Doctor Who Silver Linings: Episode 1: Self Destruction

by Sutekh123

Alvis: the most boring town in all of Britain. At least until Megan Green uncovers a mystery that will change her life forever. After almost running over a man, she enters a life changing journey with a man only known as, "The Doctor." Can they save the world from a threat that wants to change the future? Alternative timeline. Features Self Harm. First in the Silver Linings Series.

1. Episode One: Self Destruction

Hey hey hey hey hey hey! :D

Hey guys and welcome to my New Year's Day Special! Yes I have actually got two of these out on time. Last year's Special was Pondlock: The Scot and the Detective, and that went down well, and if anyone is interested, there is a plan for a sequel. Maybe. If I can get around to it, *Fingers crossed yeah?* ;) :)

Anyway, welcome to Doctor Who Silver Linings: Self Destruction.

Now, I cannot stress this enough, while this is rated T, it is also RATED M FOR MATURE THEMES. This is a TRIGGER ALERT. For the most part, it is Rated T, however it has quite Mature Themes. It tackles the subject matter of depression, extreme violence, self-harm and suicide. This isn't just a trigger warning, but it's a warning to all my readers. This may put some people off, but it is part of the plot. If you don't know what these words mean, don't read this as you may be too young. This is an extreme subject, one which was the hardest thing I have ever written. You have been warned.

This is also the longest thing I have ever wrote. It is 22 thousand words long, and you can see why it. It took 3 months to write it.

I also want to say, this will be the first of a brand new series of mine, so stay tuned for more. :)

Also, this takes place in an alternative Timeline. If you want to know more about it, then support this story, as it will spawn a Sequel and Story Arc which will go into more detail about it.

I should also point out that Alvis, the setting of the story, is a fictional town of my own creation. I AM GOD OVER IT HAAAAHAAAAHAAA!

Okay?

Okay.

Let's begin! :D

---

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, however all characters apart from the Doctor are my own creations. I do not own the Depeche Mode songs that are referenced here either.

---

Neutral Space – 32st century

It moved through the silent blackness of deep space, like a giant jellyfish, several miles across, orbiting the depths of the space. Its shape was constantly changing; pulsating with life and energy, and billions of colours flickered over its glistening surface.

It was in the border between the Sol and Tau-Ceti space systems, in the mix between the bloody war that ravaged one of the planet's in the latter's system. The war had been raging for over six Earth decades, and Earth was winning.

Captain Andrew Cormack, of the 15th Sagittarius Armament, watched and observed this strange craft. It was heading towards the Earth quadrant, which was not a good sign. It had failed to respond to all of the ship's calls and remained silent. It didn't appear to be anything more than an H-Class Cruiser, while Cormack's ship was one of the best in the Earth Empire: Class-A51 Dreadnaught charged with pure Zectronic energy mined from the very core of Tisturbarous itself. If it opposed a threat, it wouldn't stand a chance against the Dreadnaught.

It stayed on course, silently floating through the vast empty void. Cormack sent one final statement: "This is Captain Andrew Cormack of Planet Earth. Respond. You will either stop or we shall have to take hostile action. You have 30 seconds. Respond." It said nothing. He had to take action. He armed the Zectronic Laser Cannons and fired. Within a flash, the other ship spun and relocated itself, protecting itself from the Cannon.

Cormack knew at that very instant what it was. It was a ship of Tau-Ceti origin, and he knew that the pilots were experts. Cormack understood the difficulty of fighting the Ogies as they were nicknamed, and in combat they were extremely difficult to defeat. However due to Earth's resent victory on their home planet, he knew this ship would be on low power.

It continued on its course, trying desperately to escape from Cormack's firepower. Cormack was waiting for the perfect moment to strike. His ship matched it in speed and surpassed it in firepower. It would pose no real threat. Launching torpedoes and energy cannons at the other ship, he hoped to drive it out beyond the fringes of the galaxy, out into the deep space of inter-galactic wastes. There he could easily finish it off: It was a perfect killing ground.

Firing more and more bursts of energy at the enemy, it drew it further and further away from its original course. However this would play for the enemy's favour. Its engines roared at full strength, bowing and ducking down under the Dreadnaught and up over it, forming loops around it. Cormack sat at the control module and watched the screens. He couldn't get a good enough lock to finish it off. Cormack moved his hand, aiming hard and attempting to fire more and more at the enemy. They knew his moves now, and this played against him. However he had a shot, and he took it. It was a perfect aim, and the torpedo pierced right through the back of the enemy ship. Its engines were failing, and it began to fall through, smoke imitating from the outer shell as the colours faded and it retreated.

Cormack only had to fire one more time in order to destroy it. He grinned, tasting the victory in his lips.

He fired.

The torpedo shot straight out. It had no chance to escape. It would have been completely destroyed. However, just before it hit it, it glowed brighter than ever before. Blues and oranges flashed off the shell and within a flash, it was gone.

The torpedo went right through the blackness of space, on and on forever. It was no longer there. It had disappeared.

---

Eight and a Half Thousand Years Earlier

= … =

=All systems at 100% efficiency.=

=Time Jump successful.=

=Calculating Time Zone.=

=Time Zone Calculated: 5467 BC.=

=Target located: Third Planet in Star System.=

=Entering hyper-space in three seconds.=

=Entering hyper-space now.=

= … =

The ship began to speed up; the engines roared bright yellow flames as it repositioned itself to face the third planet. It soon sped into Hyper-Space to get to its chosen target: a planet known as Earth…

---

DOCTOR WHO: SILVER LININGS

SELF DESTRUCTION.

WRITTEN BY ALAN MOWAT

AND DEDICATED TO

HEAVEN SOUKOVELOS.

---

"Push Hazel!"

Martin crouched down beside his pregnant wife, holding her hand- however Hazel wasn't exactly holding, more of squeezing with all her force. She was sat upon the birthing couch, labouring to deliver their child. Her long blonde hair was spread out across the cushion beneath her head. Sweat dripped off her skin as she screamed, the high pitched noise being heard throughout the entire wing of the hospital. She was the only person in the maternity ward giving birth at the time.

The Doctors and nurses in the room told her to breathe and push as hard as she can. Her legs spread wide, the Doctors waited to help deliver the as of yet unborn baby. Neither of them knew what gender it would be, but they couldn't wait to find out. Martin felt the blood flow to his hand beginning to get cut off as Hazel squeezed and squeezed.

"Only a couple more pushes now" the Nurse to their left said.

"Hazel, push my dear, push!" Martin pleaded to his wife.

Pain and exhaustion contorted her face; she writhed on the birthing couch screaming. Tears leaked from her eyes as she belted at the top of her lungs "I can't."

"Push!" they repeated.

For a moment, Martin felt as if it wouldn't and couldn't be done. As if this was an impossibility. But then, Hazel gritted her teeth and gave the largest push of her life, and in one heroic effort…

…she gave birth to a baby girl at precisely 12:06pm, 3rd of May 1990. A slight stock of goldish brown hair, thicker than her mother's, rested on the tiny new-born's head. A Nurse carefully lifted the new-born. Martin was deeply moved by the site of his child, more than he ever could have imagined. That was his daughter. His child with the woman he loved. And at that moment, the baby began to cry. Martin couldn't help but feel amazed by that, deeply wondered and exited by the idea of fatherhood.

"Is that my baby?" Hazel spoke, not lifting her head.

The nurse cleaned up the child, and after a minute or two brought the child over to her, and Hazel opened her arms letting the nurse carefully place the new-born into her protection. It was almost as if the child realised where it was, in the safe hands of her mother. The child looked up at her mother, deep into her eyes and stopped crying. They looked at each other for a long time. Martin smiled at her, and the two began to cry slightly. "That's our daughter" Hazel spoke "Hello Megan" they had decided if the baby was a girl she would be called Megan, and if a boy named after Martin's father Doug. "She's perfect."

Megan. Megan Green.

---

6th of March, 2005

15 years of age.

The school bus slowly came to a stop outside an old cottage situated on a dusty cobblestone path. The white doors pulled to the side as Megan stepped down and pulled her schoolbag over both of her shoulders. The doors closed behind her as she turned around- noticing the other passengers on the side facing her staring down at her through the darkened windows. Several of them were pulling faces at her or were sticking their middle finger to her. Bastards. Megan closed her eyes as she felt some dirt fall over shoes from the bus. She stood watching it disappear over the corner of the hill and the next house beyond. She started to make her way down the path towards her house, taking a handful of her golden-brown hair with both hands and brushing it back over her school bag and parting her fringe to one side. Her eyes shone bright blue with the sun in her eyes, licking her slightly dry lips. As she got to the door of her house, she reached into her pocket and took out the house key. Unlocking the door and walking in, she hung her school bag on the hat stand and kicked her shoes off. Her pink socks rubbed against the carpet as she walked to her right and down the corridor until she came to the far off door on her right: her bedroom. Opening the door she walked through and took her jacket off and threw it on her bed. Throwing herself down into her computer chair, she rested her head in her hand. Her elbow was perched on the wooden desk and the palm of her hand was touching her check. Using her other arm, she reached around and got the television remote. Turning on the TV, it was still on the same channel it was in the morning- the music channel, her favourite.

It was playing Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode, which was always a plus to hear as Megan absolutely ADORED Depeche Mode, and it was one of her favourite songs. She had always claimed that it always got loneliness felt like, and how much of an impact it has on people, and that how silence is the most efficient kind of torture and pain, and that our own personal pain is our own silence and… she could go on for hours about why she loved it and how she related to it and all.

Words like violence/ Break the Silence/ Come crashing in/ Into my little world/ Painful to me/ Pierce right through me/ Can't you understand/ Oh my little girl.

Megan began to hum the tune and sing along with it, she loved their songs so much. Personal Jesus, Suffer Well, I Feel You and most of the others were all personal favourites for her: except Little 15, as she always claimed "I'm not a fan of that one, it is a little dull."

All I ever wanted/ All I ever needed/ Is here in my arms/ Words are very unnecessary/ They can only do harm.

It was then that she heard a car pull up outside of her house. She thought that it must be her mother. And about a three minutes later (just as Enjoy the Silence ended, which Megan thought was quite ironic, as her mother always enjoyed silences, but hated the song and it ended just as she came through the door.), her mother stepped through. She could see her through the fully opened door.

"Hey pumpkin!" her mother, Hazel, said, waving at her down the corridor.

"Hey hey!" Megan said, getting up out of her black arm chair and walking down the corridor to greet her mother with a hug. She was about the same height as her mother, and they both looked eerily similar. Megan looked near enough identical to her mother when she was a teenager, so she could easily pass for a younger version of her; however her mum always had more blondish hair than her, as Megan had a very natural rich golden brown colour of hair. Her mother was the one to break the embrace.

"How was school today sweetie?" her mother asked.

"Erm.." Megan muttered "Okay I guess?"

"Any news about those guys who were calling you names?" Her mother looked into her eyes.

Megan knew the truth: they still picked on her. Called her names. Called her fat (Even though she was extremely underweight). Pulled her hair. Pushed her to the ground. And the worst part was that no one actually knew how bad it was for her. She was 15, she didn't deserve all that. She felt as if she couldn't actually speak to anyone. That her life was slowly enclosing around her like a hurricane consuming her. Her parents told her that Sticks and Stones may break her Bones, but Names Would Never Hurt Her. As if broken bones hurt more than the names she and many others were called, and she got called them all. So she believed that she wasn't worth it, that she'd be lonely forever. So broken hearts would lead to the blues as people undergoing bulling tried to empty themselves so they could feel NOTHING. Every time someone said that rhyme she just wanted to shout: "DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME IT HURTS LESS THAN A BROKEN BONE!"

"They've stopped. The teachers told them not to do it any longer." Megan replied. And of course it was a lie. Teachers actually don't do anything, she believed. She thought it only made things worse. No one actually knew how much pain she was in, and that she always wanted to scream and cry. She kept it all bottled up in fear of rejection. She clenched her teeth and looked up. She told herself that if her mother sees her cry, it will hurt her, and she nothing more than a failure in her eyes, and then she swallowed even though her throat didn't want to close but she looked at her mother and told one big lie. Just two words: "I'm fine."

Her mother smiled, "Well that's good" she said. "Did you hear about what happened in London?"

"No, why?" Megan looked at her mother. Her mother swallowed and picked up the remote from Megan's room and chanced the channel to BBC News.

