damned_institute | Nightshift 34: F-Block Bathroom

Donna went in a little less wary simply because she didn't know what to expect. Usually that meant more caution should have been needed, but for a time-traveler things like creeping into a bathroom at night just weren't high up there on the fear scale. It was actually a little bit exciting.

"An eye out for what?" she whispered, but did as told, turning the light around the room for anything that might seem out of place. Even if she did spot anything, what good would blinding it do in the long run? It might not even have eyes! And if Arlene got sucked down a toilet, she wouldn't be rescued by flashlight and a few pages of paper either.

"Anything other than us or our reflections that moves," Beatrix replied as she methodically checked each stall, prepared for something to be lying in wait. Which there wasn't.

"Alright... it's just us in here, so let's get to work."

The pipes underneath the sink fixtures were going to be the best and easiest sources of metal in the bathroom. Picking the one furthest away from the stalls, she knelt down to examine the pipe. "Can I have some light?" She put the knife back into its makeshift sheathe and started probing the pipes with her hand, checking where the pieces were connected.

"Do you happen to have any plumbing knowledge?"

"Almost feels like we're sneaking around a school," Donna just had to comment on that. She couldn't get over that they were in a bathroom like this! "Don't see anything." Once she finished she turned the light for Arlene as requested and stepped closer. Not too close though. They were sure to get wet before the night was over, but Donna would prefer she didn't get soaked all the way through when the first pipe came out. She already looked bad enough, and the wet dog look would have only added to her misery.

"I can unclog a drain, but that's about the extent of it." Arlene really wouldn't want Donna around anything like that anyway. Donna wouldn't have trusted herself enough to be really helpful even if she had known anything.

"If only we had some cigarettes and it'd feel more authentic," Beatrix replied. She did have one left, but she'd already bartered it to the nic-fitting guy on the board.

Back to the pipes... "I can change and do some minor repairs, had to back home when Ma wasn't around, but I had the right tools then." She slipped the pairing knife from her hair and tested the seals between the individual pipes with it, carefully prying the molding off.

"This is going to be... messy. Thank god, these aren't my clothes."

"Just the smell would make it for me," Donna admitted. She'd tried it once, a long time ago, but it wasn't for her. Well, more her Granddad had made it a point to tell her that it wasn't for her after he'd found out, but it was the same thing. A few of her friends smoked though. Talk about nostalgia! She motioned a thumb to a stall. "And a pair doing it over there. That'd just make it all the realer."

Now they were really getting away from the matter at hand. "My Dad handled a lot of that stuff. Course, he was terrible at it, but that never stopped him. Mum'd always throw a fit when he made things worse..." She peered over Arlene, bracing herself for the spray of water that was sure to come. "I hear that." Donna would strip before she let some of her better outfits get soaked through. Wet leather was not fun.

"A yes... That couple." She laughed. "I was a farm girl. You?"

Beatrix pried the first molding off and shielded her face as best as she could when the water pressure forced a pretty steady stream to spray out of the pipes. Quickly afterward, a horrendous stench came from the pipes.

"Ugh... it's like these damn things have sewage in them instead of water." Well, she needed the pipes, so she bared the disgusting water and moved to the next molding, wedging the knife between the pieces.

"Maybe there's a swamp monster living inside the pipework," she said jokingly.

"There's always one. Just wouldn't be a proper school otherwise," Donna shook her head. "Nah. I'm from Chiswisk. Grew up with my mum and dad. And my Granddad too, my mum's dad. Wouldn't know what to do on a farm."

The water, which was more like sludge, sprayed out and Donna covered her mouth quickly. "Augh, that's horrible!" her whining was muffled by her hand. "It's like something curled up and died in there." But Arlene just kept working. There wasn't much of a choice, she guessed, but couldn't they get things to whack monsters with another way? Like a fountain? Was there a fountain here? Maybe on the map. Donna wasn't about to take her hand away from her mouth to look though.

"A sewage monster. Lovely. If tentacles come outta there, they'll get you first, you know."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Beatrix replied grimly. "Wouldn't be the first time I've been attacked by tentacles while imprisoned here," she muttered, as the putrid water started to pool on the floor surrounding them. The next molding came off and the spray increased. Soon she'd be able to get the main section off assuming...

"The fuck? Great... rust," she swore. "This may be harder than I thought it'd be."

