"Doctor!" Rose screamed as she ran though a forest of clanking chains that hung from the ceiling of the dark dimension. The image of the Doctor she chased steadily grew larger, which indicated she was getting closer. She was almost there when suddenly it disappeared.

Rose skidded to a halt and frantically looked around though she was blind in the pitch darkness. "Doctor?!" She cried out. She heard the sound of chattering teeth and whirled around to see nothing. From behind her was the sound of creaking leather. She turned and again saw nothing.

"Rose." She heard a raspy, sultry voice whisper. She turned again and froze in horror. There was the Doctor, shirtless, suspended by black hooks piercing through his shoulders and arms, blood streamed from the wounds. His head hung limp and sweat dripped from his soaked hair. His ankles were bound together by a single chain attached to the floor holding his body at an angle over a pit. The pit glowed with a vibrant orange light and reflected off the Doctor's sweat covered body giving him a fiery look. Rose realized he was slowly being burned.

"Doctor." She was barely able to whisper and somehow managed to stagger toward him a couple of steps.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked the rasping voice. Rose could see the female Cenobite standing just inside the shadows looking upon the Doctor's torment as one would enjoy a fine art.

The Doctor slowly raised his head and when his eyes fell on Rose, he closed his eyes and cried. His sobs were muffled for some reason and Rose ran up to the edge of the pit; its broiling fire reminded her of a sun.

She looked up at the Doctor and covered her mouth in horror when she saw that his mouth was sewn shut. "I'll get you out of here," she said in a voice that she'd wanted to sound confident, but her own terror was too strong. He moaned and violently shook his head while looking at her with pleading eyes.

Fighting back tears, she spied a set of pokers sticking out of the floor next to the pit and pulled one out. Brandishing the poker like a weapon, she marched up to the female Cenobite. "Let him go!" She demanded. The Cenobite merely smiled and stepped back, vanishing in the darkness.

"Why would I do that?" said a familiar voice. "He will make an excellent Cenobite."

Rose spun around, holding the poker in front of her, and faced Pinhead. He walked up to the light with a smile, smug and collected. He held the wrist of Mr. Shloke and by keeping his arm straight, he forced the alien to stagger over behind him. When Pinhead stopped, the shopkeeper crouched next to him like an obedient dog.

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked keeping the poker trained on the Cenobite leader.

"He is the destroyer of worlds and the killer of his own kind." Pinhead turned his black eyes onto the Doctor with pride. "And he knows all about torture. Don't you, Doctor?"

The Doctor glowered at the Cenobite. "Look at this masterpiece he devised for himself," Pinhead continued, sweeping his hand toward the Time Lord, "I can't wait to see what he thinks of for others."

"You're lying!" Rose yelled at the Cenobite. "You're doing this to him! Now let him go!"

"Oh, I'm not lying." Pinhead smiled. "Look."

Rose looked at the Doctor and her face slowly fell as she saw the truth in his eyes. "Why?" She whispered. He turned his head away from her in shame.

"He murdered all the Time Lords in existence," said Pinhead with admiration. "And then he burned his own planet. Beautiful."

Rose faltered as she felt her heart sink. Slowly, she lowered the poker until its tip rested on the floor. She looked down on the floor and didn't pay much attention as the female Cenobite dragged Mr. Shloke off into the darkness. Her head spun. She didn't know what to think and she didn't know what to do. Her eyes wandered aimlessly until she noticed the Doctor's jacket crumpled on the floor a couple feet away from Pinhead. She raised her gaze and focused on the leader of the Cenobites.

"The portal is still open and you are still free to leave," he said and motioned toward the swirling hole that leads back to the shop. "The Doctor's sacrifice and transformation guarantees your safe passage."

Rose felt a hate grow in her chest that she never felt for anything or anyone. In a heartbeat, she made a decision. She screamed and charged at Pinhead, who raised a curious eyebrow at her sudden action. Behind her, she could hear a muffled scream from the Doctor and the rattle of the chains that held him.

The Cenobite stood his ground as Rose raised the poker and drove it through his heart. He staggered back, clutching the poker in surprise, his mouth gaped open. Rose quickly snatched up the jacket and shoved her hand into the inside pocket, pulling out the sonic.

Thankfully, the Doctor had shown her the code to open clamps and locks, and she dashed to the chains at the Doctor's ankles tossing the jacket aside. The sonic bleeped and the fastener that connected the chain to a metal ring on the floor snapped open.

