Off to the races, Tag: Open!

[The Doctor]

Looking at the people Carys had singled out, the Doctor nodded, "Yeah... those two would never work out - he's an alcoholic and she's homosexual..." then the Doctor nodded at 'spike' and said, "And we won't even go into his preferences... hm... but no, going after single people would probably just get us singled-out for attack..." spinning his stool around a few times the Doctor yelped when Carys grabbed the back of his seat, "What? You don't want to just sit here and soak up the local ambiance?" grinning at her, the Doctor said, "You don't think I've been paying attention, huh?"

Clearing his throat the Doctor closed his eyes and said, "Notice everything... there's a jukebox behind me that has been playing the same song - three times - since I walked in. That couple pretending to be 'into' each other both have a ring on their fingers - the rings look like college rings but are several sizes too large. Meaning they have microphones in them and they can probably hear what I'm saying. There's a tall man with spikey hair to my left who - along with being as sexually liberated as Jack Harkness - has arms covered with tattoos that were done too well and too recently. NONE of these people in this bar have tattoos that they've been wearing longer than six months which was about when these murders started AND-"

Spinning around in his chair again the Doctor sniffed the cup he'd been given and nodded before looking at Carys and saying, "I think we're in trouble..." dropping the glass on the floor he gave her a wide grin and said, "There was poison in my drink..." every single one of the 'patrons' had stood up the minute the Doctor dropped the glass and it shattered... not that the Doctor saw it because he promptly fell off his stool and landed with a slam on the floor. Every single one of the patrons hissed as the Doctor fell, their eyes beginning to glow red, "No wonder he's the last of his kind..." Spike muttered as he snapped his fingers as the vampires began to encircle him and Carys, "What now girlie... you got a gun? That won't help you - your UNIT soldier got lucky on a rabid little moron... we're not so stupid..."

Suddenly the Doctor sat bolt upright and yanked his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, "Well now... I wouldn't say that!" pressing the trigger the Doctor grinned as a high-pitched whistle filled the room and the vampires staggered backwards, "Okay! What did I miss?" the Doctor said as he stood in front of Carys and the two of them began edging back towards the entrance, "You're DEAD jolly-man!" spike shouted at him - only to begin yelling in pain once more as the Doctor pressed his sonic screwdriver again, "Yeah, nice thing about those powers of yours... they enhance EVERYTHING - especially hearing... now then, vampires... all of you - I get that,"

Staggering the Doctor clutched his chest and groaned as Carys had to support him, "Oooh... arsenic... nice try boys!" groaning again the Doctor made a loud belch and a black cloud poured out of his mouth, "Urgh... having to regenerate the lining of your own stomach... it does so impede the auditory..." shaking his head the Doctor grinned as Carys half-supported and half-dragged him along the floor, "Funny thing about that cloak-room of yours... sure are a lot of... lot of hospital scrubs in there-" Spike hissed at him but the Doctor just activated his screwdriver again... just as the bartender came back into the room, "What in hell-" suddenly Spike grinned, reeled to his left and grabbed the bartender.

"No!" the Doctor shouted as Spike and the other vampires encircled the bartender - Spike grabbing the shaggy man's arm write at the vein and putting his mouth right over it, "Him and the girl can leave... but you, Time Lord... my boss-" the Doctor rolled his eyes, "Drop... ergh... DROP the street-talk - we both know you aren't some thug," grinning Spike said, "Very well," he said with a smirk, "The man I work for has a lot of questions... such as what you can do to help us with a certain problem... but I won't talk about them in front of some UNIT skank... now, one more time, come with us - and they can go,"

[Carys Barton]

Carys looked at the Doctor, astonished. Apparently she'd underestimated him. "Jack Harkness? He sounded fun. Carys would have to ask about him later, because the Doctor was making it very apparent that they were sitting in the middle of a trap. She casually pulled her phone out of her back pocket. It seemed like a decent time to call in the cavalry. But there was no signal. Perfect. "Yeah, we're in trouble alright." Her eyes shot back up to look at the Doctor at the mention of poison. "Doctor! Damnit." She was officially the worst babysitter ever.

