Bad Wolf and Her Pup

*Gabriella & Noemi - 1*

"Don't look at me! It just shut on its own!" Gabriella snaps, wishing she was home with Noemi instead of trapped in a basement with shop dummies.

There's a small squeaking sound behind the girls and they turn simultaneously, not seeing anything. "Is that someone mucking about?" Rose asks, her voice wavering slightly. "Who is it?"

Another squeaking sound draws Gabriella's attention and she turns, nearly jumping a foot in the air when she sees one of the dummies now turned toward her and Rose. "Dio mio!" she gasps, her hand going to her heart as it beats against her chest. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"Heh... you got us, very funny," Rose laughs nervously - unconsciously moving behind Gabriella a bit - and there was no answer. "Right, we've got the joke!" she snaps and two more dummies join the first. "Who's idea was this? Was it Derek's?" she demands, still getting nothing. "... Derek, is this you?"

"I don't think it's Derek... who is this?" Gabriella glares and the uneasy feeling in her gut grows as she backs her and Rose away from the dummies while more and more come toward them.

Rose trips over a box, nearly taking both of them down had Gabriella not quickly pulled her back up. The two are backed up against a wall with pipes along it by the dummies as they continue to advance. Gabriella tightens her grip on Rose's hand, pulling the blonde teen behind her a bit as her heart pounds. A flesh hand grabs Rose's free one and she gasps softly, looking over to see a man with bright, mischievous eyes and a wide grin. "Run," he whispers, pulling Rose and Gabriella out the exit.

Gabriella lets out a yelp as they're dragged down another corridor by the mysterious savior. The man leads them away and past more and more dummies that are coming to life. What the hell is happening? Gabriella thinks to herself faintly. Getting to a lift, the man ushers the girls in before stepping in himself. But before the doors could close, one of the dummies - or Autons - puts it's hand through the doors, preventing them from closing all the way. The man was quick to act as he jolts forward, grabbing the Auton's wrist and giving a few hard tugs. After about the third one, the arm pops clean off and the lift doors slide shut.

Gabriella leans against the back lift wall, straightening out her work uniform while she tries to catch her breath. She also eyes the man curiously, questions running through her mind. Who is this guy? What was he doing down in the basement? Why were there people dressed as shop dummies trying to attack them? The answers were simple, of course: the man was an alien - a Time Lord who calls himself the Doctor, to be precise - with two hearts and a hero complex; he was at the shop to stop the signal from the Nestene Consciousness, the Autons 'master'; and the 'people' dressed as shop dummies had wanted to kill them.

Rose finally seems to find her voice, "you pulled his arm off!" she gapes at the Doctor's back in shock in horror.

"Yep!" the Doctor confirms, tossing the arm back to Rose and Gabriella couldn't help her snort of amusement as she fumbles to catch it. "Plastic," he sends the older blonde a grin before facing the lift doors and folding his arms.

"So... that was a pretty clever trick," Gabriella comments, still eyeing the Doctor as she crosses her ankles. "Had me going there, but who were they? Students? Employees? Mates of yours?"

The Doctor turns to her with furrowed eyebrows, "why would they be any of those?"

"People turn up dressed like shop dummies, got to be one of those three to do something so stupid," Gabriella shrugs.

"That makes sense," the Doctor nods. "Well done!" he praises with a smirk before turning back to the lift doors.

"Yeah... thanks," Gabriella rolls her eyes, taking the praise as mocking.