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and light footed as she paced far behind Lazarus. She would occasionally turn her head to look at Martha who paced further back. Lazarus was so on a rampage behind the Doctor, not even the face on the back of his head seemed to notice the two following him. The emergency lights in the corridor suddenly flickered on, illuminating the girls in a blue wash. Valarie turned to Martha.

"You need to go back and get those people out at the front." She whispered. Martha shook her head.

"No, I'm not leaving you two-"

"Martha." She whispered more sternly. "Just get everyone out of here, I promise I'll be right behind you. I'm getting the Doctor before that thing can, and getting out. Please, go." She pleaded. Her heart raced in her chest, loose strands of hair framing the sides of her face and some even spilled into the middle. Her chest visibly rose and fell with fear, as she pleaded with Martha. Martha pursed her lips.

"Please come out." Martha whispered, before hugging Valarie tightly. Valarie held her for a second before pushing away. "And give the Doctor this back." She said, handing over the silver sonic screwdriver. She took it in her hands and gripped it tightly, giving Martha a weak smile. Martha hesitantly turned away, before vanishing back down the corridor. Valarie turned back to a seemingly abyss, and began to run down in it. She came to a glass door. It was swinging, indicating someone had just passed through. She slipped between it when it was opened. She knew being heard now could have deadly consequences for her or the Doctor. Two voices resonated in a room full of pipes. Valarie had just interrupted a conversation.

"It is necessary. Sacrifice." Lazarus hissed. His voice almost sounded like a snakes. Venom practically oozed from his words. Valarie slipped into the maze of pipes. Perhaps since Lazarus didn't have eyes on the Doctor yet, she still could slip him out and get him outside. Her hands shook violently as one slid along the pipes, mentally marking paths. A barefoot stepped on a grate that groaned. She shut her eyes, hoping it wasn't as loud as it seemed to her.

"That's not your decision to make."The Doctor continued. All she could hear was the clicks of the monsters insect like feet on the metal. Valarie leaned her head around a corner. A pair of hands grabbed her bare shoulders from behind and spun her. As her mouth opened to scream from the sudden touch, The Doctor's hand clamped over her mouth.

"What are you doing here?" He mouthed, face full of a mixture of concern and anger.

"I came after you." She mouthed back.

"Why would you do that?"

"Why would you make yourself bait?" She argued back. The two had became so entrapped in each other, neither noticed the threat looming above their heads.

"Peek-a-boo." Lazarus announced. The two raised their heads slowly. Lazarus hung from pipes on the ceiling, contorted face even more contorted by a wicked smile. He lowered his head dangerous close to theirs.

"Oh," the Doctor half gasped. Lazarus's mouth opened and extended with a growl. The Doctor slowly pushed Valarie behind him, pointing her back towards the direction of the door. ", hello." He finished. He broke into a run, his chest pressed to Valarie's back as if to ensure she didn't fall behind.

"Where are we going?" She asked him as he pushed back towards the laboratory from before.

"I have an idea." He shoved her into the large lab, shutting and locking the two metal doors behind them. Within seconds Lazarus was banging on them. Valarie watched as the Doctor climbed onto one of the many rows of tables. He unscrewed a light fixture and pulled it's wiring out. He began to mess with it.

"Pull the piping out of the burners and turn them on." He instructed. Valarie took no questions and began removing the rubber hoses from the burners and turning them on. Gas audibly began leaking into the room. He jumped from the table, freeing some burners himself before crouching behind a table as the doors flew open.

"Crawl towards the emergency exit. Don't let him see you and get away from this room." He instructed as he pulled her down.

"But what-" He raised a warning finger, their faces inches apart as he whispered "Go." To her. Reluctantly Valarie crawled on her hands and knees towards the emergency door at the back. She constantly looked over her shoulder to ensure Lazarus hadn't seen her.

"More hide and seek, Doctor? How disappointing. Why don't you come out and face me?" Lazarus asked. Valarie reached the door, palm pressed to it as she looked back.

"Haven't you looked in a mirror lately?" He responded, jumping to his feet. Valarie took his suddenly movement as an opportunity to exit the room. She climbed back to her feet and began to run from the room. She only looked back when she heard the door swing open and the Doctor come out at full speed. The room erupted into a fireball behind him, throwing him to the ground. She ran back to her, grabbing his hand and placing her other on his shoulder to help him back up. They continued in a fast pace until a corner when Valarie stopped him. She stuck the screwdriver out towards him as she tried to suck her breath in.

