WOAH. Do you guys still remember me?

Well, I got a couple of random, encouraging reviews, and I needed something to write to get rid of my writer's block, and I remembered how much fun it is to insert random 10/Rose fluff into the show, and then I heard that David Tennant and Billie Piper are FRICKIN' COMING BACK FOR THE FIFTIETH AND GOSH DARN IT THERE BETTER BE SOME FLUFF, and so here we are again. :D

~Phoenix~

/\/\/\/\

"There's someone behind this, directing the robo-force," the Doctor was saying as he ran into the parking lot.

"But why is it me? What have I done?" Donna complained in confusion as she stopped at his side.

"If we find the controller, we'll find that out." The Doctor buzzed his sonic screwdriver. "Oh!" He held it in the air. "It's up there... something in the sky."

/\

He was right, of course; and high above the Earth sat a humongous, star-shaped web hovering over London.

"Clever, clever, clever boy. Travelling man. He shall come to me and beautiful bride. Such secrets to unlock! I shall descend this night - I shall descend upon this Earth and shine!" hissed the large spider laying in wait above their heads.

/\

Oblivious to anything of the sort, the Doctor let out a huff of exasperation. "I've lost the signal - Donna, we've got to get to your office, H C Clements. I think that's where it all started." He noticed Donna's husband, standing nearby. "Lance - it's Lance, right? Can you give me a lift?"

Without waiting for an answer, he darted off. Rose smiled apologetically to the couple at his abruptness. "Yeah... he's always like that," she answered the unspoken question. Lance huffed, overwhelmed, as the two ladies ran off after him. He followed reluctantly.

/\/\/\/\

Arriving at H. C. Clements, the four ran into the building and towards Donna's office. The Doctor made a beeline straight for the computer.

"This might just be a locksmiths, but H C Clements was brought up twenty three years ago by the Torchwood Institute," the Doctor said. Rose inhaled sharply, her face going stormy. Donna was confused.

"Who're they?"

"They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf."

Donna's face was utterly blank.

The Doctor and Rose looked at her unbelievingly. "...Cyberman invasion?" Rose prompted. Donna just stared at them inquiringly. The Doctor straightened up, looking at her in bemusement. "Skies over London full of Daleks?"

"Oh, I was in Spain," Donna answered, as if that explained everything.

"...they had Cybermen in Spain."

"Scuba diving!"

"The big picture, Donna - you keep on missing it!" the Doctor said, rushing to another computer. "Torchwood was destroyed, but H. C. Clements stayed in business. I think... someone else came in and took over -" he whacked the monitor "-the operation!"

"But what do they want with me?" Donna asked fearfully.

Done with the computer, the Doctor diverted his full attention to Donna. "Somehow you've been dosed with Huon energy. And that's a problem, because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark Times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. See? That's what happened." She still didn't understand, so he tried again. "Say... that's the TARDIS." He held up a coffee mug. "And this is you." He picked up a pencil. "The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised and WHAP!" he threw the pencil into the mug, "you were pulled inside the TARDIS."

"I'm a pencil inside a mug?" Donna asked weakly, overwhelmed.

"Yes, you are. 4H. Sums you up." Rose rolled her eyes at him as he continued swiftly. "Lance? What was H.C. Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? 'Do not enter'?"

"I don't know, I'm in charge of personnel," Lance answered defensively. "I wasn't project manager."

The Doctor held his screwdriver to the monitor and a page immediately displayed.

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

"They make keys, that's the point," the Doctor continued. "And look at this..." the computer displayed a 3D plan of the building. "...we're on the third floor."

The Doctor ran to the elevator, and, exhausted, the others followed.

"Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?"

The door let out a ping sound and opened smoothly. The Doctor went inside, looking at the controls.

"Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked 'lower basement'?" He pointed to the button in question. "There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans. So what's down there, then?"

"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?" Lance asked incredulously.

"No, I'm showing you this building's got a secret floor," grinned the Doctor cheekily.

"It needs a key," Donna said uncertainly.

"I don't." the Doctor soniced the lock. "Right then, thanks you two. We can handle this - see you later! Rose?"

Rose quickly joined him in the lift, but Donna would have none of it - she pushed right next to them. "No chance, Martian. You're the man who keeps saving my life, I ain't letting you out of my sight," she said.

The Doctor, unwilling to argue with the temperamental bride, shrugged slightly. "Going down..."

"Lance?" Donna said pointedly.

"Maybe I should - go to the police," he spluttered.

"Inside!"

Lance joined them resignedly.

"To honour and obey?" the Doctor muttered.