As she worked at the rust, thankful that the spray was hiding the small tears of pain from using her right arm too much, she turned conversation elsewhere to make things more bearable. "I've never actually been to England. What's Chiswisk like?" Her voice was strained but she thought she kept most of the pain out of it. Most.

"Seriously? Ugh..." Donna hadn't wanted to know that. She'd had some wild adventures, but none so disgusting as tentacles snaking out of pipes before. Now that she was thinking about it, she wished she hadn't brought it up even in jest. "Wouldn't that be one hell of a first night?" she could only make it better by seeing the irony of it all. Something was just waiting to bite her in the butt so there was no use in fighting that inevitability; she could only go with it.

Donna grimaced when she felt the sludgy water reach her feet. The feeling wasn't pleasant, but poor Arlene was taking it more, and Donna needed to give her the light. She just needed to keep telling herself that these weren't her clothes and that she'd be able to change once everything was over. Take a nice, long shower in the TARDIS and change into something far better than gray. In fact, she was determined to remove gray from her wardrobe entirely after this incident. It was an ugly color anyway.

"Was it supposed to have been easy?" Donna asked, craning her head a bit. This question was more legit than her usual sarcasm since Arlene was the one working with the pipes. And she had those burns. "Chiswick's pretty plain. Good place to grow up though. I didn't mind it much... are you doing all right?" she finished after answering the question.

The bandages had soaked through at the point and, once again, every movement with her arm sent searing pain up it. She was annoyed that apparently her discomfort was apparent to the other woman. She pursed her lips together for a moment.

"Yeah... I'll be fine. I've had much, much worse," she replied. "And it wasn't so much supposed to be easy as much as it was supposed to easier. Had there not been this rust, I could shimmy the pipes apart with a little elbow grease."

She stopped trying to use the pairing knife to get the rust off, wiping it off on her wet pantleg and then returning it to her hair. She was pretty soaked anyways, so she didn't care, though it was annoying that they'd just had showers and now she was wading into what could be sewage-laced water.

"It seems I'm going to have to use force instead,' she said after staring at the pipes for a long moment.

"Just because you've had worse, doesn't mean you need to take what isn't 'up to par'," Donna protested, knowing that excuse well enough. Trying to play down injuries was something she'd always used to scare away the boys who'd managed to get a shot in on her when she was younger. Broken arm? Please! Like that would have stopped "The Little General" from doing anything! "Come on, let me give it a go. I'm stronger than I look. You shouldn't have gotten your bandages all soaked through anyway."

The woman had a point. Beatrix sighed and scooted back from the pipes.

"Fine, but I'll inform you now that I am tremendously stubborn and have a high tolerance for pain." Not to mention some brain damage that's only benefit was the slight numbing of some physical sensations like pain.

"But if you want to be potential tentacle swamp monster bait, be my guest," she said with a chuckle, wiping at her face to clear the ~~tears~~ spray. She then held her hand out for the light.

"You and me both, sister," Donna smirked confidently and handed over the light.

Unfortunately her point was going to turn sour since now that she was taking a shot at the pipes, it meant that she would have to get down on her hands and knees as well. She thanked God again that these were not her clothes before kneeling down. "I'll show that swamp monster who's boss," Donna remarked, half-speaking towards the pipes just in case something really was listening. If it wanted a piece of Donna Noble, then it was welcome to come on out and try. She'd rip any slimy tentacles right out of their sockets! If swamp monsters had sockets; did they?

"Right, so I just need to get..." her finger waved around at the pipes before pointing at the one she'd thought Arlene was last working with, "... this one off?" She turned her head back. "Is kicking allowed?"

"That's what I was planning on doing if I couldn't break the fixture," Beatrix replied. She was fairly certain she could crack the procelein sink with her off-hand; Pai Mei had taught her to use both her arms to help eliminate a handicap.

"I'll keep a watch for that swamp monster and give him a warm Nebraska welcome if he reares his ugly head."

"Leave that as a last resort then," Donna nodded, then turned her head around to give the pipe a long look. She was probably going to regret this since she knew she was only asking to be soaked in sludge water, but she'd been the one to open her big mouth. No backing down now.

She took a breath, balled her fists once, then moved them right in. Her hands were cold with the thick water within seconds, but she didn't let that stop her from grasping the rusty metal and yanking hard as she could. "Do you think those things have heads?" she continued their running gag through her attempts to force the thing free of the rust and it's frame.