As the others in the bar circled them, Carys pulled a knife from a sheath under her shirt. "No room for a gun, unfortunately." She moved to stand between the Doctor and "Spike", knife help in a defensive grip. That high pitched whistle from earlier filled the room and send the vampires a few steps back again, cringing. Carys immediately spun around to see the Doctor on his feet again, stepping forward to take the lead. "You'll have to explain to me later how you're not dead right now." She whispered to them as they started edging back towards the entrance. His little screwdriver thing was keeping them at bay for now.

Carys' arm quickly wrapped around him from behind to support the Doctor as he started to crumple. She moved his arm around her shoulders so she could support him and still keep her knife at the ready. They were getting out of here in one piece, damnit.

She made a face at the black cloud he belched, but really thought it better not to ask the Doctor about that particular phenomena. Carys started dragging the Doctor backwards to the door as fast as she could manage. Then the bartender made a very ill-timed entrance. Perfect now she had to worry about civilian casualties too. When Spike offered a trade, the arm she had around the Doctor tightened. "Don't even think about it, time boy." Part of keeping him out of trouble also involved not handing him over to a coven of vampires.

If she absolutely had to choose, her priority was the Doctor. Ideally they'd be able get the bartender out as well. "Skank? Excuse me? At least I've got all my lady parts covered unlike Barbarella over there." She indicated another one of the vampires with a point of her knife.

Carys briefly debated the odds of fighting their way out. How much stronger could this Spike character be? Could she take him? In any case, she might have to try.

[The Doctor]

"Evan FORGET this!" a skinny female vampire shouted as she ripped the blonde-highlighted wig off her head, "Take him - take both of them! It doesn't matter! I'm SICK of hiding out in some pub waiting for-" hissing at her Spike - or Evan as it appeared - returned his attention to the Doctor and muttered, "This is not some game for you to play Time Lord... hold or fold, your choice, five... four... three..." closing his eyes the Doctor clutched at his chest and struggled to separate the sounds of the struggling bar-tender and his own suffering body, "You're alll so NOISY!!!" the Doctor shouted angrily. Chuckling, Evan muttered, "Maybe you'd like to come back and try again? Three... two..." his eyes snapping open, the Doctor stared at Evan and - as his lips formed the word 'one' several... things, happened at once.

In his minds eye, the Doctor saw himself stumbling forward and grabbing Evan's gun - a simple application of akido... "Too messy..." he thought to himself as his mind worked out the deaths of both himself and Carys right after he saved the bar-tender. With a flash the Doctor then saw activating his sonic screwdriver again - causing all of the vampires to stumble... but, again, that too messy... the bartender would surely die before the Doctor could reach him. As Evan's 'claw' tightened around the bartenders throat, and finished forming the word 'one', time slowly began to speed back up as the Doctor grinned and said, "Clap on clap off!" triggering his sonic screwdriver again the Doctor - instead of trying to disable the vampires - increased the brightness of the lights. Screaming in pain as his own eye-sockets burned from the brightness Evan let go of the bar-tender and shielded his face.

"KBO!" the Doctor crowed as he grabbed the burly bartender by the sleeve and Carys led the way out of the bar, "You better take him!" the bartender shouted at Carys as they ran towards her land rover, "I don't think he's quite right!" clutching his stomach as the person he'd just 'saved' ended up dragging him along the pavement, the Doctor muttered, "Oh it's only a small internal... augh! Muscular hemorrhage - nothing to get hysterical about!" letting out a shout of fear as bullets rang out in their direction, the bartender dropped the doctor and fell to the ground next to him, "Hell!" he shouted as the Doctor groaned and another cloud of black smoke shot out of his mouth, "Okay... that hurt... oh..." his arms wrapped around his middle, the Doctor barely noticed as Carys dragged him along the ground and the bartender crawled along after them.

Blinking in pain Evan stumbled out of the bar and growled as he saw the Doctor and his 'friends' reach Carys' car, "STOP THEM!" he roared as Carys shouted at the bartender and forced him to climb in back with the Doctor, "Get them! STOP THEM!!!'

Groaning as they rounded a corner along the busy London night-road, the Doctor coughed weakly and muttered, "I don't feel so good..." suddenly a loud siren rang out and as they looked out the rear of Carys' land rover, suddenly three ambulances came roaring out of the pub parking lot after them, "Hey don't be doin that all over me!" the bartender shouted as the Doctor vomited all over the backseat, "Sorry..." the Doctor muttered as Carys took another sharp curve and bullets rang out from the ambulances behind them, "Not really in control here... kinda like her driv-aaaah!" shouting in surprise as Carys threw them over into the opposite side of the rover, the Doctor made a face and started to hurl again.