Joshua Bishop, BBC News "Earlier today there were reports of shop window dummies attacking the public. Members of the Torchwood Institute and the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, otherwise known as UNIT, were on the scene. Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, head of the UNIT division present at the scene mentioned that they are not sure what happened here, but reports are coming in that UNIT has been involved in a similar attack during the early 70's where plastic manikins and shop window dummies also came to life and began to attack the public. Conspiracy theorists believe that this was an experiment which attempted to control plastic by turning it into living matter; however nothing has yet been confirmed. The estimated death count is over Two Hundred. Let us remember those who we have lost…"

---

January 2014

23 years of age.

Megan awoke from her sleep quite suddenly, pushing her arms back and grabbing onto her pillow as she forced herself upwards. Turning her head to look at her alarm clock, she saw how it changed from 6:59AM to 7:00AM before her eyes. She always got up at 7 O'Clock in the morning, as she hated getting up late as she feels as if she would of wasted half of the day getting up at around 11 or 12 in time for lunch.

Yawning, Megan moved her bare legs out of the bed and placed her feet on the floor, and headed for the door of her house. When her grandfather died when she was 21, she moved out with the money she inherited from him. It was enough for her to buy a small, medium sized house not far from where her parents and friends lived, and it was only about a half an hour drive from her college. She still visited her mother and father when she could, usually about once a week. It wasn't a large house, but it had her room, a nicely spaced kitchen joined to the living room which had a nice fireplace and carpets, a bathroom and a storage room, so it suited her needs quite well as she didn't need a big house (Even though she did think it would be cool to have one).

After throwing on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, she made her way into the kitchen where she turned on the kettle, got milk out of the fridge and began making herself a good old cup of tea. While waiting, she flicked on the small television set on the kitchen table.

Olivia Brown, ITV News "…Officials say that residences of the Earlworth Drive area will need to continue to tolerate the intrusion. Speaking at a speech conference yesterday, Colonel Chloe West of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce - or UNIT - said that Training Exercises are to continue being carried out and that the Military presence in Earlworth have no relation to the sightings of strange lights in the sky and unexplained power loses across the town and surrounding villages such as Stockbridge and Alvis during the last couple of weeks. She went onto say that training exercises will continue for a short while longer but no official end date was given. In other news, the murderer of James Mackay, 24, in Glasgow has been taken into police custody. The murderer was Mathew Smith, 56, and said that…"

After having her cup of tea and taking her morning tablets, Megan quickly went for a shower, washed her hair, repainted her nails black, did some of her makeup and got dressed. She played with her fringe while looking at herself in the mirror, her golden brown hair flowed down her back and ended just before her elbows. Her rich blue eyes caught the glimmer from the bathroom lights as she did her lip gloss. She was a very pretty girl and looked her age of 23. She had developed a small beauty spot on her right check when she was 16, and it never went away. After putting on her hoodie, she picked up her pile of revision books for History and placed them in her bag. Making sure she had everything she needed (her watch, bag, books, phone, car keys and house keys, purse, a bar of chocolate to eat if she got a bit hungry and a torch if she ever needed it) she unlocked her Vauxhall Corsa, placed her bag on the passenger seat and started the car up. She smiled as she placed in her Depeche Mode CD and the music began to fill the car. On it she selected Personal Jesus.

Reach out and touch faith/ Your own Personal Jesus/ Someone to hear your prayers/ Someone who cares/ Your own Personal Jesus/ Someone to hear your prayers/ Someone who's there.

Brushing the hair out of her face, she disabled the hand-break and looked around outside of the rear window. She reversed out of drive way and pulled out onto the main road. Turning back around, she sped up and drove down the road. After about 5 minutes, a thin strand of oak trees obscured the cornfields that stretched out to the horizon. The path Megan took always brought her into the very middle of the Alvis Oak Woods, which she enjoyed. It took a little bit longer to get to the main town, but she liked traveling through the trees too much to go around. Plus it was always a little quieter than the main roads, so that was a bonus. But as she got deeper and deeper into the woods, the sky grew more dark and it soon began to rain. It wasn't much at first, but it soon got heavier and heavier. After a little bit, on the dashboard it said that the roads were becoming more wet and was losing grip, so Megan slowed down the car a bit. However when she looked at the clock she realised she was running late and if traveling at her current speed in this weather taking this root, she wouldn't make it on time.

Taking one last look at the road, she turned off the music and reached inside her bag, taking out her phone. With one hand, she typed in her passcode and then looked under her list of contacts until she found Kathryn Charlton. Taking another quick glimpse at the road, she dialled her number and brought her phone up to her ear. After a few seconds, she heard Kathryn pick up her mobile.

Kathryn: Hey, where are you?

Megan: Still getting there. The roads are very slippy and I'll be a few minutes late. Could you say I'll be a bit late but I'll be there soon?

Kathryn: You know that you will get into a ton of trouble for being late, AGAIN.

Megan: Yeah, I'll give my little story and all and I'll get off. I always do after all, never gotten into trouble in my life.

Kathryn: If you say so. Hey, I need to get going, bye!

Megan: See you, thanks. Wait, are you still there?

Kathryn: Yeah, why?

Megan: If you can could you get me something from the vending machine? Like a drink and a sandwich or something? I'll pay you back.

Kathryn: Sure. Look, I really need to get going. I don't want to be late myself.

Just as Megan was about to say something, passing in front of her she saw a large creature running across the road. She couldn't make out what it was, but it looked like a giant rock or something which had no legs or arms. "What the…" And then followed was a man.

Megan slammed the breaks and the car came to a halt about a foot or two away from the man who was now just standing in the middle of the road. She had dropped her phone and it had fallen under the passenger car seat. The rain trickled down the man's forehead and hair, dripping onto his black frock coat that ended below his thigh and stripped blue waistcoat. The man was tall, with eliminating brown eyes and thick but short dirty blonde hair. He had some stubble across his cheeks but it wasn't quite a full beard. Under his eyes he had some lines and wrinkles but not much; he looked like he was in his mid-30's. In his top left pocket, a black pocket watch hung, the chain connecting to his lapel. His waistcoat was a vertically stripped blue, with a light-but-not-quite-light-but-yet-not-quite-dark blue slowly fading into an aqua colour. His shirt was a yellowish grey, and on his collars a red Question Mark was woven in on either side. He didn't have a tie or anything between his collars, but the top button was not done up. His long black trousers were slightly worn at the bottom and were muddy, as were his brown boots. He was just there staring at her, through the window and looking right into her eyes.

Kathryn: Oh my god, are you there? Hello? Megan!?

Megan felt her eyes drop down to the seat next to her as she searched under it to try and grab her phone. As she found it, she looked up at the man again… but he wasn't there. He was no longer looking at her and was no longer watching her.

Kathryn: Megan, girl are you here? Are you okay? What happened?

Megan: Yeah… yeah I'm okay.

Kathryn: What happened?

Megan: Nothing… nothing. It was n-nothing. I need to go, I'll call you back.

Megan hung up. Opening the car door, she looked around and tried to see if she could find this man who ran in front of her, but she couldn't. But she saw foot prints, and strange markings like the kind a car tyre would make next to them, but it was singular and it wasn't from a car- but it was where that other thing was. Deciding that she shouldn't get wet and if she missed college again people would wonder where she was, which she never liked, so she got back into the car and began to drive off…

---

After getting into town, Megan didn't feel up to actually going into college. She parked her car the Tesco's parking lot, went into a Starbucks, ordered a coffee and some cake, and just sat down. She took out her phone and texted Kathryn.

To Kathryn Charlton

Hey, could you meet me at the Starbucks please? I need to talk to you xx

Sent at 11:06

She got a reply within the minute. (Obviously Kathryn was using her phone in class, which was a known habit of hers.)

From Kathryn Charlton

Will be there soon xx

Sent at 11:07

Megan smiled as she closed her phone and put it back in her pocket. Thinking long and hard about what just happened, she soon began to realise just how odd the man appeared to her. It wasn't that he looked odd or that he wasn't human or anything, but he just looked different somehow. The way he appeared- it seemed like he appeared out of nowhere. And the way he vanished. It was as if he was never there to begin with.

She also began to think about the animal that he was chasing. But the thing was it was too big to be a deer or something like that and the shape was so off. It appeared as if it had no legs or defining features. And the footprints left at the side of the road: the man's were clear and she could tell they were made by a MAN, but the other markings. It was like they were left by something that slivered along. It was large, and it looked quite strange. It moved far more quickly than what the man did, as it looked like he was trying to keep up with it.

It was a couple more minutes before Megan saw Kathryn coming into the café. Kathryn was slightly smaller than Megan was, but she had long flowing brown hair and green eyes. She had a more defined face than Megan did, as Megan had a more rounded chin. Pulling a chair out for herself, she sat down at the round table Megan was at.

"Oh my god here you are." Kathryn began, pulling down her hood. "You didn't call me back, and you didn't come into class. You only just texted me as I got out for lunch. What happened? I heard your tyres scratching when in the middle of a conversation with you, you screaming and then silence for over a minute, and when you FINALLY do say something you just hang up. What happened?"

"Someone ran out in front of the car." Megan told her. She didn't want to tell her about the other thing that did, as if she did Kathryn would think she's mad.

"What?" Kathryn said in shock "Did you hit them?"

"Thankfully not."

"Who was it?"

Megan shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. They ran off before I could ask them who they were. I didn't recognise him."

"Are you alright? Please tell me, remember when we were younger and you told me about the bulling? I managed to help and support you. I can tell you're worked up about this and you're in shock." Kathryn put her hand on Megan's shoulder. "Please talk to me. Trust me."

"I do trust you. It's just…" Megan wanted to tell her, but couldn't manage it. "It's nothing. Really. It's nothing. You know me, always getting worked up about things that don't really matter. I'm just a little shaken up from nearly killing someone earlier."

"It's alright. I would be too if I nearly ran over a stranger." Kathryn smiled, hugging her friend as the two embraced. "I'm here for you, I promise."

"Thank you." Megan felt really good now that she spoke to her, even if it wasn't the full story.

"You coming into class later?" Kathryn asked

"I don't know. If I feel up to it maybe."

"OH! Speaking of school" Kathryn put her hand in her bag and took out an apple "Got you something from the canteen." She handed it to her as the two got up and began to walk out. "An apple a day keeps the Doctor away."

"I'm not actually hungry." Megan said, handing it back to her friend.

---

About two hours later, Megan drove off in her car. She thought it was best if she got some rest and didn't go into school for the day, which was perfectly understandable. When driving up the road, she kept looking out for any sign of the man who she nearly killed. There was no evidence to say he was ever there.

When Megan got home, she poured herself a long deep bath and just rested in it for a while. The water helped calm her down and helped relieve a lot of stress and worry. But the confusion and curiosity was still there. The bubbles in the bath rose and covered the top of the steaming hot water. As she slowly felt herself drifting off to sleep (which she didn't want to do but she couldn't be bothered getting out), she dunked her head under the water in an attempt to help stop her from falling into dream land. It only made things feel hotter and the steam of the bath made her feel tired.

She had stayed in for about an hour, but by this time it had gotten considerably colder although it was still slightly warm but nowhere near warm enough. Megan slowly got out the bath and grabbed the towel. Draining the bath and wrapping the towel around her skin clad body, she dried herself off while she thought about what happened earlier, but she got dressed and switched on her laptop. As she went on, she got a message to join a Skype conversation with Kathryn and Ben, who was Kathryn's boyfriend.

Ben: Hey Megan!

Kathryn: Hey girl.

Megan: Hey.

Kathryn: You feeling any better?

Megan: A little. I just had a bath.

Ben: It's odd how you weren't at college. You're not too bad at missing out on it.

Megan: I know. Kathryn did you explain to him why I wasn't there?

Kathryn: Yeah.

Ben: I'm really sorry that happened to you. It must have been awful.

Megan: It was scary. If I had hit him…

Ben: The point is though that you didn't. And that's what counts here. You didn't hit him and that man is fine. Probably just a drunk or something.

Megan: Maybe.

Ben: Anyway, did you hear about the missing stone?

Megan: What?

Kathryn: One of the standing stones at the circle went missing last night.

Megan: Did it? How?

Ben: No one knows. It just disappeared. All footprints were washed away due to the weather last night and this morning. Only footprints would be under shelter, like under a tree or something, and at lower points.