Beatrix had to give Donna some credit; she was more than willing to get down and dirty when she wanted to.

"Multiple," Beatrix replied, shining the light on the area, watching the pipe to see how it was handling a good old fashioned British neck wringing. "Possibly with big, sharp pointy teeth to go along with its arsenal of tentacles." She snickered a little, thinking about some old British comedy she talked Bill into renting once.

"The we can... both get a trophy!" she grunted. Stupid thing was stuck on there pretty tight! No wonder Arlene was having trouble with it earlier. But as she'd claimed, Donna was just as stubborn, and she wasn't about to lose to a piece of plumbing! "One on each wall. Always wanted that kind."

"Think of the story we could tell to my daughter and any children you may have," the Bride replied. "Tale of Two Tentacles... or something."

She leaned in to get a closer look at the pipe. She thought she saw it move, but the damn mucky water was making it hard to see. "How's it coming?"

"Ha! Me and children? There's a laugh," Donna scoffed at the notion to hide the slight twinge of depression it brought on. She'd wanted children when she was little, and she'd been so close to making that happen with the right man too, but every time something had to have been a lie. First Lance had deceived her, poisoned her for a stupid space spider, and then Lee hadn't even been real. Joshua and Ella had only been...

"You weren't kidding; it's stuck on there good and tight!" Donna huffed, then pulled back a moment to give her hands a look. Not only was she thankful for the clothes not being hers, but she was also thankful that she hadn't had her nails done recently or that would have been some good money wasted. "Maybe kicking's all that can be done."

Beatrix thought something in that reply about children sounded a little off to her, but she wasn't going to push it... much. "If you ever decide to give them a shot, I think you'd make a great mother," if a little batty, "certainly better than me."

She got to her feet as well. "Seems that way. Shall we give it a shot before I crack the sink in half?"

"Yeah, well maybe. If," she nodded, let herself grin a bit at the thought once again, then set her hands to her hips. "All right then, ladies first," she teased, squaring up the rusty pipe for a good solid booting, "Let's give that monster something to complain about."

What she wouldn't have given for a proper boot for this, but none of her own collection needed to be ruined for this. She just hoped the slipper would keep her from breaking her foot attempting this.

"Since when did I stop being a lady?" Beatrix asked in an amused voice, raising her eyebrow. "I am the mother here," she said with a grin. "But by all means... go ahead. I'll try to catch you when fall."

"Hm?" she looked back, stumped a moment, before realizing what she'd done on accident. "Oh! Right, sorry about that. Used to being with the Doctor and all... not that you act anything like him. You can if you want to. It won't hurt your burns any though, will it?"

Ah... yes - the Doctor. Beatrix was curious now. "You'll need to introduce us sometime. But back to the pipes, let's double team it. You kick as I crack the sink."

Her eyes sparkled. "Now that would scare the shit out of that swamp monster. make it think twice about trying to eat us."

"He'll introduce himself probably," Donna rolled her eyes but put them right back to the sink. "Double-teaming it sounds like a plan. Could be a bad idea if it does decide to show it's ugly heads though. But we're two tough women." Donna balled her fists as she held her arms up as though she were a pro wrestler. "I'm sure we can take him."

"Hell yeah, we are!" Beatrix put her hand up to high-five Donna. "We'll kick his ass if he shows - a warning to all the others if we decide to let him live."

Donna obliged readily and slapped the hand of her new found friend. "However many he's got!" Heads, tentacles, asses, they'd beat all of them up no matter how many showed.

Though now, it would be kind of depressing if nothing actually did show. Maybe she'd developed too much of an adventurous streak by this point. It was kind of thrilling!

"On three," Donna nodded then readied her foot to strike, "One... Two..."

Beatrix smirked and shifted her stance so the sink was on her left. She lowered her center of gravity and gave the porcelain a quick tap with her knuckles. Hmm... She decided to use her elbow, knowing her strike with her off-hand wouldn't be as strong as the right but the way an elbow strike concentrated the force into a smaller location would work better.

As Donna counted, the Bride drew in a steady breath and focused. "...three," she finished up in an emotionally detached voice, immediately striking at the sink with her elbow, letting her strength and energy smoothly move from her own body, through the elbow and into the sink.

CRAAAAACK!