"Not on me! NOT ON ME! Put you're head out the window or something!" the bartender roared as the Doctor crawled off of him and tried to keep it together, "Oh that's a great idea - why don't I do that... oh yeah! Because someone's SHOOTING AT US!!!" yelping as a fourth ambulance came roaring out of an intersection after them, the bartender grabbed hold of his seat and shouted at Carys, "So now the tax auditor AND the UHW are after me?!" the Doctor groaned and muttered, "They're after US - me and girlie- I mean Carys up there, you're just a distraction with bad body odder who got in the way... we know that they've got something to do with one of the local hospitals... we've just got to not DIE before we can contact UNIT!"

Yelping as Carys dodged another volley of bullets, the bartender asked, "Because they're driving ambulances?!" the Doctor shook his head and pulled a badge out of his pocket, "I knicked this off ol' Evan Braxton back there... he's a geneticist with Charity Grace hospital - if we can just get this info to UNIT, we might be able to stop this," looking from Carys to the Doctor and then to Carys again, the bartender shouted, "Stop WHAT?!" the Doctor waved his hand, "It's complicated? Now stop being all... all shouty, it's distracting... and give me your hat," looking at the skinny time lord incredulously, the bartender asked, "What for?" the Doctor groaned and winced as they took another sharp turn, "I'm going to throw up in it,"

[Carys Barton]

"Of course he's not right! He just drank cyanide, you idiot!" Carys snapped over her shoulder at the bartender. She just wanted to get to the land rover and get her gun. Gunfire rang out and Carys instinctively dropped to one knee. She didn't like being unarmed. At all. "Stop whining and get in the Rover!" This bartender was proving a very annoying civilian. She grabbed the back of the Doctor's jacket and dragged him to the car herself, staying low. "Get the Doctor in the back." She ordered, climbing in the front seat. Her right hand started the car while her left freed the pistol from its holster beneath her seat, finally allowing her to return fire.

Carys floored it back out into the traffic, narrowly avoiding a collision with a cab. She took a sharp corner, wincing as she heard vomiting from the back seat. Great. More cleanup for her later. "Would you rather drive, Doctor?" She asked. Her driving was perfectly in control for the situation. A glance in the rearview told her that the three ambulances all had gunmen. At least the land rover was a bit more maneuverable than an ambulance.

Two more corners were taken in quick succession, losing the ambulances for a few seconds. "If you don't shut up, Barmaid, I will shoot you myself." Who told someone to stick their head out the window in a car chase? An idiot. That's who.

"Give the Doctor your hat, then reach into the back. I'm going to need the black duffel. And get the radio. Frequency 63.2." Barmaid complied as far as she could tell because a moment later the duffel bag was tossed onto the seat next to her. When asked what made it so heavy, Carys smirked. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough." She tucked the pistol into the front of her pants and grabbed the radio from Barmaid. "Attention, this is Barton. We need backup now. Coming up to the--"

The car jerked as one of the rear tires was shot out and Carys barely got control of the car to keep it from rolling. "Bad bad bad." She muttered. They couldn't keep driving now, backup had to come to them. Carys tossed the radio back to the bartender. "Barmaid, tell them where we're at." She floored the car, sending them through a chain link fence into a construction site. The ambulances could follow, but it would be tough. "You still hanging in there, Doctor?"

Carys stopped the car behind a pile of support beams. The pile wasn't large enough to completely hide them, but it did provide a small amount of cover. Carys hopped out of the car, taking careful aim as the first ambulance sped into the site after them. She fired five shots, successfully taking out both tires on the left side and causing the ambulance to flip. "Barmaid! There's a smoke canister in the duffel. Get it out. It'll help UNIT spot us." Just in case the four ambulances and gunfire somehow weren't enough.

[[Is that an Indiana Jones reference I see?]]