The Alvis Standing Stone Circle was at the top of a hill. It was in the very middle of the woods and in the middle of the entire Alvis area.

Megan: Why would someone take a stone of all things?

Kathryn: No clue. But think about it: those stones are centuries old, they are over two foot tall and they weigh a ton. No one man could lift one and just simply walk away with it. He'd have to be Superman in order to do that.

Ben: My money is that the stone grew legs and ran off.

The thing Megan saw did look an awful lot like a giant rock. As much as Megan hated to admit it, she did start to believe it was a rock…

Kathryn: Don't be so silly. It couldn't have done that.

Megan: What other explanations are there?

Kathryn: That a group of men lifted it away or put it in the back of a truck and drove off with it.

Ben: But if they did, the truck would be too heavy to move. They weight an absolute TON remember. And people say that it would take a few men to just lift one as they are just too big. And what would be the point? So they could gloat that they stole a rock that is a few thousand years old? Yeah. Some bloody good bank robbery there!

---

The Following Morning

Megan did her usual routine for the mornings. Got up, had a shower, got dressed, did her nails and make up, put her bag in the car, and drove off into town. However this time, she made a small text.

To Kathryn Charlton

I won't be in today at all, feeling a bit sick xx

Sent at 8:56

Once she did, she turned her phone off and then began to drive off to spot where she last saw that man. Intrigued by Ben's words of the Standing Stone disappearing, she thought she better see if she could find tracks. After all, how WOULD it disappear on its own? Things can't just dematerialise from existence. Matter cannot be created nor destroyed after all, so where did it go? In her mind: she SAW it run across the road and SAW that man chasing after it. How it was alive she didn't know, but she KNEW what she saw.

As she got to the point where he did jump out at her (she recognised it as she recalled a traffic sign near where he was), she parked her car in a little clear area and walked down the road until she got to the spot where he actually was. The weather had cleared up by this point which was good, so she wouldn't get soaking wet. After looking at where the man was, and where she saw the marks in the ground where he ran, she saw the markings left by the creature she saw 24 hours before. "So I didn't imagine it." Megan began heading off into the woods to look for more proof, not realising that she had left her phone on the passenger seat in her car.

---

Meanwhile- Megan's House

To Megan Green

Okay, I'll come over and see you xx

Sent at 9:05

That was half an hour ago. By which point Kathryn had been at Megan's house for quarter of an hour. She knocked at her door 8 times, rang the doorbell 7 times, looked through the windows 23 times and tried calling her 13 times. Her phone was off and she wasn't there- her car wasn't parked in the driveway. "Where the hell are you Megan?" Kathryn spoke out loud. Walking around the porch of the house and after looking around the back, she saw a figure behind some of the trees. It scared her, but she went up to it. It was a man crouched down looking at rocks at the ground.

"OI! YOU!" Kathryn shouted "What the hell are you doing?" she approached him.

"I'm looking for tracks." The man said simply. He had a very English accent and spoke in a calm way.

"What kind of tracks?"

"Animal. I'm a hunter, kind of. It's not exactly an animal, but you could call it that I guess. It has the brain of a chicken. There is an escaped thing that needs to be brought back to… where it came from."

"You are clearly not a hunter." Kathryn folded her arms

The man stood up. "And why not?" he asked

"As you look much more like someone who collects taxes than hunts deer's."

"Charming! Thank you for that encouragement!" the man scoffed and returned looking around the ground. Picking up bits of grass and dirt, doing odd things like sniffing and even licking a leaf.

"Get the hell out."

"Out? Out from where? We're already outside"

"This is private property! You're trespassing!"

"You live here? You obviously don't as there are tyre marks on the gravel path there that were left for a while and don't match up with the kind your car made when coming in. So clearly, you don't. The original owners left not too long ago and you came to check up on them. That right? Of course it's right, so… you're trespassing."

Kathryn was speechless. "I'm friends with the girl who DOES live here. So get lost freak!"

"Very well!" the man sighed, raising his arms in the air and throwing them back down to his sides. Walking away for about 4 steps, Kathryn told him to stop. "Well make up your mind woman! You tell me to get outside but I already am you tell me to go but you want me to stay… what shall it be?" the man's attention was distracted by some markings indented in the grass. He let out a loud "OHH!" sound with his lips parted to make a giant 'O'. Kneeling, he picked a bit of grass up and whispered "So it did come through here. I'm on the right tracks. And very recently too. Far too recently…" the man snapped upwards like a Jack-In-A-Box, snapped his fingers and pointed to Kathryn "Your friend: your height, golden brown hair, blue eyes, pretty, little mark on her cheek, drives a Vauxhall Corsa?"

Kathryn was stunned "…Yes"

"She isn't home is she?"

"…No"

"Oh dear."

"What?" Kathryn sternly asked

"I think I'm needed not too far from here. Goodbye, been a pleasure to meet you. Too-da-loo!" And once he said that, the man began running off into the woods. Kathryn called for him, but she couldn't catch up to him in time and he just vanished.

---

Half an Hour Later- Alvis Woods

Megan walked through the trees and was careful not to step foot in any puddles or mud. Megan was always the kind of girl who got herself lost- and in the woods EVERYTHING looked the same. To her it just looked like trees and branches and leaves and wood and sticks. Nothing else and NOTHING to tell her where she was in relation to her car. She tried looking at the sun's location in the sky but even then it was hard to make out. "God DAMMIT!" she shouted as loud as she could. "God I am such a bloody IDIOT! What on EARTH was I THINKING?! I'm going crazy. I saw something on the road and because I nearly killed a guy I think it's my responsibility to go look for it and do… something. I don't know. I just decide to go wondering off into the woods all on my own, with no phone and no way to contact anyone if I get myself lost- which is what I've done. God… and this is all because you nearly killed a guy with your car yesterday. And all I've done is appeared crazy, missed classes and got myself lost. And if that wasn't bad enough… I'm talking to myself. Great." She signed. "All just for some stranger who looked at me like no one ever looked at me before. It feels like I have almost met him before. Like I know who he is somehow. His face looked slightly failure to me somehow. I might have known him when I was younger. I've done all of this just for some random stranger, like he can fix everything in my life. All just for some random guy."

And then, all of a sudden, she heard some cracking of branches and breaking of some trees. She dismissed it as a rat or something, but then she thought she saw something from the corner of her eye. "Hello? Someone there?" she began walking towards where she thought she saw it "I've gotten myself lost. You think you can help?" She stepped over a puddle of water and kept on going. "Where did you go?"

And then she looked to her left and behind a tree emerged the most strangest thing she ever saw. The missing standing stone was there, and it began moving towards her. It began to pulsate a deep orange glow through the cracks in its surface. It was far taller than Megan, and she began to walk backwards away from it. Stumbling her foot caught a root of a tree and she tripped up, smacking her head off the oak wood next to her. Bring her hand up to her forehead, she closed her eyes and tried to will away the pain. But when she opened her eyes, she saw that the Rock Creature was only a foot or two away from her.

It looked like all large rocks, it was irregular in shape and moved towards her slowly but it looked heavy and powerful. It made a loud rumbling noise; much like someone would if their stomach was rumbling as they were hungry. It couldn't eat her… could it? Megan was terrified. She had nowhere to run to and no place she could hide. She was cornered. She closed her eyes and screamed.

But then a miracle happened. She heard a man. A man was shouting a large cry and running towards her with his arm erected outwards. It was the same man, the man she nearly killed a day ago. And this was the thing he was chasing. As he got closer, it looked like he was holding a torch and shining it towards them, but it was making a noise- like a low humming. The rock creature rolled backwards and it's gargling became a screech as it seemed to twitch and it ran backwards, getting away as fast as it could. Megan was stunned, but she was still too out of breath to move and get up, and of course at a loss for words.

The man knelled down next to her. "You alright?" Megan nodded. "Good, thank goodness for sound waves. That creature isn't used to hearing high pitched sounds. Think of it like a dog, it is terrified of them. It ran away. Lucky it did, as otherwise you would have been a Human Sandwich by now."

"…What was it?"

"Oh that? Oh it's called an Ogri. It's from the planet Ogros in the Tau Ceti system 12 light-years from this solar system. It's been here for several thousand years."

"…It's an alien?"

"Yes. Do you see things like that every day? No? Well that's my point." The man smiled

"Why did it go after me?"

"As you saw it yesterday. It ran out in front of your car, and you nearly hit me with it too. Thank god I saw what you looked like and thank god I managed to find you in time. It wanted to make sure no one knew of its existence. And if that meant killing what it thinks to be a worthless ape, so be it." The man said "Not that I think you're an ape at all" he corrected himself. "Are you alright?" Megan nodded again. "You sure? As I need to get after that thing before it tries to take more blood."

"What?!"

"It feeds on blood. You see on its home planet, it feeds in swamps where various proteins are in the water supplies. Ogros is a swamp world you see. But on Earth, they reply on blood globulin which they absorb through touching a human."

"So it's a… a… vampire?" Megan looked at him with a concerned look on her face.

"You could call it that, yes. What's your name?"

"Megan… Megan Green."

The man smiled "Nice to meet you Megan, Megan Green!" he took her hand and shook it. "Call me the Doctor." And off he went, sprinting off in the direction the Ogri went, his long coat flowing in the wind behind him. Megan watched as he ran off into the distance…

---

A Short While Later

Soon enough Megan managed to find her way out of the woods and circled it to try and the spot where she parked her car. It took her 10 minutes to reach it, and of which point she was thrilled. She wanted to get home so bad. She reached into her car, took out her phone and held it tightly to her chest. But her plan was stopped when she heard another car pull up behind her.

"Megan?!"

"Kathryn?" Megan said out of confusion, putting her phone in her pocket.

Kathryn got out of the car and walked out over to her. "What the hell have you been doing?" she looked at Megan's dirty and slightly ripped trousers.

"I said I was feeling ill…"

"And it was a lie. If you were ill, why would you be here? Face it, you were skiving college. But why the hell did you lie to me? I was worried so I went to check on you"

"I am really sorry Kathryn. I really am. It's just… I had to come here."

"Why?"

"It's a long story…" Megan quietly said, realising she must sound like a child

"You realise how worried I was when I saw your car wasn't there? What's going on?"

"I just want to go home, get into my bed and die slowly" Megan finally snapped.

"What?"

"It's true. I'm sick of this. I'm sick of ALL of THIS. I just want this all to be over…" Megan began to break down. A few tears rolled down her red checks. It was all too much for her.

"Megan… I'm so sorry." Kathryn pulled her in for a hug "I'll drive you home and we'll come back for your car tomorrow. I promise."

"Thank you" Megan slowly said.

Kathryn smiled, "You know you're like a sister to me. I would never let someone hurt you."

"And you're like the sister I never had…" Megan smiled making a few of the tears move around her mouth. Megan breathed in and whipped the tears off her face. "I feel a bit better now."

"Good" Kathryn looked at her and kissed her check. With her arms still around her, she brought Megan to her car.

---

One Hour Later

Megan was now home. Kathryn dropped her off at her house, made her some tea and asked her if she wanted her to stay over. Megan didn't want her to, as she was okay now. She felt much better. Kathryn said she would drop in during the morning, and if Megan needed ANYTHING, she was to call and she would come over no questions asked. Kathryn was always like that; she was supportive and caring of Megan and always wanted to help out. Megan stayed up for a little while and listened to some Depeche Mode and read a little of The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of The Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson. When she went off to bed, she found herself tired but unable to get to sleep. She just lay awake thinking about what just happened to her. Did she really see an Alien Vampire Rock? She wasn't going to argue, that man who claimed he was a Doctor did seem like he knew what he was on about. And she even believed him.

She sat up in her bed, and looked out at the window. It was a full moon out that night, with all the stars shining above her head. She looked at the stars, could that rock thing have come from one of them? She remembered what this Doctor had said: "It's from the planet Ogros in the Tau Ceti system 12 light-years from this solar system" So she turned on her laptop, went onto google and typed in 'Tau Ceti'. The results linked to sites will several articles.

'Nearby Tau Ceti may host two planets suited to life'

'Five Planets Around Nearby Star Tau Ceti; One in Habitable Zone'

'Another Earth Just 12 Light-Years Away?'

