H.C. Clements, they went to Donna's office and the Doctor immediately ran to the nearest computer and Sophie was right behind him. She moved to stand beside him as he searched something on the computer, peering over his shoulder.

"This might just be a locksmith, but H.C. Clements was brought up twenty years ago by the Torchwood Institute." He was saying as he typed in whatever he was searching for.

"Who are they?" Donna questioned, confused.

He turned his head towards her immediately as if he was startled by her question and he probably was. "They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf."

There was silence again.

"Cybermen…"

Still silence as Donna stared at him inquiringly. Sophie couldn't help but giggle to herself.

"Skies over London full of Daleks?"

"Oh, I was in Spain." She finally said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"They had Cybermen in Spain."

"Scuba diving."

He blinked at her. "That big picture, Donna – you keep on missing it." He rushed to another computer as Sophie shook her head and moved over to Donna, patting her on the shoulder before moving on to go be near her mate. "Torchwood was destroyed, but H.C. Clements stayed in business. I think…someone else came in and took over." He wacked the side of the computer. "The operation."

"But what do they want with me?"

He turned around quickly to give her his full attention. "Somehow you've been dosed with Huron energy." He started to explain, moving his hands while explaining. "And that's a problem because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark times. The only place you'd find a Huron particle is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. See? That's what happened. Say…that's the TARDIS." He plucked a mug from the desk and showed it to Donna. "And that's you." He picked up a pencil next. "The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetized and WHAP!"

Sophie couldn't stop herself from jumping since she wasn't expecting it and he yelled right next to my ear. "Not so loud, Thete." She mumbled, but he didn't hear her, which she wasn't surprised about, because once he got started, he didn't pay attention to what was going around him.

He tossed the pencil in the mug. "You were pulled into the TARDIS."

"I'm a pencil inside a mug." Donna said in response weakly.

"Yes, you are. 4H. Sums you up." He agreed brightly. "Lance?" He turned to Donna's fiancé. "What was H.C Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?"

"I don't know!" Lance answered defensively, and Sophie frowned at him. Though she hadn't said anything, there was something about him she didn't like, but Sophie couldn't pinpoint what it was. "I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager."

The Doctor didn't say anything else, turning back to the computer and pulling out the sonic. He pointed it to the computer screen, instantly displaying the page he was looking for.

"Why am I even explaining myself?" Lance demanded. "What the hell are we even talking about?"

"He's trying to figure out what's going on so we can help Donna." Sophie snapped, not liking his attitude. "So, if you have nothing useful to say, just shut up." She turned her head and missed the glare Lance sent her way.

"They make keys, that's the point." The Doctor said, getting their attention again. "And look at this…" He showed us the computer screen and on it was a 3D plan of the building. "We're on the third floor."

A few minutes later they stood in front of the elevator, waiting for it to come to their floor.

"Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?" The Docotr asked Donna and Lance. The elevator pinged open and he went inside to look at the controls, and Sophie went inside as well to look too. "Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked 'lower basement'? There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans."

"Are you serious?" Sophie asked and he looked at her, nodding his head. Her eyebrows furrowed in response. "Mm…wonder what could be down there that they would want to hide…?"

"Are you telling me this buildings got a secret floor?" Lance asked, his eyes wide.

"No, I'm showing you this buildings got a secret floor." The Doctor corrected. Now, Lance had an annoyed look on his face, and Sophie couldn't help but roll my eyes at him.

"It needs a key."

"I don't." The Doctor soniced the lock and Sophie smirked, locking her arm with his.

"I love it when you do that." She flirted, causing him to give her his own smirk as he pulled her close.

Her mate looked towards Donna and Lance. "Right then, thanks you two, we can handle this from here – see you later."

The redhead snorted. "No chance, Martian. You're the man who keeps saving my life, I ain't letting out of my sight." She joined them on the lift, and Sophie smiled at her. She loved her and apparently, her baby did too as she could feel her stomach flutter.