She barely felt it when she hit the sink, a crack quickly breaking through the porcelain. She stepped back just in time to avoid the side closest from falling onto her foot. She stared at the broken sink in a cold manner, before looking over to see how Donna faired. She blinked and a the cynical warmth found its way back into her eyes.

"Has he stopped by for a drink yet? I do need a new man to try to kill me," she asked, referencing their swamp monster.

On the final count, Donna struck hard with her heel at the piping. She hadn't really tried anything before with her upper half, but she knew she could kick down doors whenever she needed to. She felt the hit herself when her heel thumped the metal, and she nearly tumbled back as a result. Grabbing onto another sink behind her kept her from falling all the way over, but she couldn't have looked all that graceful during the close call.

"Oof!" she breathed, trying to right herself without putting any weight on her foot just yet. "Stubborn little thing. How'd we do?" Looked like the sink was split apart, but didn't see that she'd managed better that her friend. And that little monster still hadn't showed even with the water spraying a lot more now. "Might've scared him off with that. Bet it's a guy; men turn tail whenever they see a woman that could knock them senseless."

"Ah... the spineless sort," Breatrix quipped as she knelt in the broken porcelain to examine the status of the pipe. A look of disgust washed across her face as she ended up in a more forceful water spray, the stench increasing the more they loosened the pipe.

"Though, you have to admit... those are the smart ones." She grasped the pipe with her hand and yanked on it. Definitely looser.

"I think we almost got it. It's much looser. Maybe if I..." She set the flashlight up on what remained of the sink and ducked her head under the spray, much to her displeasure, to follow the pipe back to where it connected to the tile.

Under the cover of the darkness and the water, she punched into the slightly rotting tile and yanked on the pipe from within, bracing her foot against the bottom of the wall for added leverage. The pipe suddenly tore free, sending a torrent of water out, and Beatrix ended up pitching backwards to land on her back with a very wet thump to stare up at the ceiling.

"Ow..." The section of pipe she ripped out lay in the pool of putrid water next to her. She blinked her eyes, a little dazed.

"Wonder if it's even got a spine," Donna muttered curiously and tilted her head to see what damage they'd managed, "Or a skeleton of any sort." Arlene had certainly caused more than Donna had herself, but that wasn't to say that Donna hadn't done something to help loosen the thing. She hoped. Had she even dented it? The spraying was definitely worse, so Donna put a hand back to cover her mouth and nose from it. It really was like being in a sewer. No different from a school bathroom still...

"Careful now," Donna warned, but Arlene had already charged in and was tugging hard as she could. So much for letting Donna keep at it. At least Arlene could confirm that Donna had managed something. That made the redhead feel much better. That was until the blond went sailing across the floor.

Donna's head snapped around with the movement, eyes watching as Arlene thumped the wet tiling. "Well that was graceful!" she cheered mockingly but went right to her to help her right back up to her feet. She offered a hand down, grinning, "Be a right good shot for the Olympics with moves like that. You all right?"

"I could be a fucking ballerina." Beatrix muttered, reaching up to grasp Donna'a hand. "Yeah... only my pride is wounded."

Once on her feet she nudged the section of pipe she pulled free with her foot. "This piece is decent sized but I need a little more. The others should be easier to get loose."

"You'd look good in a pink tutu." Donna pulled her back to her feet. "And I'm the only one who saw unless we're being stalked. I won't tell if you won't." They'd both had falls and sort of falls, so they could keep each others' secrets.

Donna bent down to pick up the section. "Can't believe I'm doing this for piping. Next then?"

"I'd prefer a sparkly white one, thank you very much - with a tiara."

Beatrix gestured slowly at the folded sheet. "Let's get that laid out and then we can get the others." She paused. "...and thank you... for helping me with this."

"And a little wand, I suppose? You'd look like the tooth fairy." She gave Arlene a look over. "A very tall tooth fairy."

Donna unfolded the paper she'd been given. "You mean this? I told you it'd get soaked." It was terribly wet, but it unfolded well enough. Donna didn't know that it would last being handled too much while it was drenched though. "You're welcome! I dare say this is better than whatever trouble the Doctor'd get us into. I mean I've staked out in a bathroom before now, but at least this time it doesn't involve a psychotic alien Nanny and fat babies."

"... fat babies?" Beatrix raised an eyebrow. "You will have to introduce to this Doctor fellow sometime."

"Is trouble a normal part of your life?" The Bride went back to the pipes and started working a smaller one free.