However, she clicked the top result: Tau Ceti- Wikipedia

'TAU CETI'

"Tau Ceti is a star in the constellation Cetus that is spectrally similar to the Sun, although it has only about 78% of the Sun's mass. At a distance of just under 12 light-years from the Solar System, it is a relatively nearby star, and is the closest solitary G-class star. The star appears stable, with little stellar variation."

"Tau Ceti is metal-deficient, which deficiency is usually correlated with no giant planets and few rocky planets. Observations have however detected more than ten times as much dust surrounding Tau Ceti as is present in the Solar System."

"Since December 2012, there has been evidence of possibly five planets orbiting Tau Ceti, with one of these being potentially in the habitable zone. Because of its debris disk, any planet orbiting Tau Ceti would face far more impact events than the Earth. Despite this hurdle to habitability, its solar analog (Sun-like) characteristics have led to widespread interest in the star. Given its stability, similarity and relative proximity to the Sun, Tau Ceti is consistently listed as a target for the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI), and it appears in some science fiction literature."

But this wasn't science fiction- this was real life. Either that man knew a lot about the star and made it all up on the spot, or it really DID come from that star system. It was so odd, the idea she may have made first contact with a vampire rock beast from outer space! It was so strange to her. She couldn't tell Kathryn that, as if she did Kathryn would call men in white coats. However Megan did want to tell her, it felt like she needed to tell her. She had to get all of this out.

First however, Megan pressed the backspace key until she got back to Google, and typed in 'The Doctor'. She found a site called 'Doctor Who? The Man Who Appears Through History.' Clicking on it, it read:

'Doctor Who?

There is a man who we have all seen, but we don't notice. And in these last few years, he has appeared more and more. And every time he does, alien visitors come. We all remember the Planets in the skies, the Army of Ghosts, the destruction of Big Ben, The Christmas Star that came to kill, ATMOS. Every single one the result of extra-terrestrial invasions. Creatures from another world far beyond our own. And this man has appeared throughout history. This man is known as the Doctor. But he never is alone. In all of these events, a Blue Police Public Call Box from 1963 is seen. Security camera footage from these areas have shown this man leaving and entering this box. However it is not all the same man, one man has a long multi-coloured coat, another a tweed jacket and bowtie, another a tight suit and another a long scarf. Several friends and accomplices are seen traveling with him. Have you seen any of these men?'

Moving her curser further down the page Megan saw several pictures of different men. Some looked similar, but they all wore different clothing. Some had a Victorian look to them, others had bowties and suits, some had long scarfs and strangely coloured coats, and one had a stick of celery on his lapel. There were 12 all together, and the last one was the man she had seen. The man she nearly hit with her car. The man who saved her life. The Doctor.

It was decided. Megan was going to tell someone about him. She had to, he was real.

---

The Following Morning

Kathryn came over at half 7 in the morning. She made Megan some breakfast and some coffee, and helped with the washing up. And then Megan told her about what actually happened. She came out and said that she saw a Rock Monster running across the road just before she nearly killed that man, the Rock Monster attacked her, the same man saved her and told her that the Creature was called an Ogri from a planet called Ogros, and that he went by the name of 'The Doctor'. Naturally, Kathryn didn't believe her.

"Why don't you believe me?" Megan asked her friend.

"Because things like this don't exist. There aren't any green men from Mars, there are not any Ogris as you called them and there are no such things as aliens! It's just it is such a wild story."

"I know it sounds crazy- I sound crazy, but it is true."

"How did you get these ideas in your head?"

"Because I've SEEN it. It was right in front of me. I saw it as clearly as I see you right now. It tried to kill me!"

"How do you even know it's called an Ogri? How can you trust this man? He could be a druggie and he paid some mate of his to dress up, scare the shit out of you and he pretends to save you."

"BECAUSE I NEARLY DIED OKAY?!" Megan full on shouted at her. Kathryn backed away slightly.

"Megan… look at me. It isn't that I don't want to believe you, it's just there isn't any proof…"

"Of course there is proof! I saw it, it nearly killed me, my clothes are ripped…"

Kathryn put her hand on Megan's shoulder "No. I mean proof that I've seen. Maybe yes you nearly ran over that man, BUT you could have hit your head and it caused you to think you've seen all these things after we said that the Standing Stone disappeared. None of these things has happened to me, so I can't know for sure."

"You're meant to be my friend… why don't you believe me?" Megan asked.

"Things like this can't and don't exist in the real world. I am sorry that I laughed but this is the craziest thing you have ever told me." Kathryn shrugged her shoulders. Megan rolled her eyes at her. She needed proof to believe it, that was always her problem. "These have been some really crazy days. First all the stuff with you, the Stone going missing, the random weather changes, that man at you're…" Kathryn's expression turned into a shocked blankness expression of shock.

"What?"

"Megan… that man you saw. What did he look like?"

"Why?"

"Just tell me."

Megan thought for a moment. "Tall. Dirty-blonde hair. Black coat."

Kathryn looked up at her "Oh my god… he was at your house yesterday before I went off into the woods looking for you and… he ran off after asking if you were home or not…"

"SEE! I'M NOT CRAZY!" Megan's smile grew bigger than ever before. "Why was he here?"

"He was… looking for tracks."

"Tracks?"

"Animal tracks. Or at least that's what he said that."

"Like foot prints?"

"Yeah."

Megan smiled, "He was looking for the tracks of the Ogri!"

"Look, he was mad as hell. He kept being really rude to me and he kept picking sticks and leafs off the ground. He was a real nut job, claiming something went through here a few nights ago."

"YES! He was talking about the OGRI!" Megan beamed with delight. "Show me where it was."

Kathryn led Megan outside and round the back of the house to where she saw the man the previous day. Pointing to a patch of dirt, she said, "That's where he was."

"So he was here looking at the grass for indications that the Ogri passed through here?" Megan knelt down and picked up some twigs. "That must have been a few minutes before he saved me."

"When you've decided to come to your senses, let me know. I'll make a cup of tea okay?" Kathryn said going back into the house.
"Whatever." Megan spoke under her breath. She picked a few more sticks and stones off the ground but found nothing. After a few minutes of doing this repeatedly, she saw a slight trail by the root of a tree. It looked like the kind of trail that a big snake would leave. As she got closer to it, she heard some branches break to her left. Turning her head, she let out a gasp. There stood behind a cluster of bushes stood the Ogri, and a creature she had never seen before. This new creature was small, but it seemed to grow out from the ground.

The bulge that was forming was about the size a small man, but as the shape began to even out and form an actual appearance, it was no more than a ghastly parody of a human being. The smooth skin was a transparent light red, with a pulsating orange glow inside. The bottom of the bulge- or now half-formed humanoid, seemed to tear apart and separate like melted goo into two long thin legs. It stood up from a crouched position into a standing one, and it was there that the size became apparent as it seemed to grow at least twice its size. It stood at 7 and a half feet, which looked like a glowing elongated orb suspended in the air with two legs pealing out at the bottom. The sides began to split apart and formed arms, hands and lastly three fingers and a thumb. The neck began to sprout and form a head shape, much like that of a human being. As the head grew, the skin seemed to harden and the glow faded. Two silver eyes opened as the eye-lids split apart, as did the mouth, creating a small slit where sharp teeth hid behind. No nose or nostrils formed, but it was there when the final stage of the process happened. Suddenly the reddish skin was replaced with flesh coloured tentacles, ranging from deep reds to bring oranges. Hundreds, if not thousands of tentacles formed and wrapped themselves around the main bulk of the creature, hiding the original flesh and making the beast much thicker and wider. Its thin arms and legs thickened as its spine straightened. It gave out a long deep hiss as it breathed in, its chest pushing out by a few inches and slowly coming back into the body. It looked at Megan with its cold dead, silver eyes. It raised its arm and pointed right at her.

Megan felt her heart stop completely as she realised what it was doing. It was signalling the Ogri to attack her. The Ogri moved closer, pushing through the plant life that stood in its way between it and Megan. It moved in a way that Megan recognised as a predator hunting it's prey. It slowly moved closer and closer to her. Megan got up from her knees and walked backwards slightly, but she knew she wouldn't be able to run. It would just come back for her again. She had seen too much at this point, she couldn't get away.

But just as she thought all was lost, she saw him. That very same man she nearly killed and the man that has opened her eyes to the possibilities of alien life. The Doctor. He ran at the Ogri with full force, pointing a torch shaped object at it like he had before and as he got close, he did a running jump and kicked the creature at its centre. It was hurtled backwards, smacking itself off of the tree.

However the Doctor had not noticed the newer creature yet, and he didn't. It came up behind him and grabbed him by his neck. Its long tentacle-like fingers growing around him like moss covering a tree. The Doctor choked as he tried to prise them off of him, but he failed to do so. He dropped what he was holding on the ground as he let out a large cry. His eyes wide open, he mustered enough strength to shout "Run! Get out of these woods! Just run!"

Megan didn't know what to do. Her hands covered her mouth as she retreated back into her house. Slamming the door shut and locking it behind her, she ran into the kitchen and nearly screamed at Kathryn. "We have to get out, right now!"

Kathryn set down the kettle and looked at her. "Megan, what do you mean?"

Megan reached out and took her friend's small hands "No time to explain, just please trust me." Kathryn pulled her hand back away from Megan, but instead brought them up to her arms and grabbed onto them.

"Megan, sweetie, are you okay? What happened?" she pulled her friend in for a hug. Megan's head rested on her chest, Kathryn could tell she was shaken with fear.

"It- It was horrible. It took him and…" Megan sniffed and began crying.

"Sweetheart, it's okay, it's going to be okay, I know it is."

Megan shook her head "I feel so afraid. All the time, always. Always!"

"It's okay to be scared of the things we don't understand."

"No!" Megan looked up at her "No it's not that. I know it's okay to be afraid, but I'm afraid of everything. You know I've never had any confidence when I was at school. All the bulling, the operations…"

"I know. But remember what I did? Remember that day when you just about had enough? No one was there for you apart from your parents, but they couldn't stop it. You didn't have friends as you felt like you couldn't trust anyone. And when Lauren McWilliams took you by your hair and tried to push you to the ground, but she pushed you into a wall by accident. You fell and the side of your head was bleeding so badly. I saw her do that, and I stood in. I grabbed a hold of her long black hair and hit her face off of my knee. I said that if I ever, EVER saw her do that to you or anyone else again I would make sure she paid for it. She ran off crying like the little bitch she was and I helped you up. You didn't want my help, but I took you to the bathrooms, dried off the side of your face and made sure you were okay. We both ended up getting detentions as we didn't go to class, but I didn't care. I only wanted to make sure you were okay. I was there for you when no one else could be. And I always will be Megan. Always."

"I know that. But I've always had trouble with everything. I wanted to make something of my life but look at me. I'm a wreck. I'm scared of doing something - even when I know it would make my life better by doing so."

"You won't be like that forever sweetheart. I know you won't. I'm here to help, I always will be. I'm your friend, so is Ben. We're always going to be here for you. No matter what." Kathryn kissed her friend's forehead and wiped her tears away with her sleeve. "Remember what I said when we were young: If you can't stop being scared or you can't stop running away, what do you do?"

---

New Year's Eve- 2006

16 years of age.

Megan wasn't a religious person. She didn't believe it was necessary for there to be a god, nor something controlling her every move. Neither was her family, but if there was one thing they loved doing: it was celebrating these festivals like there was no tomorrow. And for all they knew, there wouldn't be. It was one week since the Space Rock headed over London, and a third of the population just stood on the edge of buildings waiting to jump. Megan's mother, Hazel, was one of them. She, along with a couple dozen from the town, climbed to the very top of the Church Tower, all standing in a perfect line, waiting to jump.

No real confirmation was given as to what actually happened. A lot of people online had believed it was something to do with aliens. Much like the Shop Window Dummy attack in 2005, people went nuts. Luckily, no one actually did jump. But it was still such a scary thought for Megan: Would her mother actually commit suicide?

Her dad, Martin, didn't let them leave the house, saying that they could get into it too. And while he didn't think she would have, in actuality given the chance, right there, right then, Megan would have jumped.

She would have jumped.

She would have killed herself.

It was her depression coming back. The mental imbalance in her brain telling her she was useless. That she was worth nothing. That she should have just joined them and done it. No one would have noticed. A third of the population, ready to jump off the nearest tallest building. No one would have missed her. Not one soul.