[The Doctor]

As Carys shot from behind her 'barrier' of lumber, the lead ambulance 'lost momentum' quickly and flipped over. Sliding forward until it collided with a lamp-post and finally came to a halt. The other two ambulances skidded to a halt just outside of Carys' range... only to end up boxed in as several UNIT copters suddenly came flying out of nowhere. Groaning in pain as he half-limped half-crawled out of the land rover, the Doctor grabbed Carys' wrist and yelled at her, "Don't SHOOT at them!!" grabbing the Doctor, the bartender forced him to the ground as the vampires took a few shots at them and the UNIT copters, "That's how this game is played idiot, they shoot at us - we shoot at them - the last one to shoot wins,"

As he said this the rest of the troops came charging after them in the form of several armed jeeps of troops. Jumping out of their rides the troops formed a perimeter around the ambulances. Snapping her fingers, colonel Magambo led her own troop of soldiers towards the two intact ambulances and motioned for them to approach the doors, "No..." the Doctor muttered. Stumbling to his feet the time lord almost collapsed - coughing up a mouthful of black sludge - panting in pain as Carys tried to support him, "Stop them! No... no DON'T!" but it was too late. Throwing the doors back the soldiers screamed as almost a dozen blood-red vampire bats came flying out of the ambulances.

Several of them tore into the soldiers as they broke towards the horizon and escaped, "Open fire!" Magambo bellowed as she slapped one of the vampire bats away with the butt of her pistol. Unfortunately, the bullets seemed to do little good against the bats - what few were hit seemed to be no more than dazed before quickly flying back at their attackers and tearing into their throats. Fumbling in his long-coat, the Doctor grabbed the sonic but collapsed again. Lying on the ground as he pressed it into the bartenders hand, the Doctor muttered, "S- s- s- setting 112!" looking at the bizarre controls on the sonic screwdriver, the bartender yelled, "WHAT settings?!"

Only to yelp as Carys grabbed it and pressed the trigger once, once and then twice.

Screeching in pain at the loud noise, the vampire bats dropped their prey and quickly scattered as the UNIT soldiers formed a 'wall' between the injured Doctor and the downed ambulance. Rolling over, the Doctor squeezed his hand into a fist and slowly made himself sit up, "Carys... Carys!" smiling weakly when she knelt down to his eye-level, the Doctor rasped out, "The ambulance... look!" a flash of blonde hair could be seen in the upside-down ambulance... as could a certain scottish scientist, "Malcolm... Malcolm don't!" collapsing again as Carys let him go, the Doctor grinned weakly as Carys grabbed the scottish Doctor before he could open the door.

"I just wanted a look!" Malcolm whined as Carys interposed herself between the door and the scientist, "I'm... sure you did," the Doctor said as he forced himself to his feet and limped weakly towards the ambulance, "But lets let the experts... deal with this one," the last of the firefight could still be heard, but the Doctor didn't pay it any mind as the bartender grabbed his arm and whispered, "Are you sure that's a good idea?'" looking at the bartender, his face caked with grime and sweat, the Doctor grinned and said, "No,"

Yanking the door open, the Doctor winced as he looked at the dead or unconscious body hanging from the upside-down drivers seat. Sitting next to the body, on the ground, the female vampire from earlier - her blonde wig coated with blood - hissed as the Doctor scanned her with the sonic. A large piece of metal had been shoved through her stomach, her eyes were glowing red, but it was obviously she was more angry than hurt... or more terrified perhaps, "Hello," the Doctor said with a big grin. Hissing again, the vampire lunged towards him - but fell backwards in pain as the metal shrapnel tore at her stomach. Crying out in pain, the vampire fell back, tears streaming down her face as she lay there and watched her audience stare at her.

"He told you it wouldn't hurt, didn't he?" the Doctor said softly, "You'd live forever... no pain... no sickness... the perfect life..." staring at the Doctor, her glowing eyes slowly shifting back to blue, the vampire weakly asked, "You... know?" the Doctor smiled sadly, "I guess..." his smile fading, the time lord whispered, "Let me help you - please, before it's too late! Let me-" the vampire hissed at him and looked at the upside-down body, "He... Evan... stop, he wants this... to stop... we need... you... he fears... you!" the Doctor nodded, "Good - I fear me too, regularly terrifying. That's me... Even wants me? Your upside-down friend? To stop someone? Fine... but you need to help me first, you need to tell me-"