"Tell me about it, mate," Lance answered in exasperation.

"OI!"

Rose giggled as the doors closed.

/\/\

The lift pinged as the doors opened, and the four spilled out into a damp, green-lit basement. Rose blinked in the dim light, her eyes struggling to focus.

"Where are we? Well, what goes on down here?" Donna demanded nervously at the creepy corridor.

"Let's find out..." murmured the Doctor curiously.

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

"The mysterious H C Clements? I think he's part of it," the Doctor answered. Suddenly his eyes caught something, and a broad grin spread across his face. "Oh, look," he said cheekily, "transport!"

Three electric scooters stood unassumingly next to the wall. The Doctor jumped on one, Donna following suit eagerly and Lance bringing up the rear; Rose jumped on the Doctor's, holding onto his shoulders as the three zipped down the hall.

Rose was trying her best - she really was - but the sight of them all trundling down the secret base was so comical that she couldn't help herself. She buried her face in the Doctor's shoulder but found herself giggling. She made eye contact with Donna, and after a split-second's hesitation, the two burst into hysterical laughter. The Doctor twisted his head and chuckled with them as Rose practically fell off their scooter from laughing. She held onto the Doctor as an anchor as Donna and she let all of their tension go.

Lance, on the other hand, only scowled. Lighten up, Lance, Rose thought through her giggles.

They abandoned their scooters as they reached a sign reading "TORCHWOOD - PERSONNEL ONLY". The Doctor turned a large wheel, and peered through the door; a ladder led up to somewhere unknown up above. He turned to the other three.

"Wait here. You too, Rose, sorry, just need to get my bearings. Don't..." he glared pointedly, poking his finger at each of them "...do - anything!" He raised eyebrows at Rose especially, who grinned, her tongue poking out through her teeth. "No promises," she teased.

"You'd better come back," Donna called up worriedly, but Rose looked unconcerned.

"Of course. I wouldn't leave Rose. Besides," the Doctor said with a smirk, "I couldn't get rid of you if I tried."

Donna smiled slightly as they watched him climb the ladder. Lance was frantically agitated.

"Donna... have you thought about this? Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we gonna do?" Lance said, rubbing his face. Rose found herself rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"Oh, I thought July," Donna said distractedly, still concentrating on the Doctor. Rose smiled.

A slight pause before the Doctor jumped down next to them, grinning brightly. "Thames flood barrier!" he proclaimed. "Right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath."

"What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?!" Donna cried unbelievingly.

"I know!" Rose said, exchanging an extremely amused glance with the Doctor. "Unheard of, right?"

"C'mon-" the Doctor said. He led them into a room nearby, and now they were in some sort of laboratory. His face lit up at the various test tubes and chemistry equipment bubbling around him. "Oh, look at this! Stunning! Particle extrusion!"

"What's that mean?" Rose questioned curiously, following him. He ducked behind a huge test tube, and his face distorted comically.

"Particle extrusion," he repeated, as if the second time made it a lot clearer. He tapped the test tube. "Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. My people got rid of Huons, they unravelled the atomic structure."

"Your people?" Lance pounced on the small tidbit of information, starting to pry. "And who are they? What company do you two represent?" He motioned to them almost angrily. "I mean you're obviously working together for some kind of business... which one?"

"Er - we're sort of - freelancers," the Doctor answered distractedly as Rose smirked. "But this lot are trying to rebuild them. And brilliantly, too! They've been using the river! Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result - Huon particles in liquid form."

He held up a small tube filled with clear liquid.

"That's what's inside me?" Donna asked anxiously.

The Doctor twisted the top of the tube and the particles inside started to glow spinning gold. Suddenly, Donna started to react with it - golden tendrils seemed to spin from her body. She gasped in shock. "Oh, my God!"

"Because the particles are inert - they need something living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then... HA!"

Donna and Rose both jumped as the Doctor's face lit up, and he started rambling enthusiastically. "The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle - oh, your body's a battleground! 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-!" And again, without pretense, Donna slapped him across the face. This second time, being present to the situation, Rose started giggling hysterically at the Doctor's face as, aghast, he cried, "What did I do THIS time?!"

"Are you enjoying this?" Donna snapped seriously. The Doctor relaxed, slightly ashamed, and let out a breath.

Donna walked towards him a little, and Rose edged forward unconsciously, not forgetting the fall-on-top-of-each-other moment. "Right, just tell me - these particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?"

The Doctor hesitated for just a little too long. "...well, yes-"

"Doctor... if your lot got rid of Huon particles... why did they do that?"