At least that was what was going through Megan's mind at the time. Her life was taking a turn for the worst. She didn't like all of her family gathering around for New Year's Day. It was about to turn into the next great year of the 21st century: 2007. Another year of hurt, loss and loneliness. It was as if she was playing spin the bottle by herself to try and kiss the wounded parts of herself, and heal. But she thought her kisses were poisonous.

Her grandparents and cousin's all gathered around the television, watching whatever was on. Eating roast chicken and turkey, with sprouts and gravy. She wasn't in the mood for anything. The pain inside her kept building and building that night. She couldn't take it any longer. Asking if she could be excused from the party (even if her mother said no, she still would of sneaked away), she locked herself in her room, opened up her cabinet, moved her white t-shirt out of the way and took out a sharp knife. A very sharp knife.

She kept it hidden in her room, encase she ever wanted to do it. Encase she ever wanted to stab herself. Of course, that was her back up plan. Her main plan for suicide was to get a rope and hang herself in her closet. It was said to be painful, but of course, she wouldn't feel it for long, as she would be dead. And all the pain inside her would go away, as she would be dead.

Dead.

For one word, she pondered how powerful it was. She always wondered what would be her last words. The last impact she would make on the planet, before obliteration. One last chance to be remembered. Would anyone be around to hear them? Or understand what she meant by them? Albert Einstein's last words were lost, as they were spoken in German to a Nurse that could only speak English. Would they be funny or ironic? Like, "Don't worry guys, I know how to set a fire", or "Relax, I know how to change a bulb."

Maybe it would be better to go out comically than anything. At least some sick twisted fuck would get a laugh out of it. And that's what has been happening all her life. Sick motherfuckers using her as a joke to make them feel better about their sad lonely lives, only in return making her feel sad and lonely. What if she did it and no one knew? What if she just ran off into the night like Batman did, get a taxi far, FAR away and drown herself in a lake with a brick attached to her ankle. She hated the idea of drowning. It was always a phobia. It wasn't being underwater that got her, but the idea of the last gulp of air STUCK in your throat pouring to get out but you can't even breathe. It was cold enough out there though, she would die of the cold water first probably.

François Rabelais' (a French Renaissance writer) last words were, "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." That stood out to Megan a lot. She wanted to die to escape the pain. But was it worth it?

She had noticed that a lot of teenagers believed that they were indestructible. That nothing can hurt them. Or at least, that's what adults thought of them. What if she took her own life, forgetting everything, but also the good things in her life? Her mother, father, friends, and obsessing over sexy people in movies. She would lose all of that too. She would lose the good things to get rid of the bad, awful things. She would survive if she carried on. But she didn't know how.

Thomas Edison's last words were, "It's very beautiful over there."

Megan hoped wherever she ended up at, it would be as beautiful as she hoped.

She took the knife and slowly cut through her wrist, ripping the flesh and creating a cavern through her skin. It bled a lot when she took the knife away and set it on the ground. It was at that moment when she realised how pathetic she was. Alone, crying on her floor with her back to the radiator (her back was probably burnt at this point), with a knife by her side just after she had self-harmed.

It was painful. But it was never enough. She always hoped that it would cause the pain INSIDE to go away. She didn't want to feel the pain inside anymore so she distracted it by causing pain on the outside. She looked across at the mirror that covered her wardrobe. She saw herself, makeup running down her cheeks, bleeding wrists, messy hair. She thought she was ugly, stupid, pathetic, worthless, horrible, nasty, revolting, grotesque! She hated everything about herself. She literally despised her own life.

She couldn't take it. She had to get help. She wanted help. She NEEDED it badly but she never, ever told. This time though, she decided she would. She got up slowly, her knees shaking, staggered over to her bed and picked up her phone. She looked through her contacts. She had deleted all of them, apart from a few from her family and the odd friend. She called Kathryn. She dialled her number quicker than she had ever typed in a string of numbers before. Raising the mobile up to her ear, she heard the beeping and ringing still going on. She thought she wasn't in, or her phone was off. She might have been out with her boyfriend or some mates, either getting drunk or just messing around.

And then it was answered.

It felt as if the gates to heaven were just opened right then and the sinning light of all that was good in the world shone down on her.

Kathryn: Hey?

Megan: Hi.

Kathryn: Oh, hey Megan! Happy New Year and all! (It was still 5 hours off but ah well.)

Megan: Yeah… listen. I need your help. (She looked down at her wrists and saw them bleeding even more. The blood began to build up.)

Kathryn: What are you talking about?

Megan: I - I did a stupid thing. A. Really. Really. Stupid. Thing. Please. Oh god Kathryn. Please. I need you.

Kathryn: Megan sweetie what happened? Are you okay?

Megan: No. Not in the slightest. Please, are you free?

Kathryn: Totally. Where are you?

Megan: My house.

Kathryn: I'll be there in a few minutes. I promise. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll be like Speedy Gonzales!

Megan: Cut the Looney Toon crap. Just please, I need your help.

Kathryn: On my way.

At that, Kathryn hung up. The empty silence filled the air once more. She could feel her heart beat. *Thump Thump. Thump Thump.* She inhaled deeply as she sniffled and closed her eyes. Curling up into a ball, she rested her head on the top of her knees. Before she knew it, she was awoken by Kathryn nudging at her shoulders. She had fallen asleep.

"Megan… oh my god. Your arms."

"I know… Kathryn. Please… help me." She got out, crying heavily.

She could tell Kathryn swallowed difficulty. She held her hand, and Kathryn said, "Come on, I'll help you clear yourself up. You need to tell your family."

---

January 2014

23 years of age.

Megan thought for a moment. She knew the answer, but she thought deeply about what it could mean here. All her life, she ran away from danger. And right outside her door a man was about to die. She had the chance to save him, but she was so scared to do something. But she had to, as he would do the same for her as he already DID save her. She turned to look at Kathryn and replied, "You turn, run towards the danger, and face it head on. You have to control the fear." she got out of Kathryn's hug and took out her baseball bat from the cabinet. She smiled, holding the bat with her left hand as her right ran over it, feeling how smooth it was. It was handed down to her by her grandfather. And she was going to use it to save the Doctor.

Running outside of the house she saw the Doctor and the creature, roughly in the same position as before, but the Doctor was now on his back. The creature gazed down at him through its cold silver eyes. The Doctor kept gasping for air, trying hard to prise the creature off of him. But he couldn't manage it. Slowly his vision began to blur and his he felt like he had a ball stuck in his throat. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't get out.

But all was not lost. Megan raised the baseball bat and hit the creature with all her might on its head. It hissed and gave a large screak. It sounded like something a cat would make. It let go as it too fell. The Doctor stumbled for breath, spitting out some saliva and breathing deeply. He coughed as he looked up at Megan. "You saved me!"

"Yeah!" Megan had her bat raised above her head, "But I think we have bigger problems!" she said as the creature pulled itself back up. "Any ideas?" she asked as the creature turned and began walking towards her

"The sonic! They can't stand supersonic sound waves!" he searched through his pockets but could not find what he was looking for. "I must have dropped it… Blast!" he put his hand to his forehead, pushing up his fringe as he looked at the ground. "Where are you?" he muttered to himself

"You better find what you are looking for quick!" Megan exclaimed as she swung the bat at the creature several times. On its third passing, the creature grabbed it and pulled it off her. With one hand on each end, the creature snapped the wooden bat like it was made of paper. "Shit…"

"Hold on!" the Doctor looked around the ground but he regretted to say he could not find it. Looking over at Megan's feet, she saw that her right foot was next to the Sonic. "Your right foot!" he pointed to the ground, "My Sonic Screwdriver, pass it to me – quick!"

Megan reached down and picked the silver object up from next to her pump shoes she was wearing. It was quite heavy for what looked like a torch. It was streamlined, with a silver polish to it. At the top there was a strange red, hollow circle and inside that was a cylinder of black metal. She threw it to the Doctor and he caught it perfectly. Standing up, he pointed it at the beast and he pulled down the middle section of the Screwdriver. A loud buzzing noise projected from it. Both Megan and the creature covered their ears (The creature covered the side of its head. If it had ears, they would be under its tentacles). The creature let out a large cry and it began to screak in what must have been pain. For Megan, it was only a slight buzzing sound, but it actually hurt the creature. It fell to the ground disorientated.

"We have to get out of here. It's dazed, but it won't be for long. Shall we run?" The Doctor got close to her as he reached out his hand.

"Let's run!" Megan grabbed a hold of his and the two ran off together as fast as they could into the woods.

---

They ran for about 5 minutes, as far and as fast as they could. Reaching one of the edges of the forest, the two collapsed onto the ground and breathed in deeply, catching as much breath as they could. "We should be safe now. They'll be after us though, but the good news is no one else will be hurt. We are the threat now. The good thing is that both the Ogri and the Ograsdis-Phobidans are quite slow – but they also don't give up."

"What did you call it?"

"It's called an Ograsdis-Phobidan."

"Ogras…" Megan attempted to pronounce it.

"Ograsdis-Phobidan. Odd name I know."

"Where did it come from? And why is it here?"

"Same place as the Ogri: Ogros. And to answer your second question: preparing for an invasion."

Megan's eyes opened wide "Earth is about to be invaded by…"

"Yep. Tentacle covered aliens and Rock-like guard dogs. Strange isn't it?" the Doctor gleamed down at her.

"You just talk about it as if it happens every day" Megan let out a large breath.

"No. Not every day. Every other day, but not Sundays nor Monday mornings."

"Why are they invading?"

"As far as I can make out, they want to destroy all life on Earth to prevent a war."

"War?"

"Between Humanity and them. In a few hundred years, your two species will go to war, and because of that war, their race nearly becomes extinct when humanity destroys Ogros. You see, that Ograsdis-Phobidan we saw back there is part of an advance fleet. Sent here to set their plan in motion. I don't know how, but I detected a Time Distortion between the future and the distant past. They have been here for the last 7.5 thousand years. They time travelled here to the past and have been operating in secret. They landed here, scared away the locals, and then built this entire hill over them. Their ship is right BELLOW us. They manufactured this entire forest and area to hide themselves in. And those Standing Stones at the very peak of the hill, all 6 of them are the Ogri. They are using the Ogri as a form of defence. When we first met the other day in your car, I was attempting to track it to its main base, because if I am honest I've been having a little bit of trouble finding it. And then when we met for the second time, it tried to attack you as you saw it. It didn't want a witness. Lucky I found you in time, eh? But, I have a theory: What if you stumbled across the base by accident? It would give them a far better reason to go after you. If you had only just seen a Rock Monster running across the road and told the News, they would think you're mad. You must have stumbled across it and they thought that you had found out EXACTLY where the Ogri had come from. That's why they sent them after you a second time. Anyway, their plan in a nutshell: They want to kill every last living thing on Earth to stop their own race from dying out."

"B- But how do you know all of that?"

"Oh I have some hind-sight here and there. But you see, for them it's the past, but for us it's the future. The future can be changed. Time can be rewritten. Think of the first draft of a play, and the second draft replaced one scene with a brand new one. Time is like that. It can change." The Doctor jumped up and clapped his hands together violently. "You know my name, but I can't recall yours."

"It's Megan. Megan Green."

"Wow. Really? 'Megan Green'!" he raised his hand in the air like a Shakespearian actor would when saying her name. "It's got a really nice ring to it. Very unique too!" he smiled, "So, Megan Green, how do you feel about sneaking into the Ograsdis-Phobidan base of operations and sabotage their plan?!"

Megan smiled and laughed for a second, lifting her hand to brush her hair out of her eyes, before realising he meant it. "Wait, your serious aren't you?"

The Doctor straightened his back and straightened his coat collars "I'm always serious! Expect when I'm not, in which case I'm somewhat serious." He grabbed Megan's hand and pulled her up.

"But wait, we barely got away from the Ogri and the… other thing alive and now you want to break into a base FILLED with these things?!"

"Well yes, but they had the advantage back then. But now, we have the upper hand! Because they don't know who we are!"

Megan raised her left eyebrow. "What?"

"Well for one, you are the amazing unique Megan Green. And I'm the Doctor. Simple when you think of it. Come on!" he began to walk off into the direction of where he previously met Megan, but when he realised she wasn't following him, (She was just standing there with her arms folded) he turned to look at her. "You coming?"

"You are serious aren't you? About us breaking into their base?"

"Yes. Because the world is in our hands. If we don't do it, no one will."

Megan opened her mouth. "You do this a lot don't you?"