Suddenly several of the troops moved towards the ambulance - followed by Magambo - and the vampire's eyes went red again, "No! NO!" the Doctor shouted as she 'melted' out of her clothes and shifted into her bat form, "STOP! I can help you! PLEASE!" tearing at him the bat forced her way out of the ambulance and flew away quickly as the soldiers took more pot-shots at her. Looking angrily at Magambo, the Doctor jumped to his feet and shouted, "What did you DO that for?! She was scared!" glowering at him, Magambo said, "If you'd not gone charging off on your own I wouldn't have thought-"

Running towards her until he was just a few inches away, the Doctor yelled, "What was I supposed to do?! Soldiers - warriors - these vampires are hiding something! They're terrified - everything they do, everything they've done, they've done out of FEAR!! What are they scared of?! How can I find that out with you and your tin soldiers following me everywhere?!" cocking her pistol Magambo dug the Doctor in the ribs and glared at him until he took a few steps back, "This is what you do - every time Doctor. Every time I meet you, you walk in here all 'cooperation and help' and then you use me and my 'tin soldiers' to set up your own little battles on the nursery floor... is Private Barton to be your game piece? Are you going to use her to get that checkmate you want?"

Staring at her, the Doctor seemed to 'shrink' a little (as if he became human) and a look of guilt played across his face, "I'm not... I wasn't..." un-cocking her pistol, Magambo slid it back into the holster on her belt and said, "You know more than you're telling us Doctor... what is going on? These Vampires - how did they know you'd be at that club? Why do they want you? Because you're right, these monsters all act like their part of the biggest cover-up I've ever seen... what are they hiding? What are they afraid of?" staring at the Doctor, Magambo slowly asked, "You?" swallowing like a naughty boy who'd just been caught, the Doctor shook his head, "No... I don't... no, not me... of him," Magambo scowled, "Of WHO?!"

The Doctor sighed, "The thing that started all this... I said it was part of a Great Vampire that was causing them all to change... I lied... there isn't a part... there's a whole... an intact - living - great vampire is here, on Earth,"

[Carys Barton]

"Barmaid makes a point, Doctor." Carys pushed herself up from the ground to look around the lumber pile. Things would have gotten a lot worse otherwise. "If we're not supposed to shoot them what are we supposed to do then?" She put a fresh magazine into her pistol before supporting the Doctor to his feet again. Coughing up that sludge couldn't be good. He needed his own Doctor.

The bats were tearing into everyone and Carys tore the screwdriver out of the bartenders hand to squeeze the trigger until they stopped attacking. Then once more for good measure. Carys almost didn't want to give the screwdriver back since it was the only weapon that seemed to be worth anything against the vampires. She gave it back though, kneeling beside him so she could hear what he had to say without him getting up again.

"Malcolm?" Carys looked up quickly to spot the scientist. "Malcolm!" She jumped forward, catching him by the back of his lab coat and pulling him away from the door. "Getting a look will get your throat torn out." She stepped away from the door, snorting a little when she caught his reply to Barmaid. "You're a madman."

The back of the ambulance was a mess, and Carys kept herself slightly between it and Malcolm and Barmaid. The blonde from earlier was still alive, though pinned in place by shrapnel. Carys kept her hand on her hip near where she had tucked her pistol, but she didn't draw it yet. She'd let the Doctor try his talking and be there to shoot if talking didn't work.

Magambos approach spooked the blonde and Carys stepped back, arms in front of Malcolm and Barmaid, as the blonde shifted into a bat like her companions and clawed her way out of the ambulance. Well... Talking had been working...

Her eyes went wise as she saw Magambo direct her sidearm at the Doctor. No one had ever made the woman quite that angry before, at least not that Carys had seen. All of the soldiers watched in tense silence until the Doctor looked guilty and Magambo holstered her pistol again. Carys stepped forward to stand closer to the Doctor.

"So, what is a Great Vampire? Where do we find it? And how do we deal with it?" The Doctor would be angling for a non-lethal solution she was sure.

[The Doctor]

His face half-stiched up, his body a ruined mess 'Evan' sat in the middle of the 'cell' surrounded by UNIT guards. Glancing at the Doctor as he watched the vampire on camera, Malcolm said, "I dunno Doctor... if he bleeds to death-" Magambo snorted, "What blood? Look at him... it's... terrifying," even as they spoke, the bruises and cuts on 'Evans' face were repairing themselves. Slowly, but surely. When they'd brought him in half of his upper scalp had been gone. But the Doctor hadn't even let them take him to the infirmary - it had been odd. Unlike his earlier encounters with the vampires, the Time Lord hadn't even tried to show pity for Evan - simply telling Magambo to take him to a cell, where he would explain everything.