The Doctor looked at Rose for help, but she was watching him just as intently as Donna. "Doctor," Rose said gently, "Just the truth."

She was right, of course. He looked back at Donna. "Because... they were deadly."

"Oh my god..." Donna said in despair, sinking her face into her hands.

He stepped forward and took her gently by her shoulders. "I'll sort it out, Donna. Whatever's been done to you, I'll reverse it. I will. I'm not gonna lose anyone. Not today."

Rose smiled comfortingly at Donna, opening her mouth as if to say something - but right as she was about to speak she was interrupted by a loud clashing and banging that came from all around them. A chilling voice rang clear through the lab.

"Oh, she is long since lost!"

Suddenly, one of the walls slid upwards to reveal a secret chamber with an enormous round hole in the floor. The room was suddenly surrounded by an army of the armed robots wearing black hoods. Rose grabbed the Doctor's hand, feeling comforted by its warm familiarity, somewhat frightened but trying not to show it.

"I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe - until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!" the echoing voice shouted.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose could see Lance's eyes widen with horror as he stumbled hurriedly out of the room. She felt a rush of contempt for Donna's cowardly husband.

The Doctor peered down at the hole. "Someone's been digging... oh, very Torchwood." He looked at Rose and rolled his eyes. "Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?"

The voice in the sky, the source of which still unknown, sounded triumphantly superior as it proclaimed, "Down and down, all the way to the center of the Earth!"

"Really?" the Doctor asked incredulously. "Seriously? What for?"

Donna ran forwards, very excited. "Dinosaurs!"

The Doctor and Rose stared at her blankly. "What?"

"Dinosaurs?" she asked meekly.

"What are you on about, dinosaurs?" the Doctor asked incredulously.

"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs. Trying to help!" Donna said in embarrassment.

"That's not helping!"

"Oh, don't be rude," Rose bumped his shoulder.

"I'm trying not to!" the Doctor practically whined.

"Such a sweet couple," sneered the invisible voice, and Rose was uncomfortable unsure of which "couple" it was talking about.

The Doctor ignored the remark, questioning grandly, "Only a madman talks to thin air - and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. 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!" the Doctor shouted valiantly, winking at Rose overly-flirtatiously. She giggled.

"Oh, give it a rest, you two," Rose heard Donna mutter in exasperation.

"Who are you with such command?" the voice was asking in the meanwhile.

"I'm the Doctor," he answered simply.

"Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man," the voice replied, obviously misunderstanding the concept, "for you will be sick - at heart!"

With a jolt, a large spider-thing was teleported in the chamber. Rose jumped back with a little squeak at the image of the huge, snarling, growling spider in front of them. Donna looked completely frightened, but the Doctor just looked aghast.

"The Racnoss... but that's impossible, you're one of the Racnoss!" cried the Doctor.

"Empress of the Racnoss," the spider corrected with a flourish.

"If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss? Or..." the Doctor raised his eyebrows. "...are you the only one?"

"Such a sharp mind," the Empress hissed.

"That's it, the last of your kind," the Doctor murmured. He turned to Donna and Rose; Donna didn't take her eyes off the gigantic spider, but Rose looked at him curiously. "The Racnoss come from the Dark Times - billions of years ago, billions. They were carnivores - well, omnivores; they devoured whole planets."

"Racnoss are born starving - is that our fault?" the Empress interjected with a growl.

"They eat... people?" Donna asked faintly.

"H C Clements, did he wear those- those erm, black and white shoes?" questioned the Doctor, seemingly randomly.

Now Donna looked at him, grinning brightly. "He did! We used to laugh, we used to call him 'the fat cat in spats'!"

The Doctor grimaced and nodded. Rose had already noticed and held her hands over her mouth. He pointed up towards the large web, where the shoes could just be seen poking out.

"Oh my God!" Donna said, for about the millionth time that day.

"Mm, my Christmas dinner," cackled the Empress.

"You shouldn't even exist! Way back in history, the Fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss - they were wiped out!" snapped the Doctor.

Suddenly, behind the spider, Lance appeared. Rose's mouth fell open, and Donna quickly saw her husband-to-be wielding a large axe. Lance motioned for her to stay quiet.

"Except for me," growled the Empress.

Donna rushed forward, making a bid to distract the large alien. "But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing." The Empress started to look away, and Donna snapped, "Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking. Where do I fit in? How come I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?"

Lance moved closer to the spider, who was distracted by the bride, but started looking towards him again.

"Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me!" Donna said.

Rose joined in. "Just tell her," she shouted. "What are you doing to Donna, and why?"