"Sometimes. It's more of a hobby."

"Okay." Megan dropped her arms to her sides. "Let's do it!"

The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder. "Thank you. Not just for agreeing to do this, but thank you for saving my life back there. I thought that I had failed mankind. But you saved me. Thank you for that." He smiled and the two began to walk off.

---

After about 5 minutes of walking, Megan broke the awkward silence between the two: "How do you know we are going the right way? I've lived in this area all my life and I still get lost in these woods."

"Because I was born with an extremely keen sense of direction, I can tell North from West and Up from Down by just looking at the sky!"

Megan stopped walking. "I think we are lost."

The Doctor scoffed, pulled out his coat and took out a compass. After looking at it for two seconds, he put it away again. He pointed in a Northern direction and said "It should be right over there!"

"What is? The base?"

The Doctor looked at her. "No, no! The base is miles away on the other side of the forest. You see, I have a mode of transport!"

"A car?"

"If you want to call it that, then yes: I have a car." He smiled and ran up a hill. Peering over, his face lit up like a child's would when they see Santa delivered his presents on Christmas Morning. He jumped over a rock and made his way down the hill. When he was out of sight, Megan looked over too and saw…

…Saw a battered old Police Box. It was a deep blue in colour and had an old light at the top. The Doctor took out a key and pushed it in the lock. "What are you doing?" Megan asked.

"This is my mode of transport." replied the Doctor.

"THIS?!"

"Why yes." He smiled, opening the door as he walked in. Megan just thought he would come back out in a second or two as the box was only big enough to fit about three people (At a very big push) in it. But when she looked inside of the box, it looked… no, it was bigger inside.

Stepping inside of the box Megan walked through a small shaft the size of the external doors which lead to the main room (It seemed like the main Police Box was attached to the outside of the walls). When she stepped in the doors shut behind her as did a second set which attached to the walls. These second doors looked like the walls, a dark brown with a rusted wood effect to them. Its vast interior was significantly larger than the Police Box was. The room was a hexagonal chamber with sloping walls. There were two levels: an upper balcony, which looked down over the area that Megan stood, and the main floor area which housed the main doors. There were three doorways to other areas, two on the upper level either side of the main doors, and two on the lower level. The room was far from evenly lit, with huge spot lights shining down towards the centre of the room and the doors. It looked like a Victorian Parlour, but still had a strange futuristic feel to it. There was an abundance of wooden surfaces, which created a sense of warmth and comfort. The room also had several comfortable chairs, lamps and filing cabinets.

In the very centre of the room there was an enormous hexagonal table with a clear glass central column that rose and fell. Cables and wires hung down suspended off of this console and around the room. Smoke and steam came out of vents on the side of this contraption. She saw the Doctor pressing switches and levers which were connected to the console. Each side had different functions and equipment. The Doctor moved around it, typing in various codes into touch screen IPad-like scanners and pulling long levers. Behind this strange area lay a large staircase that went up to an overhead balcony that looked down on the entirety of the room. "I see you are impressed." The Doctor said looking at her smiling.

"But… But… B-But it was just a box!" Megan muttered looking around. "But it's HUGE! How is it doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"How is it bigger on the inside? What is this place?"

"This is the TARDIS. It's my home."

"But… this isn't possible!"

"It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. I've heard it all before." The Doctor moved closer to her. "It's called the TARDIS. It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It's a ship capable of taking us anywhere, any when. It's been my home now for longer than I can ever remember."

Megan still didn't know what to say. Walking down the steps she moved closer to the Doctor. "How is it bigger on the inside?"

"Think of it like it's a different dimension. The TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental, Time Lord Engineering of the finest quality! The TARDIS is a ship that can take you anywhere. And it's mine!" he pulled down on a lever as the TARDIS shook and the centre glass column stopped moving. "Come on, we've landed!" the Doctor ran past Megan and opened the doors.

"…Landed?" Megan questioned, but before she knew what to do the Doctor was outside. Not knowing what to do, she slowly made her way towards the exit.

---

The Doctor stepped out of his blue box, straightened his coat and took his Sonic Screwdriver out of his top pocket. His TARDIS had landed in a very strange cave like corridor, with organic looking walls, much like the inside of a stomach would look like. As the Doctor knelt down to look at the ground, Megan stepped out too.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed "We've actually moved!" she looked around holding her forehead. "How did we do that?"

"I told you. The TARDIS is a ship. It disappears from one place and reappears in another."

"Okay so… where are we?"

"The Ograsdis-Phobidan ship. We've not moved that far. We've only moved vertically. We are exactly where we were for the most part. A mile or two off to the side maybe but close enough."

"Wait." Megan said abruptly "If we're in their base, won't there be more of them? Surely they know we are here."

"Not yet no. We have the element of surprise on our hands!" the Doctor clapped the palm of his hands together and shot up like a Jack-in-the-Box. "Notice anything?"

"Notice what?"

"Anything out of the ordinary? Something that looks like it doesn't belong here. Apart from my TARDIS of course."

Megan looked around, the strange goo like walls were an orangey red colour, but her eyes were caught when she saw a shiny silver pipe sticking out of the wall and running down a corridor. She pointed at it.

"Good." The Doctor said. "I saw it too. Seems strange that metal pipes would be in a ship made entirely out of organic tissue. Let's go find out where it leads to…" the two began walking down the long, never ending corridor of organic materials and strange nooks and crannies. "So then." The Doctor broke the silence after a minute or two. "How is life?"

Megan thought for a brief moment "Fine I guess. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering. The last few days must have been strange for you."

"Oh yes!" Megan smiled, giving out a small chuckle. "These last few days have been the strangest, yet somehow most thrilling days of my life."

"Thrilling doesn't have to mean bad." the Doctor replied, "Of course, it can. A thrilling action movie for instance: that can be a critical flop at the box office!"

"I don't think movies are quite like real life Doctor."

"Really?!" the Doctor exclaimed, throwing his left arm in the air. "In the last couple of days, you have been attacked by rampaging rock monsters from outer space, seen a strange squid like man from outer space, nearly been killed twice, seen a police box that can travel through time and space and is bigger on the inside, and met the owner of the said box who is from OUTER SPACE. What part of that doesn't sound a bit Science Fiction'y to you?" he continued walking along.

Megan however stopped for a brief moment, her brain trying to compute what he had just said. "Wait hang on!" she said. "Did you just say you came from..." she pointed up towards the roof.

"What? The attic? No, I don't live in an attic. Although I do know some people who do, lovely folk. They also had a strange alien computer and a tin dog."

"I mean outer space you numpty!"

"Indeed. I'm a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous at galactic coordinates Ten-Zero-Eleven-Zero-Zero by Zero-Two from the Galactic Zero Centre." The Doctor gave a crooked smile and began to walk off down the corridor again. Catching up to him, Megan patted him on the arm.

"You certainly know your stuff, I give you that. So where is this Gal-frey?"

"Gallifrey." the Doctor corrected, "Judging it from one point of view, it isn't anywhere. You could call it Inner Time if you like; however it all means the same thing. Kasterborous itself is found far more closer to the centre of the galaxy than Earth is, as Earth is on one of the far out spiral arms."

Megan responded with her faithful, "Oh.", something she'd say if she didn't understand something but she didn't want to as it was beyond her. It was at this point that the Doctor noticed that the silver tubing along the wall had branched off into several different areas, all of which either going into or coming out of a darkened room. "How intriguing." said the Doctor, clapping his hands together like he would do if someone had set a full English Breakfast down in front of him. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say these serve more than just decoration purposes." he muttered, grabbing a hold of one of the tubes and scanning it with his sonic screwdriver. "How very interesting!"

"Do you know what these do?" Megan asked.

The Doctor turned his head to look at her, swallowing he said "Not as such. But I do have a theory. One which I shall test once we have discovered what these are hooked up to." Slowly he moved into the large arched doorway and looked inside. There, while moving through the sickening organic walls and floor, more and more wires were all hung from the ceiling and into a large bank of computers. In the very centre of these was a large silver ball, with four individual conductors on either side of it. Small electricity bolts sprang off the ball, spiking the conductors and sending a charge into the cables and computers. Megan asked, "What is it?"

"It appears to be a Time Controller Device, or something very similar to one. So I was right… they are from the future."

"The future?"

Walking closer to this Time Controller, the Doctor began to scan it and answered her question, "Remember what I said about the Time Disturbance I picked up? The Ograsdis-Phobidans have come back in time using this device, to avert the war between Earth and their people by any means necessary. And judging by their previous reputation, it won't be a peace treaty."

"So how do they plan to destroy Earth? I mean surely one ship can't do much damage."

The Doctor held up his Sonic and showed her the findings. "Oh there isn't going to be just one ship. This was the first wave of the attack. Soon there will be hundreds swarming the planet like Wasps. They want to advert the war that will render their species near enough extinct, and if they wipe humanity out, the war will never take place." As he said that he looked right at Megan, "But don't worry, I have a plan!" he smiled.

"What is it?"

"I need to stop the ship's Chromo-Engine Flow, which is what is keeping them anchored to this time track. Using the TARDIS, in theory when I deactivate the Time Controller, I'll be able to lock it in a Time Loop as long as any other Ograsdis-Phobidans or Ogri out there."

"You lost me at time loop."

"I'll destroy their engines and place them in a piece of time where they won't be able to move, nor escape from. It's quite simple science I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"Well, it isn't exactly simple things that you would learn in school, my dear." Reaching inside his shirt pocket, he pulled out a long silver chain with a key on the end. "Take this, unlock the TARDIS and go inside. Once you're in, flip the red lever on the panel to your right, then press the blue switch on the left panel on the bright green light, followed by the two small touch screen panels under it. Got it?"

"Red lever to the right, blue switch and two touch screen panels on the left. Got it."

"Good girl. Off you pop. If all goes well I'll see you in a couple of minutes." He smiled, handing over the key and signalling her to go and do what he instructed. Quickly running down the corridor, Megan gripped the key tight in her hand and swallowed hard. She was actually helping the Doctor to save the world. It was such a strange feeling, but it didn't feel heroic. It just felt like a teacher had told her what to do in class. When she got to the Blue Box (Which she realised stood out completely from the strange orange pulsating walls), she brought the key up to the lock on the door, turned it and the doors sprung open without any effort from her.

As Megan closed the doors behind her, she walked slowly inside, as if she'd been forced to ambulate with a pair of swimming flippers for shoes. She walked carefully, before she hadn't noticed how large and empty the interior was. This time there was no Doctor at the console, only herself inside this magical ship. When she reached the console, she pulled down the red lever to her right (which was quite heavy and stiff to move), pressed the blue switch under the green light and placed her fingers on the two touch screen panels under it. The ship made a noise, as if it was computing what she had told it to do and was getting ready to proceed. "Right." Megan whispered, "Done that. Now what do I do?" Megan pondered on whether to stay in the TARDIS or leave and see if she can help the Doctor in any way she can. Deciding it was best she went out of the ship; she made her way towards the door.

(Unknown to them, deep inside the chambers of the ship, the Ograsdis-Phobidans watched the two on scanners. Voices whispered, "Intruders located.")

Running back towards the Doctor, she saw him using his Sonic Screwdriver on the Time Controller. It was making a strange buzzing sound, with bright blue flashes imitating from the sphere. Megan heard him mutter to himself "Right if this goes in there, this wire should go into there, and that means all I need to do is reverse the polarity and this should fit nicely together…" he turned around as he noticed Megan's shadow, "Ah, Megan, good. You did everything?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah." She exclaimed, out of breath.

"Good." He restrained his finger from holding down the switch on the Sonic for any longer, turning it off. "That means the Time Loop is all set to go. We can trap them in it now, as well as the other ships when they arrive."

"Then let's do it!"

The Doctor looked right at her. "I can't. Not yet."

"Why can't you?"

"Because we need to give them a choice. There is always a peaceful way out. There is always another way."

At that moment, beams of light played over their faces and there was a faint crackle of energy that seemed to go right through their heads. The Doctor recognised the feeling instantly, a scanning system had just been activated on them. They knew the two were there and their cover had been blown. Megan felt her mind held in the grip of an immensely powerful force. It seemed to be trying to tear all the knowledge she had from her brain. Strange lights and patterns whirled before their eyes, and they felt the alien thoughts taking their own from within their minds. The light stopped. Half-collapsing, Megan staggered and grabbed a hold of the slimy wall. Her breath was nothing more than a faint whisper that took an enormous amount of strength as she asked "W-what was that?"