The Doctor smiled at her too. "Going down."

"Lance?" Donna said pointedly.

"Maybe I should go to the police." Lance laughed nervously before he started to leave.

Her voice rose a point. "Inside." She demanded, stopping him from leaving.

He grumbled as he meekly went inside the lift.

"To hounor and obey?" The Doctor asked, cocking an eyebrow at Lance.

"Tell me about it, mate."

"Oi!"

Sophie pinched her mate in the side. "Be quiet." She warned, giving him a look.

He flinched at the sight and ducked his head. "Yes ma'am."

Donna smirked in her direction. Sophie couldn't help but smirk back as the elevator went down and stopped when they got to our destination. Each of them stepped outside into a long, dark, dank corridor, and it was dimly lit with an eerie green light.

"Where are we?" Donna asked as she looked around. Sophie wanted to know the answer to that question too. She didn't like it down here as her grip on her mate's hand tightened and moved until she was buried into his side. "Well, what goes on down here?"

"Let's find out…" The Doctor mumbled.

"Do you think Mr. Clements knows about this place?" Donna wondered.

Sophie shrugged, taking a hold of her mate's hand. "It would be weird if he didn't, honestly."

"I think he's part of it." Her mate added in as he squeezed Sophie's hand reassuringly. "Oh, look transport."

Sophie looked at what he was looking at before looking back at him, bemused. "Really, love?"

He grinned at her. "Oh yes!"

Not too long after that, all of them were riding on electric scooters. Sophie was behind her mate with her arms wrapped around his waist and chin perched on his shoulder.

It was rather comical riding on these things. So, it wasn't a surprise all of them started rolling in laughter, except for Lance, who looked at them like they were all weirdos, and maybe they were but it felt good to laugh.

They stopped their scooters in front of door with the words, 'Torchwood – authorized personnel only' plastered on the door before leaving the scooters alone.

The Doctor turned the wheel on the door and easily opened it up, revealing a ladder. He peered up inside.

"Wait here." The Doctor said, looking at the group again. "Just need to get my bearings. Don't…" He pointed at Donna and Lance sternly. "Don't do anything…" He started up the ladder.

"Be careful." Sophie told him, and he nodded at her with a soft smile.

"You'd better come back." Donna added in.

He grinned down at her. "I couldn't get rid of you if I tried."

She smiled back as they watched him go up the ladders. There was silence for a moment until Lance broke it.

"Donna…" he whispered to her, but Sophie could hear him too. "Have you thought of this? Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we going to do?"

"Oh, I thought July." Donna said, clearly not listening.

"Ooh, that would be the perfect time for a wedding." Sophie gushed, and Donna nodded enthusiastically.

"Right." She gushed right back as they started chit chatting back and forth as Lance watched them in disbelief.

The Doctor finally came back down, hopping off the last step of the ladder. "Thames flood barrier!" he exclaimed. "Right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath."

"But why?" Sophie asked, confused.

"What, there's like a secret base hidden beneath a major London landmark?"

"I know! Unheard of."

"This is like some kind of spy movie." Sophie commented as they entered a laboratory, full of massive test tubes bubbling away and chemistry equipment. "But without the explosives and blown up buildings, not that it couldn't still happen with the stuff we go through." She explored the room, wondering what all this stuff could be.

"Oh, look at this!" The Doctor gushed excitedly, going over to one of the test tubes as he peered into the clear glass. "Stunning! Particle extrusion!"

Sophie let out a giggle. She thought her mate was too cute when he got all geeky.

"What does it do?" Donna questioned, having no clue what he was going on about.

"Particle extrusion. Hold on…" He ran to another bubbling tubes and tapped on it. "Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. In case, my people got rid of Huons, they unravelled the atomic structure."

"Your people?" Lance asked. "Who are they? What company do you represent?"

"Oh, I'm a freelancer. But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river! Excluding them through a flat hydrogen base they've got the end result – Huon particles in liquid form." The Doctor picked up a small test tube full of the Huon particles.