"Long story." One she really didn't want to get into at the moment. "And trouble is a normal part of his life. You just get kind of... caught up in it if you're with him."

Donna looked for an unsoaked place to put the sheet down and finally chose the top of the towel dispenser. "There, that should keep it dry."

"Send a lot of time with the Doctor, I take it?" the Bride asked in a teasing tone.

She worked the smaller pipe out and set it with the larger one before she moved away from the pipe and the growing pool of rushing water. She leaned up against the far wall and closed her eyes. She was in too much pain, she decided, as she cradled her burnt arm.

For a moment, she contemplated heading to the clinic to get a dose of painkillers but she'd prefer to not cross paths with the healer-woman unless she had no choice. maybe... maybe she and Donna could make it to the pharmacy and raid the medical supplies in the process.

She might even give some to that healer-woman. Maybe... maybe not. Maybe she just wasn't thinking straight...

"Yeah. We travel together. Kind of hard not to get into trouble right along with him that way." Looking back, she saw that Arlene was taking a rest, and not the "just give me a minute" kind.

"Hey, what'd I tell you?" Donna scolded, before moving over to see what was wrong. That arm again. "If you're hurting, then you're not doing anymore of this tonight. That's an order." Donna quickly took charge since it seemed Arlene was too stubborn to know what was good for her anyway. "Maybe we should go back to the rooms. Get new bandages for you or something. We can probably turn the sheets into some. Or wait, you said something about a clinic earlier, didn't you?"

The Bride cracked her eyes open to glare at Donna for a moment, but decided not to argue about the woman's demand that she rest and not bother with the pipes anymore. At least they'd gotten the hard part done.

"Yes, there is a clinic, but I was there last night getting this tended to and I guarantee that the senior healer has no desire to see me there again," she said through gritted teeth. "There's a pharmacy on the other side of this prison on the first floor. We can go raid it for supplies."

She picked at her soaked shirt. "After we change into dry clothing."

"I don't care if she's a senior healer or a senior citizen, if she's running a clinic, then she'd bloody well better heal you, otherwise she'll have me to deal with!" Donna gave this woman a warning without having even met her. "A healer that won't see to someone who's hurt... she'll need some healing of her own after I get done with her!" There were some things that juts didn't flow with Donna, and refusing to help others who needed it for some grudge was one of them.

Coming down from her momentary stand atop the soapbox, Donna nodded in a huff. "New clothes first, let's go!" She went back to gather up the sheet first, the piping they'd removed still in her hand from earlier.

"She has very good reason to not help me," the Bride said in a quiet, controlled voice. "A reason I prefer not to have get around to the general prison populace, much less my wards."

She pushed herself off the wall and went over to the larger pipe and hefted it, ready to put it in the sheet. "Can you get all of it, or do you need me to carry some?"

Donna pouted sternly. "What, you steal her man or something?" it was hard, yet still sarcastic all the same. "Fine, we'll figure it out. I think I'll feel better after a change from these clothes anyway." She looked at the piping they'd taken from the walls, knowing she probably wouldn't be able to get it herself. "You can get some, but only with your arm that's not hurt. And if I can't get the rest, we'll get it on the way back."

"...more like I beat the shit out of her for information my first night here, trying to find out who had my daughter and where they put her," the Bride finally said after a moment of thought. "I think she'd be less forgiving if I'd stolen her man. Considering the damage I did to her, I don't expect her to help me - ever." Last night had been a surprise all around.

Beatrix held onto the largest section of pipe with her good arm, her other curled against her chest, as she walked to the door. "You keep that information to yourself, okay?"

"Wow..." Donna found that to be more impressive than anything. A mother looking for her child certainly could be ruthless if she believed that they'd been taken from her. Not that Donna knew from any real experience. "Don't see why I would make something like that common knowledge. My lips are sealed," she swore and followed Arlene out. She did stop though to glance back at the messed up room with a quick smirk. "Another night, swampy."

That was very good to hear; Beatrix liked Donna and didn't want to have to hurt her. "Thank you," she said in a quiet voice. "You will find the kidnapping of my daughter has me a little more psychotic than normal."

She grunted in pain as she used her burnt arm to open the door. A quick glance to see if there were any creatures about and then she headed back to her room.

[to here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/422964.html?thread=34995508#t34995508)

Nightshift 34: F-Block Bathroom

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