The Doctor's body swung forward over the pit, but Rose realized too late that his legs wouldn't clear the edge. She closed her eyes and winced as his shins struck the sharp edge. His muffled yelp and following screams snapped her into action. His feet were inside the pit close to the intense fire and heat. Rose scrambled around the pit and wrapped her arm around his legs, pulling them forward and out.

Through her tears that welled up from the additional pain she caused the Doctor, Rose glanced toward where Pinhead should have been. His absence terrified her and she hurriedly waved the sonic over the clamps on the hooks in the Doctor's shoulders and arms. She did his arms first, each falling limp to his side. Without thinking it through, she released a shoulder chain that made his body fall lopsided with all his weight now on one hook. The Doctor moaned loudly and closed his eyes in pain. Rose started sobbing but managed to release the other shoulder hook.

The Doctor's knees were inches above the hard floor, so when his body fell, it thankfully didn't have far to go. Rose caught him under the arms and struggled to get him to his feet. He whimpered and slouched, he was almost a dead weight, but she renewed her determination and dragged him as far as she could.

Catching her breath, Rose shoved the sonic in her back pants pocket and got a better hold of the Doctor. She looked around for the Cenobites, but could see nothing in the pitch darkness. Still, she knew they were lurking out there somewhere.

Rose dragged the Doctor again until she had to stop to renew her grip that slipped on his sweat and blood covered arms. Just a little bit farther, she thought as she saw how close she was to the portal. With a heave, she continued to pull the barely conscious Doctor across the smooth, cold floor.

When she reached the light that spilled in from the outside, Rose shed tears of joy. Then the dark figure of Pinhead stepped between her and the portal. His silhouetted form threatened to swallow her hope as she shrank back from the Cenobite and attempted to cover the Doctor protectively.

"I accept your trade," Pinhead said with the sound of victory in his voice.

Rose frowned not understanding what the monster was referring to, but at that moment it didn't matter because Pinhead stepped to the side of the portal. The hair on the back of her neck rose as she watched him fade into the darkness and his maniacal laughter sent shivers down her spine. Not wanting to test fate, Rose quickly grabbed the Doctor and pulled him through the portal.

Rose sat on the wooden, dusty floor of the antique store next to the limp form of the Doctor pondering Pinhead's words. But the portal wasn't closing like it did last time. She spied the puzzle box on the floor, not remembering when she dropped it, and picked it up.

Staring at it, Rose suddenly recalled the word that the Doctor mouthed to her, Elysium. The image on the parchment flashed into her mind and she quickly turned the pieces of the puzzle box until it matched what she remembered on the paper. She breathed a sigh of relief as the portal quickly shrank in size and vanished.

It was over.

Rose looked down at the Doctor, still unmoving and covered in his orange-red blood from the wounds of the hooks. She felt weak and collapsed over his body into a fit of hard sobs. After a few minutes, she felt the Doctor move underneath her and she sat up wiping tears from her eyes.

"Rose?" he asked in a soft voice as he turned over and looked up at her.

"Doctor." She managed to say through a quivering lip.

He climbed up to his knees, and rested the palm of his hand on her cheek. His expression was grim and thankful, sad and proud all at the same time. Tears streamed down his cheeks, but he offered Rose a small smile. "Come here," he said.

She rose to her knees and fell into his arms, wrapping her own around him so tight, she never wanted to let go. She pressed her head against his chest, ignoring the drying blood, and fell into another fit of sobs. The Doctor gently ran his fingers through her hair. "Shhh, it's ok now, Rose." He comforted her.

Finally, her sobs ceased, though tears still streamed down her cheeks, and he rested his hands on her shoulders as he leaned back and looked into her eyes with a soft smile. "Your wounds." She looked him over with a smile realizing the stitches that closed his mouth were gone. "You're healed. They must have healed you. But what did that Cenobite mean? What did I trade?"

The Doctor's eyes filled with sadness and his face was grim. Killing the Cenobites was another promise he wouldn't keep. There was no killing those creatures of torment, not when Rose paid such a high price.

Without answering, he climbed to his feet and helped Rose to hers. He picked up the Lament Configuration and looked at it with a deep sigh. He was going to have to make sure that when he locked it away in the TARDIS, it would never find its way out.

"Doctor?" she asked and worried why he wouldn't answer her like he'd always done before.

He cupped her cheek in his hand and his sadness thickened. "Oh Rose, you ran a poker through that creature's heart. You showed him you were willing to kill for me. You traded your innocence," he said grimly. Without another word, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his side, and the pair headed back to the TARDIS in silence.

.

.

End.