"Martha gave me this to give back to you. Did you kill him?" She asked as he tucked it back into his pocket. Behind them Lazarus's large body crashed into a glass railing.

"No. More like annoyed him." He answered before dragging her off into a run again. They came back into the main exhibit room. The device that made this monster still stood proudly in the middle. The Doctor pushed Valarie towards it.

"We can't let him get outside. In!" He shouted, pushing her in and sonicing the door shut.

"But he knows we are here!" She whispered as the shadow of him loomed over the door of the tight pod. Valarie was so squished in, her chest touched his and he could feel her breath on his neck.

"This is his masterpiece. He wouldn't destroy it to even get to us." He replied. His eyes remained on the looming shadow of Lazarus outside.

"But now we are trapped. Tell me you have a plan." He looked down at her, their noses practically touching.

"Yes. The plan was to get in here, and then come up with another plan."

"Well take your time." Valarie scolded. She was so panicked by the situation they were in, the fact he had shoved her in a human sardine can without thinking of a way out was making her blood slightly boil. He reached into his pocket. He struggled in the tight space, his elbow practically in Valarie's face.

"Hey!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"Okay, what are you going to do with that?" She asked as he sank to the floor. He looked back at her, his head level with her knees.

"Improvise." He responded.

"So, is he alien?" She asked. She felt him shake his head as he pulled a tile in the floor up and began to fumble with wires and processors.

"Strictly human. Lazarus must have tapped into some dormant genes for humans; a rejected blue print for what a human could've looked like." He explained.

"So, I could've looked like that?" She joked.

"Yes, but thankfully," he looked up at her, "you don't." The white lights inside suddenly turned blue and an alarm sounded. Valarie looked around, panic consuming her like a monsoon.

"Doctor?"

"Sounds like he's turned it on. Hoped it would've taken him a bit longer to figure it out."

"You know I don't want to hurry you, but I really, really, don't want to look like him!"

"I know! I know!" The whirring out of the machine sped up. Valarie closed her eyes tightly as she braced to become a monster as Lazarus had. What sounded like an explosion went off around them.

"What happened?" Valarie asked, not opening her eyes.

"I think it worked. I set the machine to reflect the energy instead of taking it all in. That's what he did to himself, soaked up all that energy and in the process he stretched his DNA thin." Eyes fell on the nude man laying face down. He was unconscious.

"He looks so human again." She quietly murmured as they approached his body. "It's almost sad." She sighed. "Come on. Let's get out of here." He took note of the sudden exhaustion in her voice, as if she was crashing from the adrenaline of the last few hours. Her shoulders visibly slumped. He placed a hand on her shoulder and led her to the entrance, unlocking the door and opening it.

"We need medics." He called out. When two medics climbed the stairs with a stretcher, he pointed them in the seemingly deceased Lazarus's direction. Valarie stepped out into the cool night air and sighed.

"Valarie! Doctor!" Martha came rushing from her family, arms clasping around Valarie. She was taken back for a second before returning the hug. She hung her head on Martha's shoulder, wishing nothing but to close her eyes and sleep in that moment. Martha's family followed as the Doctor approached them from top of the stairs. When the two clashed, Martha's mother greeted by slapping the Doctor across the face.

"Stay away from my daughter." She hissed.

"Mum!" Martha cried. Her mother spun to her.

"I already told you, a man told me things. He is dangerous Martha! Tonight should be proof enough!" She turned to Valarie, who still had an embrace with Martha. She had only lifted her head and turned to face them. She pointed a finger at Valarie. "And if you know what's good, you need to stay away too!"

"This wasn't his fault." Martha retorted. Before the argument could continue a crash echoed from down the road. The Doctor turned his head and followed the sound. Martha and Valarie slowly moved to pursue. Her mother grabbed her arm.

"Leave him." She pleaded. Her eyes were full of sadness and worry. Martha simply shook her head, pulling her arm away and departing from her family. When Valarie turned back, she took notice in Tish following them now. When they caught up he stood before a crashed ambulance. The back doors hung open, and two dried corpses sat inside.

"Lazarus." He mumbled. "Back from the dead. Should have expected that, really." He pulled the sonic screwdriver out and began waving it in every direction around them.

"What are you doing?" Tish asked. He stopped, pointing it in the direction of the building next to them.

"Trying to find him. His energy reading is so large, it is hard to miss. He is in the cathedral." Entering the cathedral seemed like something from a dream. All the chairs, empty and with dust. Light shined in from the Gothic windows, casting an eerie light on the alter covered in velvet in the front. Upon approaching the alter, they found Lazarus behind it. He was wrapped in the red blanket they had taken him out on and panted like an animal. Upon seeing the, his eyes focused on the Doctor and his head almost hung in shame.