Donna eyed it closely. "And that's what inside me?"

He said nothing for a moment as he gently turned the knob on the top of the test tube, making the contents glow and Donna with it.

Sophie watched in awe while the redhead was in shock.

"Oh, my God!" Donna gasped, watching herself glow.

"Because the particles are insert – they need someone living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then…HA!" Donna jumped out of her skin as the Doctor went on another high enthusiasm kick. "The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle – oh, your body is a battleground!"

Sophie was the only one to notice the stressed look on Donna's face, and she was starting to go a little pale. "Theta…"

But he continued on, "There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine, WHAM go the endorphins, oh you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven! A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away, the particles reach boiling point, SHAZAM!"

Sophie could tell a slap was coming and she didn't stop it from happening, knowing her mate deserved it.

Donna slapped him. After getting over the smack, the Doctor looked at her, rubbing his cheek.

"What did I do this time?" he asked her, indignantly.

"Are you enjoying this?" Donna glared at him.

He relaxed, looking ashamed. Sophie patted him on the shoulder gently as Donna walked towards him, breathing heavily in her distress.

"Right, just tell me – these particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?"

"Yes!" The Doctor reassured unconvincingly.

"Theta…" Sophie gave him a look, always able to tell when he wasn't telling the whole truth.

After a moment, he sighed as he avoided Donna's gaze.

"Doctor…" The redhead started, her voice starting to shake. Sophie couldn't help but start rubbing Donna's shoulder in a soothing and it seemed to help, or at least it stopped her voice was shaking too much. "If your lot got rid of Huon particles…why did they do that?"

He finally met her gaze. "Because they were deathly." He told her gently.

"Oh, my God." Donna tensed under Sophie's touch.

Before her mate could say anything, the blonde made Donna turn towards her, placing her other hand on the other shoulder. "Hey, look at me." She said to the bride and the redhead met her gaze. "You have nothing to worry. The Doctor, he's going to take care of this. You aren't going to die. Not on our watch, okay?" It took Donna a moment to nod and take a deep breath, letting it out a second later. "Right Theta?" She directed the question towards her mate, and he nodded immediately.

"Right. We're not about to lose someone else." The Doctor confirmed.

Luckily, Donna looked reassured and Sophie smiled in relief, squeezing her shoulder.

Then suddenly, there were crashes and bangs that seemed to go off from all around them.

Sophie jumped at the sound. "What was that?" she asked worriedly, grabbing on her mate's hand.

"Oh, she is long since lost." A familiar voice boomed. One of the walls slid upwards to reveal a secret chamber with an enormous round hole in the floor.

"Definitely turning into a spy movie…" Sophie mumbled.

"I have witnessed so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe…" No one even noticed Lance scurrying away as the voice continued, "Until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!"

As she spoke those words, the walls of the chambers started to be filled with armed robots, wearing black hoods.

The Doctor peered down the hole as he kept a hold of Sophie's hand. "Someone's been digging…oh, very Torchwood." He glanced at his mate, who was nodding in agreement, before returning to staring into the hole. "Drilled by lasers. How far does it go down?"

"Down and down, all the way down to the Earth!"

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Really? Seriously? What for?"

Sophie didn't get the point of it either. What was down there that this voice wanted to get to?

Donna shuffled forwards. "Dinosaurs." She offered.

"What?"

"Dinosaurs." Donna repeated herself.

"Donna, what are you talking about?" Sophie asked her curiously, tilting her head to the side.

"The film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs." Donna answered as Sophie's mouth made an 'oh' shape. "Trying to help!"

"That's not helping." The Doctor told her bluntly, immediately getting nudged in the elbow by Sophie.

"Being rude again." Sophie reminded him.

"Such a sweet couple." The voice sneered, and it would have been a compliment if there hadn't been a mean tone to it."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Only a madman talks to thin air and trust me, you don't want to make me mad." He looked around. "Where are you?"