"You want to know what I'm doing - I'm going to make that clear," the Doctor said, adjusting his bow-tie as he paced back and forth - his long coat swaying behind him, "That was an hour ago Doctor - I'm not going to 'wait' much longer," glancing at them, his face a knot of irritation, the Doctor sighed and said, "Don't worry... it'll all make sense soon, the good and the bad - the quick and the ugly. You'll know just what I'm up to... and then you'll wish you hadn't," striding towards the door to the cell, the Doctor growled, "Stay here," and marched through the doors.

Glancing at Carys, Magambo motioned for her to go ahead and follow the Doctor, as she came up behind Malcolm and watched the camera.

"Hello," the skinny time lord said as he knelt outside the cell and looked in at Evan. When the Vampire didn't even reply, the Doctor smiled - but it didn't meet his eyes, "Not talking, eh? Funny..." starting to walk around the cell, the Doctor continued, "All these patterns... the loose vampires, the lost coven, that map of disappearing people and vanishing soldiers all leading to that club - my trick with the psychic paper, me being poisoned... doesn't it all seem a bit pat? Eh?" when he still got no reply, the Doctor shrugged, "Like something out of some bad sci-fi novel... where the hero is being lead slowly but surely to the realization that only HE can save the day..."

Smiling to himself, the Doctor fiddled with his bow-tie again and then turned his gaze on Carys.

"Have you ever heard of the planet Andern?" smiling, the Doctor said, "Home to famous artists, performers, scientists - did you know that they've called it the Venice of the galaxy? The water purification tanks in the capitol run right under the city, uncovered in most places with boats running through them!" holding his hands up as if simulating a tower, the Doctor continued - unaware that the Vampire was watching his every move, "And! In the middle of the city - there's this HUGE fountain, must be eighty or ninety stories tall! You climb right up on top of it and spit off of it and - if you jump right back into the lift - you'll land right at the bottom, just in time, to see your own saliva plunk into one of the moisture holding tanks that the fountain pours into!"

Laughing at the idea, though his voice sounded strange, the Doctor said, "How about we go and see that - eh? You, me - Malcolm if he wants... I'm tired of this - tired of the whole thing, let's just go and see that, eh?" suddenly Evan hissed, "WHAT is this?!" glancing at Evan, a look of passive amusement on his face, the Doctor said, "What is what?" glowering at the Time Lord, the Vampire said, "UNIT is depending on you - these... monsters HAVE to be stopped, you're just going to... to LEAVE?! After everything I've heard about you - everything I've read- you're just..." his eyes widening, the Vampire seemed to shrink into the back of his cell.

A look of triumph on his face, the Doctor whispered, "Yes?" hissing, the vampire turned away, "Nothing... just go, Andern sounds lovely..." pointing his sonic at the door, the Doctor walked in as it slid open, "You've said too much now - far too much," cowering in the back of the cell, the vampire whimpered, "I said nothing - nothing!" kneeling down next to the vampire, the Doctor said, "You wanted to find me... why? I'll guess... because you're in trouble... how did you find me - you couldn't come get me... and what if you COULDN'T find me... so you tried to interest UNIT. The question remains WHY..."

Holding his hands up - to show he had no weapons - the Doctor grinned as he pulled out the hospital ID he'd stolen earlier, "Evan Braxton... geneticist... you work at the hospital, the hospital with a wide-spread number of cancer patients that have all been diagnosed as being cured," his face only a few inches from Evan's, the Doctor said, "How did you cure them Evan?" looking the Doctor in the eye, Evan slowly whispered, "I sold my soul... the soul of my whole staff... to a monster," the Doctor nodded, looking at the camera Magambo was watching them through, "You understand now don't you? Almost two hundred people - in the last six months - have been diagnosed with varying degrees of cancer. They've all been cured.. by HIS hospital,"

[Carys Barton]

This was taking forever.