"I came here before." He broke the silence. "A lifetime ago. I thought I was going to die then. In fact, I was sure of it. I sat here, just a child listening to the bombs and fires above."

"The Blitz." The Doctor replied.

"You've read about it."

"I was there."

"You are too young."

"So are you." Lazarus began to laugh at the response, raising his head only to groan in pain as the sounds of his bones suddenly crunching echoed. He gasped for breath as the sudden pain knocked his air from his lungs. Once regained, he spoke again.

"In the morning, the fires had died and I was still alive. I swore then I'd never face death like that again. So defenseless. I would arm myself, fight back, and defeat it."

"And that was what you were trying to do today?" He asked him. Lazarus gave a tired smile.

"That's what I did today. Yes, with a few sacrifices along the way. But today, I rewrote history. I'm the man who defeated death."

"Facing death is what makes you human."

"No," Lazarus contested, "fighting against death, clinging to life with every fiber of your being is what makes you human. Today I made myself much more than some ordinary human."

"There is no ordinary human." The Doctor sighed, knowing now Lazarus had no intentions to stop. His bones began to crack violently again, and another mutation was evident. He fell limp to the floor with the occasional convulsion with his every changing DNA.

"He's changing again." Martha whispered.

"I have a plan. If we can get him up the bell tower," he looked up, "It might work."

"You are so sentimental, Doctor." Lazarus started again. "Perhaps you are older than you look."

"I'm old enough to know a longer life isn't a better one." He replied, pacing around Lazarus. "You get tired of the struggle. Of losing everyone you love. If you live long enough, the only certainty left is that you'll end up alone."

"That is a price worth paying." Valarie felt a twinge of shock at just how conceded a man could be. He was willing to spend eternity alone, just to never die. His neck craned with another agonizing bone crack. His eyes settled on the Doctor. "I will feed soon." The Doctor knelt beside him, while keeping a distance.

"I'm not gonna let that happen." He gave the Doctor a sinister smile. His ideal meal was sitting right before him, almost begging to be taken. Martha stepped forward in a moment of bravery.

"Leave him, Lazarus." Eyes went to her.

"Martha." Valarie whispered.

"He is old and bitter. I thought you wanted fresher meat." Lazarus's gaze on Martha and the two girls behind her turned hungry and malicious. With an animal like growl, he sprung onto his feet and began to pursue. The three ran towards down a hallway towards a stairwell leading up the bell tower. As they climbed the stairs, Lazarus stopped. They stopped, Tish grabbing Martha's arm.

"We got to get to the top of the tower." Valarie didn't hear Martha's words. She watched over their heads to see Lazarus transform again into that hideous monster.

"He's changed again. We got to go." She told them. They began their race up the stairs again. They reached a higher level. The walls were lined with open windows to the alter below. Martha stopped and leaned out of one when her name was shouted from below.

"Martha! You've got to get him to the bell tower! To the very top!" He instructed. Lazarus climbed into the room, running at them with his large tail aimed like a lance. Tish pulled Martha and Valarie towards the next stairwell. Adrenaline pumped in their veins. His snarls and roars kept them moving. They seemed to always be on their heels. They entered a room with a large hole in the middle. A large golden bell hung above, and a wood raining entrapped them in a small ring. They backed into the corner furthest from the door. He followed, and began swinging his large tail. The girls scattered all pushing as far into the back railing as they could. Each time he swung at one, they screamed.

Below the sounds of a large church organ rang. Lazarus swung again and the railing keeping Martha in was ripped free. With another swipe she tumbled over the edge. She hung in the air, grabbing onto the edge as she screamed in terror. Tish and Valarie rushed to her side, both trying to reach for her hands. Each time they got close, he swung again knocking them away from her and nearly throwing her off. The music below grew to an unbearable volume. Tish and Valarie were forced to pull their hands back to their ears to cover. Lazarus wailed in pain, his large body wobbling unsteady as the sounds pierced his ears like knives.

He tumbled over the edge, nearly taking Martha with him on his descent. Tish managed to grab her wrists before she could fall. Valarie and her pulled her back up onto the ground, both encasing her in a tight hug as they all whimpered.

"Martha?!" The Doctor cried from below. The music had stopped.

"I'm okay! We're all okay!" She shouted. Valarie leaned towards the edge. Lazarus laid on the ground floor, old again. He was very much dead.

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