The Doctor held his head, "A mind probe. And a very nasty one at that. They activated a form of mind reading device on us, they know we are here."

Suddenly, a voice came from the ceiling. It was masculine, but very faint and nothing more than a whisper, but it was still very clear. "Son of Gallifrey, Daughter of Earth." the overhead voice spoke. "You have invaded our ship. Why are you here?"

"We shall not talk unless we are properly introduced. You know who we are, don't you? I can recognise a Mind Probe anywhere." the Doctor sternly spoke, standing upright and with his hands behind his back.

"Of course, Gallifreyan. Our Level 5.47-Alpha-358 Security Scanners detected your presence the moment you began to tamper with the Time Controller. Why are you here?"

"We won't speak unless it is face to face!" the Doctor repeated.

"Very well." The voice began to crackle up, as if a phone was losing connection half-way into a call. Quite suddenly, the two felt the beaming of multi-coloured lights hitting their face again. It began to grow more and more blinding the two had to cover their eyes with their hands to escape its effects. They felt disoriented and sick, and an overwhelming feeling of sudden flight swept them away…

---

The Doctor and Megan found themselves on the floor of the ship. Megan felt the texture of the ship's organic structure: it seemed slightly slimy and sticky, but it was warm and vibrated very slightly. Looking up however, it was clear they were not in the same room as before. The two got up onto their feet. It was a large room, almost like a church, with hanging gangways leading off to other parts of the base. Many Ograsdis-Phobidans walked around the room: each and every one had their cold, silver eyes on the two humanoids. In the centre of the room, a taller but fatter Ograsdis-Phobidans sat perched on a large throne type chair. It seemed he was the leader (Much like how an Alpha-Male would lead the group) because of its size. It had warm, yet dead red eyes. "H-h-h-how did you breach-h-h-h our base?" It spoke in a whispery voice, as if its lips were dry and had been dehydrated for years.

The Doctor rubbed his forehead as he looked around. "My, my. What a base this is! I take it this is your private throne room?" he looked at Megan, "That means we are your guests of honour. We are eternally grateful, and as a Time Lord, I can guarantee it."

"H-h-h-how did you breach-h-h-h our base?" it repeated.

"My ship. A TARDIS." Megan tapped the Doctor's shoulder and interrupted him, "Yes Megan what is it?"

"How did we get here?"

"Teleport Beam. Very nasty piece of work I'd have you know!" he snapped his fingers at the leader. "Could have had us killed!"

"You were a th-h-h-hreat and you were not to be allowed to stay with th-h-h-he Time Controller device."

"Still no reason for to be scooped up like that." The Doctor let his arms drop to his side. "So who are you then?"

"I am Sh-h-h-hip Commander Scagga Fhoee." It blinked at him.

"Ah, nice name. I'm the Doctor. This is my dear friend Megan Green!" he poked her with his elbow, "SayhelloMegan"

"Hey" Megan smiled. She got no response out of Scagga.

"Anyway." The Doctor exclaimed, "Do you have any idea of what you are doing here?"

"To avert the destruction of everyth-h-h-hing we know."

The Doctor straightened his back, "You could very well be all that is left of your people. An empire consisting of over 12 Billion citizens. Now look at you, only a handful remain, clinging to a hope of changing the future. But one thing though, you're the first wave of the attack. So where is the rest of your lot? You've come from over 8 and a half thousand years in the future… to do what? Wait 7 and a half thousand years until now? Where are the rest of your ships?"

"Caugh-h-h-ht in the very fabric of time. Th-h-h-heir time distortion engines were damaged and they were flung into the vortex. Th-h-h-hey will arrive."

"But when? You must realise at this point the human race is easily capable of taking out one lone craft, you don't stand a chance against the rest of mankind by yourselves, and if you don't act soon, you'll be discovered."

"And yet, we remain h-h-h-hidden."

"How did you get Time Travel? Your people never developed the technology, so where did you get it?"

"During th-h-he war, our capital guards captured a man claiming to be from the future, send to investigate Time Distortions in th-h-hat sector of space. H-h-he was a Time Agent from th-h-he 51st century. We took h-h-his Time Travel devise, and used it to create a wormh-h-hole for our sh-h-hips to retreat into during th-h-he final stages of th-h-he war. However, our planet was destroyed as our armada left th-h-he planet."

"Was his name Jack by any chance?" the Doctor muttered under his breath, "I'm going to give you a choice." The Doctor's tone of voice changed to one more kind hearted. "You, and the rest of your people, leave this planet, return to your own time, and I will settle this war. I will make sure no more lives are taken, on both sides. The war will end. And a peaceful colonisation can occur on another planet somewhere else. Are you telling me you're willing to commit genocide to save your own people?"

"Most definitely. You h-h-h-have walked into our base, defenceless, with-h-h th-h-h-his female ape, and for wh-h-h-hat?"

"I'm not here to fight you Scagga. I'm here to stop you from destroying a beautiful, amazing planet. Filled with beautiful, amazing life. Not just humans here, but the billions of humans that will never exist if you destroy them as of now. These people are filled with so much hope, and dreams, and creativity. They are so intelligent. So indomitable. Not one person on this planet is worth nothing."

Megan looked at the Doctor right then. Boy as if he knew what she was thinking and felt…

"You are a romantic Doctor?" Scagga questioned him.

"Yes."

"You must know th-h-hat my h-h-h-home is now gone. It is noth-h-h-hing but dust and ash amongst th-h-h-he stars we once admired. We once dreamt of peace. Not anymore."

"But don't you see? You can still live in peace. I can make it happen. I can settle a truce between Humanity and your race. Please have hope."

"Such-h-h words were once spoken by the oracles of Ogros. But th-h-hat is just a faded image of wh-h-hat could never be. Th-h-h-hings h-h-have ch-h-h-hanged now th-h-h-at Time is Bleeding."

"Time is… what did you say?"

Scagga didn't answer, "You want us to live in peace with-h-h a race th-h-hat h-h-has tried to obliterate mine? If we do not act, th-h-hen th-h-his sh-h-hall be our final generation."

"But it doesn't need to be like that!" Megan stood up and protested, "As a human, I can say that not all of us are bad. There are many bad people out there, but there are far more good, kind people out there as well. Please believe us."

"I wish-h-h I could. But th-h-h is more than just saving my race."

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked.

"I watch-h-hed my world die before me. Everyth-h-hing I h-h-have ever known and loved in my life: burning. It all burned in the fires th-h-hat ravaged our lands. Everyth-h-hing I h-h-have ever known… gone. In the first years of the war, my family were attacked by an Earth Terrorist Group. I was forced to watch my WIFE be raped and murdered in front of me. Th-h-hey tore h-h-her apart. Limb by limb. She died, slowly and painfully. She was 16 months pregnant with my child. I am alone. Because of mankind. Th-h-here are many th-h-housands of our people, sleeping in h-h-hibernation ch-h-h-hambers all across th-h-h-his ship. We are preparing for war. Th-h-h-his isn't just about me, it is about saving our race by any means necessary. H-h-humanity sh-h-hall pay for wh-h-hat th-h-h-hey h-h-have done."

"But this isn't just about saving your race. This is also revenge. Cold hearted revenge."

"You wouldn't understand wh-h-hat it is like… to feel… dead inside." Megan wanted to say something, but she was too scared to speak up. But as she opened her mouth, the Doctor opened his and spoke.

"I fought in the Time War." He said.

Scagga looked up at him. "Th-h-he Time War?" he blinked, "Th-h-hat is only legend."

"I was there. I was the one who used the Key." The Doctor said, "Can you trust me now? You know I am telling the truth. I can help you stop this war, but peacefully. Please."

Scagga looked up at him. "Never. You sh-h-hall never take away the salvation of my people. It is the only h-h-hope left. Now you have wasted enough of my time. I sh-h-hall give you a ch-h-hance: leave th-h-his world. Or you will die too."

The Doctor still had a glimmer of hope left. "I have a Time Loop set up. If I choose to do so, I can trap this ship in a never ending loop that will trap you in it forever, including the other ships."

"You are th-h-hreatening us?"

"Yes."

Scagga looked at the Doctor with his dead eyes. He pressed something on his throne chair, and took something out from a secret compartment hidden within it. Holding it in his hand, the Doctor realised it was a Laser Gun. "I sh-h-hall kill you myself!" Scagga aimed at the Doctor; however the Doctor quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver. Flipping the switch, the Doctor used the Sonic to catch the energy build up inside the weapon, and destroy the link between the power cells. The energy bolt ran right through Scagga's body and tore his cells apart. He was dead in seconds. His body fell to the floor and rolled down the slope.

"Y…You killed our commander. You sh-hould pay with your life.." one of the aliens said.

"Alright listen to me! Destroying humanity is not the way to save your people and your world."

"It is th-h-he only way to ensure th-h-hat we do not become extinct."

"But is it though? There is more than one way to re-write time. I'm a Timelord, you know what I am capable of doing. Either you return to your own time, where I will help you, or I shall have no choice than to imprison you in this ship for all eternity."

The Ograsdis-Phobidans stared at the Doctor, and then at one of their kind, who seemed to have a high rank judging from his size. He lifted his hand and gave what seemed to be a signal to the others, and then lowered his head in shame. They all moved backwards until they were beside the ship wall and the Doctor pointed his screwdriver at them, watching them intently, but he did nothing. The Ograsdis-Phobidan who had spoken turned back to face the Doctor. "Please trust me," the Timelord said, "I will sort this mess out. I will stop the war and save your people."

The alien looked at him, "If you do not, th-h-hen we sh-h-h-hall h-h-have vengeance," the alien said, moving towards the wall himself, "You would pay for th-h-h-his." He gave another signal, a small movement of his hand that told the other aliens what to do.

Suddenly the aliens stepped backwards and to the Doctor and Megan's surprise they began to sink into the fleshy wall. It was almost like their flesh was made of jelly, but over a heated oven, melting and dripping away into nothingness.

The peculiar sight made the Timelord and his companion a little dazed. When the Doctor came back to his senses, he looked around, blinking, and saw that all of the Ograsdis-Phobidans were gone, except for Scagga who was lying motionless on the flesh-like orange ground which seemed to be engulfing him.

"They're all gone. Back to their own times." The Doctor put his hands on his sides.

"But what about the others? You said other ships were coming."

"It'll be like going round on a roundabout for them. They left in the future, and will arrive at the same instant they left. The others left, and they will follow. All that is left for us to do is set this ship up for the Timeloop in the TARDIS." He smiled down at her. Walking away down the room, they thought they had won. They thought the Earth was saved, until…

…they heard a groan and a noise from behind them. And then followed by a roar of anger. They turned around, spinning on the heels of their shoes, they saw Scagga standing, hands clenched into fists and his faced turned to anger.

Rushing to the other side of the room in only a second, Scagga struck out repeatedly. One kick sent the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver plummeting out of his hand. It hit the ground hard as it snapped into two pieces. Scagga's hand turned into a fist as he sharply made contact with the Doctor's ribs. The Timelord gasped in pain.

"Doctor!" bellowed Megan, raising her own arms in a futile hope to prise Scagga away from the Doctor. Scagga turned his head sharply, his eyes teaming with anger and the need to cause chaos. In one move, he smacked Megan in her face with his arm. It wasn't much of a punch, but it was enough to send Megan flying. She was knocked onto the ground.

The Doctor looked up and saw Megan lying on the floor, her forehead bleeding and a giant mark across her left check. The Doctor's own hands turned into firsts of anger, as he raised his hand and smacked Scagga right in his jaw with it. Scagga merely flinched.

The two continued to trade blows, each combatant searching for a weakness in his opponent. The Doctor had the advantage of hundreds of years of fighting experience, as well as Timelord speed and strength, but Scagga was stronger, taller and far more fit to combat than he was. Scagga was born into battle. The Doctor was not.

The Doctor managed to apply a full Venusian karate chop to Scagga's neck. Even when paralyzed, Scagga somehow remained upright. Fury and pain fought for dominance in his expression as he refused to go down. The Doctor attempted another swift attack; however Scagga countered with his elbow sharply smacking the Doctor's rib cage. Scagga's internal biology was far different than the Doctor's, his ribs and weak points were covered in thick skin and tentacles that meant he could take enormous amounts of pain without it even registering. With one sharp blow to the Doctor's ribs, the Doctor gasped for air as he held his chest tight. Scagga came around with a knee strike that send the Doctor flying onto his back but failed to immobilise him.