"The bride is so feisty," sneered the Empress. "As is this new female... this bad wo -"

Donna interrupted before the spider could finish, not noticing the Doctor and Rose visibly recoiling. "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!" she yelled at her husband.

With a mighty swing, Lance brought the axe through the air. At the last moment, the Empress turned, an expression of fear on her face.

Then they stopped.

Donna stared.

Lance started to laugh, the Empress following soon after; he pointed at her, acting as if they had been friends since childhood.

"That was a good one!" he snickered. "Your face-!"

"Lance is funny," hissed the Empress.

Donna took a few steps backward, struggling to comprehend. "What? What?"

The Doctor and Rose understood and looked at each other, knowingly, sympathetically. Rose let go of the Doctor's hand now and moved to Donna, while the Doctor said softly, "Donna, I'm sorry."

Donna shook Rose off. "Sorry for what?" She still wouldn't believe it. Wouldn't comprehend it. "Lance, don't be so stupid! Get her!"

Lance shook his head pityingly. "God, she's thick!"

The insult, so plain, so jarringly unapologetic coming from the man who should have been her husband, didn't register with Donna. Her brain struggled to lurch back into normalcy.

"Months I had to put up with her. Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map." Again. So harsh.

Donna shook her head. "I don't understand." She understood. She understood, she just didn't want to believe it.

"Donna," Rose was saying softly, "When you met - you said he got you coffee."

"Coffee. Right. We had coffee."

Rose looked at her, moving to her side again. This time, Donna didn't flinch away when she touched her arm. "You had to be doused with liquid particles, remember? That's what the Doctor said."

"I made you coffee!" Lance seemed to almost dance with his terrible joy. "And you drank it, every day! You idiot!"

"He was poisoning me." Now a question, an angry question, "Lance was poisoning me?! But - but we were getting married!"

"Well, I couldn't risk you running off. I had to say yes." Donna was flushed with embarrassment as he continued mocking her. "And here I am, 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, the never ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia!" Lance was seething now. "I deserve a medal!" He shook the axe in the air as if demanding recognition.

"Oh, is that what she's offered you?" The Doctor was angry now, taking a step forward. "The Empress of the Racnoss? What are you? Her consort?"

"Better than one night with her," Lance jabbed dismissively.

"But... but I love you," Donna whispered.

Lance nodded and smiled mockingly. Condescendingly. "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 me. The chance to... go out there. To see it. The size of it all." He raised his eyebrows. "I think you understand that, don't you, Doctor?"

"Yes, who is this little physician and his pet?" the spider sneered.

Lance shrugged. "Probably what she said. Martian."

"Oh... we're kinda... homeless," the Doctor shrugged, "but the point is, what's down here?" He looked down the hole - to the center of the earth, apparently. "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?"

Lance pursed his lips. "I think he wants us to talk."

"I think so, too," sneered the Empress.

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

"Kill this chattering little doctor-man," ordered the spider, "and his blonde female, too!"

The Doctor moved in front of Rose the same instant that Donna moved in front of him. "No! Don't you hurt them!" she yelled.

"Donna," the Doctor tried to warn, but she kept going - "No! I won't let them!"

"At arms!" The Empress was having none of this.

"Ah, no, except -" the Doctor moved in front of Donna, trying to speak -

"Take aim!"

"Well, I just want to point out the obvious, that -"

"They won't hit the bride - they're such very good shots," sneered the spider.

"Just- just- just- hold on, just a tick, just a tiny- just a little- tick." The Doctor held up his finger. There was a pause, so he continued, Rose watching in fear. "If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So, reverse it..." He held up the test tube. "...the spaceship comes to her."

He twisted the top, Donna and the tube starting to glow again - Rose felt a familiar rush and smiled in relief as the whooshing sound of the TARDIS materialized around them. The Empress was shouting and guns were being fired but it was too late; they were inside the blue box.

"Oh, you know what I said before, about time machines?" the Doctor paused to clarify. "Well, I lied." He paused again. "And, we're gonna use it."

He was doing his thing, pushing buttons and levers and spinning gears and rambling. "We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up. If something's buried at the planet core, it must've been there since the beginning. That's just brilliant. Molto bene! I've always wanted to see this. Donna - we're gonna go -" he paused, trailed off, recognizing Rose's absence from the console, and looking over to see Donna hunched on the stairs of the TARDIS, Rose hugging her from the side, crying.

"Oh," he said softly, "...right."

With less enthusiasm, he hit one last dial, and the TARDIS continued to spin haphazardly through the vortex, the Doctor, the bride, and the bad wolf sitting inside of it in silence.