After changing back into her uniform (or at least a semblance of it, but Magambo didn’t seem to care about that for the moment so she'd get away with what she could) and proving to medical that she was absolutely fine, Carys had been worried she’d missed out on something interesting. Apparently she hadn’t. With how long she’d been waiting, she could have taken Barmaid home personally and been back twice by now. Though waiting for something to happen might be less annoying than him...

Carys leaned against the wall, fiddling with a button on her pants and glancing at everyone in the room in turn. Malcolm was concerned for Evan, Magambo looked frustrated, and the Doctor was thinking about something that he wasn't ready to let them know about. His lack of sympathy for Evan had surprised her. Carys thought his treatment was perfectly fine, he was healing himself after all, but the Doctor had struck her as the more compassionate sort. Maybe he'd just reached his limit?

She wasn’t good at sitting still. So when the Doctor moved like he was going to do something, Carys snapped to attention. Really, she didn’t care at the moment if whatever he was planning was ugly as long as it was something.

With a slight nod of acknowledgment to Magambo, Carys followed the Doctor through the doors.

“Nope. Never heard of it.” Off the Doctor went on another tangent. Carys mostly listened to him, but she kept a good deal of her attention on Evan as well who was starting to look a little angry again.

Oh.

“And so the plot thickens...” Carys muttered to herself as the Doctor opened the doors. She followed him into the cell, but kept a bit more distance between herself and Evan in case the vampire tried anything.

“How were they cured?” He didn’t turn them into more vampires, did he? Because the amount they had dealt with this evening was trouble enough. Add another two hundred to the mix and you finally had a fight that Carys was just a bit hesitant about getting into.

Carys shifted her weight a little, casting a nervous glance up at the camera. What did Magambo think about this? You couldn't really give someone your soul, could you?

[The Doctor]

Glancing at Carys - and then at the Doctor - Evan sighed sadly and said, "The V-Factor was discovered from the ruins of a coven in America. You don't understand what it's like to work on the projects that want a cure for cancer - results. That's all they care about... when that bit of DNA turned up and we studied it... it could cure anything. The genetic data could be inserted into any tissue and it would solve whatever problem - ANY problem - within just a few short hours or days,"

Evan swallowed, "But... human testing... we couldn't..." swallowing again, he softly said, "I became involved with these experiments because... of my daughter... my wife was killed in a car accident. My daughter is all I have left... ten years old... and she has cancer. It isn't... fair, all the stuff that she's endured - and she still... I wanted her better. And... I tried the V-Factor... and she became healthy," he shook his head, "It was amazing... there she was, walking and talking - full of energy in ways she'd never been before..."

The Doctor nodded slowly, "But it went wrong,"

Meeting the Doctor's gaze, he nodded, "It went wrong... the backers found out about the experiments, they took away my leadership role in the project, swept it under the rug, put me on as adviser... and pumped almost three million dollars into more tests. Slowly but surely we got into human subjects - and my daughter just kept getting stronger... too strong. Bit by bit she became less my daughter - and more... of a monster. She became almost carnal - can you imagine that? A ten year old... and I came home one day... and she'd killed and removed the blood of a squirrel,"

Evan sighed, "It was all down hill from there... at first the crew thought it was a one-off. Keeping her sedated while we tried to find out what was changing... but then other patients were brought in... and then..." the Doctor sighed and - sitting back on his heels - buried his face in his hands, "You created a coven... you aren't just vampires anymore. That first insertion of the V-Factor... your daughter is now the great vampire - the leader. The source of all your powers and the one that's feeding off your minds bit by bit," Evan shrugged, "When our project leader was turned... it all happened to us. Eventually we were all turned... but I'd been exposed to the original V-Form. I can feel her - the creature - in my head but... it's just there. Like a voice in the background... I can ignore it, they can't... and the hunger..."

The Doctor glanced as Magambo slowly walked into the room, "Two HUNDRED people?" Evan shrugged, "No one turns at the same time - it's just the v-factor, not a complete change. It can takes months or weeks... my daughter took a year the first time. Eventually it happens... they go savage..." Magambo swallowed, "And out there right now are two hundred more people who could turn at any minute... time bombs..."

Glancing at the Doctor - she seemed to see nothing reassuring there - and then turned to Carys, "In your estimation Ms. Barton, what are our chances against an army of two-hundred of Doctor Evan's creatures?"