"High in the sky, floating so high on Christmas night."

"I didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom! Come on, let's have a look at you!"

"Who are you with such command?!" The voice demanded.

The Doctor grinned. "I'm the Doctor."

The voice scoffed. "Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man, for you will be sick at heart!"

Just then, a large spider like creature transported into the room, snarling and growling.

Sophie's eyes went wide at the sheer size of the creature. The Doctor's eyes went wide too, but for a different reason than his mate.

"The Racnoss." He breathed. "But that's impossible, you're one of Racnoss!"

"Empress of the Racnoss." She corrected him, growling.

The Doctor frowned. "If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss? Or…" Just then, a look of realization crossed his face. "Are you the only one?"

"Such a sharp mind." The Empress snarled.

"That's it, the last of your kind." He turned to Donna and Sophie, seeing the question in their eyes. "The Racnoss comes from the Dark Time, billions of years ago, billions. They were carnivores, omnivores, they devoured whole planets."

"That's horrible." Sophie said, putting her arms around herself. That was very off putting.

"Racnoss are born starving, is that our fault?"

"They eat people?" Donna looked just as revolted as Sophie did.

"H.C. Clements, did he wear those – those erm, black and white shoes?"

Hearing his tone, Sophie's stomach churned, having a feeling where he was going with this.

But Donna didn't get it as she grinned. "He did! We used to laugh, we used to call him the fat cat in in spats.

The Doctor nodded upwards and pointed to a web on the ceilings. Sophie looked up along with Donna, spotting black and white shoes poking out of the sticky substance.

Donna's eyes widened. "Oh my God!"

Sophie wrapped her arms around herself tighter. "That was something I definitely didn't want to see."

"Mm, my Christmas dinner!" The Empress crackled.

"You shouldn't even exist!" The Doctor exclaimed at her. "Way back in history, the Fledging Empires went to war against the Racnoss – they were wiped out."

The Empress smirked smugly. "Except for me."

"But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing." Donna suddenly said, getting Sophie and the Doctor's attention. "Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking! Where do I fit in? How come I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?" The Empress still wouldn't look at her. "Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me."

The Empress crackled again. "The bride is so feisty!"

"Yes, I am! And I don't know what you are, you big…thing. But a spider's just a spider and an axe is an axe! Now, do it!"

Wondering who Donna was speaking to, Sophie looked up to find Lance raising an axe to the Empress. When did he get up there?

But the axe never hit the alien as the Empress took notice to Lance and there was a pause, and laughter from both the alien and Donna's husband to be, confusing everyone. What the hell was going on?

"That was a good one!" Lance crackled with laughter. "Your face!"

The Empress continued to laugh, "Lance is funny."

Poor Donna looked so confused. "What?"

"I'm sorry." The Doctor apologized quietly.

"What's happening?" Sophie asked, and he whispered the answer to her. Immediately, her face fell before anger crossed it. "You got to be kidding me." She directed her glare to Lance, who was still laughter. Anger flared through her again. What an asshole? Sophie opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Donna.

"Sorry for what?" She questioned, confused. She didn't wait for an answer as she turned towards Lance again. "Lance don't be stupid! Get her!"

Her pathetic excuse for a fiancé stared at her like she was an idiot. "God, she's thick." Donna stared at him, completely confused. "Months I had to put up with her. Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map."

"…I don't understand."

Sophie decided to explain, thinking it would be better for Donna to hear it from her. "Don." The nickname came easily out of her mouth, making the redhead to look at her surprised. "Where did you meet Lance again?"

"The office…" Donna said slowly, not getting it yet.

"And what was the thing he gave to you?" The redhead didn't say anything for awhile and Sophie sighed, placing hands on Donna's shoulders. "He gave you coffee, Donna. He put the Huon particles in it. Every day."

Donna looked at her, hearing how serious she was. "Is this true?" she asked quietly as she turned her gaze to Lance.