Scagga reached down for the Doctor. Grabbing him by his arms and legs, he flung him over the edge of the level and down to the floor below. He fell 25 feet. The Doctor's body smacked against the ground hard and he could feel his leg (which was the first thing to hit the ground) crack and bleed. Scagga jumped down after him. Landing on it perfectly, as Scagga did, would have shattered a normal man's legs, driving both leg bones into the pelvis. Unharmed, though, Scagga was on his feet immediately, glaring down at the Doctor's weak and bleeding body. Scagga cleared his throat and said, "Th-h-hat was th-h-he last h-h-hope for my people. It was th-h-he only way we could of survived. You may of well condemned us to death-h-h." Scagga raised his leg into the air and lashed out; delivering a vicious kick that sent the Doctor flying backwards in pain. The Doctor lay on his back, constructing a wall against the pain. His eyes closed, withering beneath the mighty alien, Scagga bent forward and began to pummel the helpless Doctor without any mercy. With each punch Scagga shouted, "YOU DOOMED US ALL. YOU DOOMED US ALL."

The Doctor had spent years in his past studying self-defence. He knew so many ways he could fight back. But he didn't have the strength. He didn't have the endurance of pure will and determination to fight back against Scagga. The alien continued to pound the Doctor, until he was sufficiently weakened so that his enemy was able to apply a two-handed grip to the Timelord's head.

The Doctor couldn't fight back. His eyes were blackened, his nose bleeding. Scagga continued to apply pleasure onto the Doctor's cranium in hopes to actually burst it open.

All things considered, the Doctor had lost.

...

Megan awoke to the sounds of screams from the Doctor. It was so loud, and it sounded so painful. She felt weak and disoriented. Despite this however, she managed to stumble up onto her legs and look around. There were small traces of blood on the floor where they had been, but even more towards the edge of the overhang. Peering over, she saw Scagga towering over her friend, holding the sides of his head and squeezing. She gasped at the site. They both looked hurt, with Scagga's arms bleeding purple blood, and the deep redness on the Doctor's face.

Megan ran over to the wall and grabbed a hold of one of the steal metal rods. Both hands on it, she pulled with all her might. It budged slightly, but didn't break off. She tried again, pulling and putting her back into it. It loosened slightly.

Come on girl. You can do this. You need to help the Doctor. Okay… In Three… Two… One… PULL.

She repeated the gesture, striking forward as she pulled the bar more and more closer towards herself. She used her weight and strength (which wasn't much) to loosen it. She felt her arms begin to give away from the pain of what Scagga had done before, no, she wouldn't let that happen. She pulled harder and harder, pulling with all her might until it snapped clean off the wall. Pulling the weight off the wall, she tripped up and turned, falling flat on her stomach with the bar right beside her. Grabbing it with both of her hands and holding it a bit like a Jedi Lightsaber, she ran down the stairs that connected the two levels. It was quite steep, and the stairs seemed to go on for ages. Scagga's back was to her and the stairs. Looking over to see them, she couldn't help but notice the Doctor squirming in pain. She was nearing the bottom when she heard the words come out of Scagga's mouth, "Die Doctor, die!"

She was on the same level as them now. Holding the metal bar up by her chest, she ran forward. As fast as she could she sprinted towards then, which wasn't easy as she had just been knocked down only a few minutes before and she was holding a really heavy bar in her hands. She kept the bar close and tight in her hands as she swung the metal pole towards the tall alien, smacking it at full force right in its head. Scagga was knocked over instantly, landing flat on its face. "Oh my god, Doctor!" Megan set the bar down and looked at him. Kneeling, she put her hands out to him and he fell right into her arms. He was panting heavily, with bright red checks and temples. His eyes were closed, he barely had the strength to say anything, but he managed to stumble out a thank you. His eyes were blackened, blood pouring from his nose and ear. He swallowed hard as he looked up at Megan. He said, "You're bleeding."

"Not as bad as you though. Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine." He said, taking in a deep breath, "You saved me."

"Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I?"

"Twice!"

Megan laughed, "Ironically enough, in the same way."

The Doctor smiled, "Anything broken?"

"No. Anything broken on your end? You took quite a beating." Megan showed concern for the Doctor, and definitely wanted to make sure he was okay.

The Doctor breathed in heavily, "Yeah. I should be fine. Don't worry about me. Trust me."

"I do trust you." Megan responded, but was interrupted by Scagga's groans. He shifted and coughed, they saw him spit out purple blood from his mouth that was almost acidic. The creature rolled over onto its side. Megan had got it right in its left eye, as it was facing the other direction as his right. The left side of his face was messed up, all blooded and bruised badly, with broken bone and scared tissue. "Y…You did… did th-h-his to me… you both-h-h doomed my p-people. You called me th-h-he m…monster, you condemned m-my people t-to die…" and with that, he inhaled once last breath of the circulated air, and its right eye closed.

"Is he finally dead?" Megan asked

"I would hope so."

"I killed him… I never thought I'd kill someone."

"It was self-defence." The Doctor said, looking up at her seeing genuine worry on her face, "Come on… let's go back to the TARDIS and set this ship in the Time Loop. We're the only ones left."

---

The lights in the TARDIS sickbay were almost like sunlight. In fact, technically they were. The Doctor had explained how they were 'harvested from a nearby star that was slowly dying, feeding away it's life into the TARDIS and producing artificial sunlight that was real'. But despite it being real sunlight, it still came out of a bulb and was there for a bit dull. The sickbay was engulfed by a collection of strange medical instruments. They beeped softly and flashed occasionally; flooding their surroundings with so many colours it was as if they lived inside a Christmas tree decoration.

Megan was laying down in one of the kind of chairs a dentist would probably have. Her sleeves were rolled up and the Doctor was taking blood samples, as well as putting healing patches over the marks on her forehead and arms (They were basically like giant plasters). "Try to lay still for the next couple of minutes. These babies should do the job nicely." He glanced down at her. He was still… well, battle damaged. Marks all over his face and bruises had begun to form. He was so busy trying to make Megan better he didn't seem to care much for himself. He really was being her Doctor. "Give me a minute or two." He smiled and walked out of the room.

Megan obeyed the Doctor by staying near enough perfectly still (She couldn't stay exactly perfectly still as she had to breathe). She looked down at the healing patches and saw they were glowing a bright but yet strange kind of orange, as if they were on fire but yet… they weren't. They felt tingly, as if they were tickling her. It felt alive, running over her bruises and cuts as if it was a water fall. Running down her flesh and mending all the cuts. It then occurred to her that it could heal the scars on her wrists left over from when she used to harm herself. The energy being released died down and the patches seemed to have run out of power, or at least did their job.

About a minute elapsed before the Doctor returned to the room. His face was completely healed however, no cuts or marks or anything. His face looked as smooth as a baby's bottom and he really looked the way he did beforehand. "How did you do that so quickly?" Megan asked.

"Timelord Science." The Doctor smiled and walked closer to Megan. He put on a different voice and said, "So Miss Green, how are you feeling? Homicidal? Power mad? Happy? Excited? It can be possible side effects." He grinned. Megan laughed and shook her head.

"Can I take these off now?" she asked, and to which the Doctor began taking the ones off her arms for her. Peeling them off, they caught the small hairs on her arms along the way which hurt but it was worth it. Taking them off, her arm had completely healed. At least apart from the scars. The Doctor then did the one on her forehead, she wondered how those worked but it would be Timelord Science again. "Mind if I ask something?" the Doctor asked. Megan nodded. "How long has it been since the last time?"

"Last time?"

He nodded his head towards her wrists. Megan felt her heart stop, she quickly pulled her sleeves down to cover them. "They left a mark, didn't they?"

"Yes…"

"Why did you do it?"

"Depression. You must know what it's like to feel worthless. Everyone goes through a bit of problems."

The Doctor nodded. "How long has it been since the last time?"

"Years. Literally years, I'm over it now." She smiled back at him. The Doctor smiled back at her. He didn't need to say anything, there was nothing to be said.

---

Back in the main console room, the Doctor showed Megan around the room more, allowing her to take in the smaller details around the room she didn't notice. The Doctor pulled out a small tool box, and inside was a copy of the Sonic Screwdriver that was broken by Scagga. Placing it in his pocket, he explained how the TARDIS travelled in time, the Doctor patted his console and said, "It moves dimensionally through time and space, dematerializing into a different plain of existence and then rematerializing in a different part of space time all together."

"Alright. I think I understand it. So how is it bigger on the inside than the outside?"

"The interior is in a different dimension than the exterior. It's called dimensionally transcendental engineering. It exists in the same place as the other one but doesn't cross over."

"Now that I don't understand."

"I'll let you in on a secret: Me neither!" the Doctor smiled as he pulled down on a lever on the TARDIS console.

"And it looks like a Police Box because?"

"It's a Chameleon Circuit. It's disguised as a Police Telephone box from 1963. You see, what it is meant to do is when the TARDIS lands in a new location; it scans the area and chooses the best outer shell that will blend in best with the surrounding environment. Trouble is… is that it got stuck as the Police Box when I was in London, 23rd of November 1963. I need to fix it someday. It's on my to-do list. Speaking of my to-do list, I need to remember about the war. I'll need to go and save them all at some point."

"You can do that in a bit." Megan said, "So how long has the TARDIS been doing that?"

"About 800, maybe 900 years."

Megan could feel her jaw drop. "What?"

The Doctor looked at her and leaned over the console, "I'm about a thousand years old."

"Now that is paedophilia!" Megan chuckled, "Bringing in young, impressible girls for trips seeing all of time and space and you're a thousand years old? How many of them did you snog? Plus it's made worse by the fact you're an alien. Inter-species-paedophilia. Oooh kinky fetishes you're into Doctor." She smiled at him.

"Oi you! And who says I'm offering anyone anywhere a trip?"

"Are you really going to let me go without at least one trip? I saved your life twice, as well as helped to save the entire planet!"

The Doctor looked at her, "Could be dangerous."

"And I like the danger. You said it's a time machine. I can just nip back at the same second I left can't I?"

"Indeed you can Megan." The Doctor smiled and typed something in on the screen.

"So can I come with you? Let me see the stars. Just no Inter-Species-Pedo stuff though."

"Oh Megan Green, you have my word. Welcome to the TARDIS!" he pulled down on a lever and the ship left for its next destination. It shook slightly, the console vibrated and the screens flashed. "We're off. She's purrin' like a kitten, she's ready for a long journey. Where do you want to start?"

Megan smiled at him. "Anywhere," she said, "I have all of time to decide don't I?…"

---

DOCTOR WHO: SILVER LININGS.

SELF DESTRUCTION.

WRITTEN BY ALAN MOWAT

AND DEDICATED TO

HEAVEN SOUKOVELOS.

---

"If you could touch the alien sand and hear the cries of strange birds, and watch them wheel in another sky, would that satisfy you?" –The First Doctor. An Unearthly Child, 1963.

---

"Sometimes I slide away/ Silently/ I slowly lose myself/ Over and over."

"Take comfort in my skin/ Endlessly/ Surrender to my will/ Forever and ever."

"I dissolve in trust/ I will sing with joy/ I will end up dust/ I'm in heaven."

-Depeche Mode- Heaven

---

Hey! It's me again.

I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has read this 21 thousand word fic. It means so much to me. It's been the hardest thing I have ever written, as well as the longest. It's taken 3 months to write all of this. :)

Now, I cannot say this enough. I want to say a big thank you to one person who has helped me through this so much. Heaven Soukovelos, a member on here, YOU HAVE BEEN AMAZING GIRL. You have supported my actions through this and helped with this so much. I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you so much for it all. You've been amazing. Do support her, her username is HeavenlyTook. She's an amazing writer and a dear friend of mine. :)

So, a hope we all enjoyed Christmas, and we've all had a happy New Year. Guess what comes back tonight? SHERLOCK SERIES 3, OH MY GOD YES. I can't wait! :D

That's really it. Remember to favourite this thing, and if you all do like it, PLEASE ACTUALLY SUPPORT THIS. If you want to see more, PLEASE ACTUALLY SUPPORT THIS. :D

Happy New Year Guys.

~Alan :)