He smirked. "You finally get it." He said slowly as if he was talking to someone completely out of their mind.

Sophie glared at him.

Then the Doctor spoke up. "You had to be dosed with liquid particles over six months."

"He was poisoning me." Donna breathed, heartbroken.

"I'm sorry, Donna." Sophie told her gently. She hated seeing that look on her new friend's face.

The redhead didn't say anything.

It was the Doctor's turn to glare at Lance. "It was all there in the job title – the Head of Human Resources."

"This time, it's personnel." Lance and the Empress glanced at each other before laughing together again.

This was the last straw for Sophie, and she blamed it on the hormones. "Stop laughing!" She snarled. "This isn't some freaking joke! You can't treat someone that way and think you can get away with it by laughing it off!"

Lance ignored her, and Sophie honestly was about to up there and smack the smug look off his face. She would have if the Doctor hadn't grabbed her arm and pulled her to see his side before she could do that.

"But…we were getting married…" Donna said, looking like she was about to cry.

"Well, I couldn't risk you running off." Lance smirked again. "I had to say yes. And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle. Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap, yap, yap – 'oh, Brad and Angelina – is Posh pregnant?' X Factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shui, split ends, text me, text me, text me, dear God." Lance rolled his eyes exasperatingly. "The never-ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia."

The mental abuse was getting too much if the look on Donna's face was any hint and Sophie didn't hesitate to hold her, her maternal instinct kicking in immediately. The redhead took the comfort.

The Doctor went to stand in front of the two. "Oh, is that what she offered you? The Empress of the Racnoss? What are you? Her consort?"

"It's better than a night with her." Lance pointed at Donna.

"I was thinking the exact same thing." Sophie sneered, tightening her grip on Donna.

"Oh, shut up." Lance snapped, and the Doctor sported a furious look at his words.

"You don't get to talk to her like that." He growled.

Lance didn't look frightened at all, even though he should be.

"But I love you." Donna protested.

"That's what made it easy. It's like you said, Doctor – the big picture – what's the point of it all if the Human Race is nothing? That's what the Empress can give to me. This chance to…go out there. To see it. I think you understand, don't you, Doctor?"

"Who is this little physician?"

"What she said – Martian." Lance gave him a narrowed eyed look.

The Doctor ignored the look as he went back to his normal self. "Oh, I'm sort of…homeless. But the point is, what's down here? The Racnoss are extinct. What's gonna help you four thousand miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?"

"I think he wants us to talk."

"I think so too."

"Well tough!" Lance shouted, pointing at him. "All we need is Donna!"

"Well, you can't have her!" Sophie snapped, letting go of Donna to stand in front of her protectively. "You're gonna have to go through me." Lance stared at her before bursting out laughing and her face burned red with anger.

"Kill this chattering little doctor man and his lover!"

Donna jumped in front of the Doctor and Sophie, now trying to protect them. "Don't you dare hurt them!"

"No, no, it's alright."

"No, I won't let them!" Donna exclaimed, frightened. "Especially not Sophie and your guys' baby."

"At arms!" The Empress shouted, and the robots pointed their guns at the Doctor and Sophie.

"Ah, no. Except." The Doctor tried to interrupt.

The Empress wasn't listening. "Take aim!"

"Well, I just want to point out the obvious…"

She smirked. "They won't hit the bride. They're such very good shots."

"Just…just…just hold on, just a tick – just a little – tick." He tried to stall. "If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside mine and my mate's spaceship. So, reverse it…the spaceship comes to her." He pulled out the tube of Huon particles and tweaked it again, causing the tube and Donna to glow.

"Fire!" The Empress cried out.

They fired their guns, but it was too late, as the whirling sound of the TARDIS sounded and the blue box appeared around them in an instant.

TBC...

In...

The Runaway Bride, Part 5...

Extra long chapter for you guys cause of the long wait! I'm planning on working on the next chapter pretty soon, so look out for that! Anyway, until next time and please leave reviews!