A Dream or Reality?

"Daddy!" Ayla screamed as she clung to Angel, the woman pounding on the glass wall that separated them from him, "Help!"

"Hold on!" the Doctor shouted, sonicing the wall, needing it to crack, needing it break, needing it to release them, but it remained whole, "No!"

"Doctor!" Angel gasped as a humming noise sounded, she and Ayla looking up, terrified.

"No!" he raged, banging on the wall with his fist, trying to break through it with his bare hands. His rational mind would have realized that it was impossible to do, that he'd do more harm to himself than good in helping them...but his rational mind had been completley consumed by the sheer panic only someone whose Mate and Child were in danger could feel.

This couldn't be happening! It couldn't! Not now, not when they were supposed to be safe! The Silence had found them, River had let it slip that the whole murder was a ruse, and word had spread, whispers of it, that he was still alive, that Angel was, that they'd found their daughter. And all hell had broken loose. The Silence had come at them in full force, and despite their best efforts, despite his mind and Angel's abilities and foresight...they hadn't seen the consequences coming. The Silence had captured Angel and Ayla, had separated them, pulled them away from him and managed to trap them in the stark white facility he was standing in, holding them in a cell of glass for observation.

He'd flown through the Universe in a rage to get back to them, not about to let the Silence harm his family again...but he was too late. Even now, even having found them, it was too late. Because he recognized that hum, he knew what it meant, he knew what was building, and he had to get them out, but the walls were strong despite being glass.

"Teleport out!" he cried to Angel.

"I can't," she looked back at him, tears in her eyes, absolutely terrified, "I tried! They've managed to add time-lock technology to the glass...I can't break through."

He looked frantic at that, the time-lock on Gallifrey, time-locks in general were impenetrable. No form of time travel could enter them and the Vortex...it was their direct link to travelling in time. It was the path they took, the energy they used to do it, to fuel it and control it...not even the Vortex could break through a time-lock. And if the Silence had somehow managed to get their hands on that sort of technology...the only person capable of knowing it, in his mind, being Torchwood and River...and Jack would rather die permanently than give that secret up...it had to be River. Would that woman never cease to ruin their lives?

He spun around to see if there was anything, anything at all, that he could use to smash the window, but there was nothing, the entire hall was deserted and dark, save for him standing there before the glass. He'd been about to run down the hall, look around a corner...when Angel groaned, and then Ayla cried out in pain. He spun back to them, his hearts freezing in his chest at the sound of their pain, to see a red light had turned on in the room, bouncing off the originally white walls and casting a disturbing image of them bathed in the red light, like blood. He flashed the sonic again, his hearts dropping, they were flooding the room with stet radiation! Far too much, far too quickly, it wouldn't just kill them...it would kill them too quickly to regenerate!

"NO!" he beat against he wall once more, forced to watch as the two girls who were his entire Universe sunk to their knees, their bodies weakening, failing, dying, before his very eyes, "Angel! Ayla!" he beat the walls harder, ignoring a crack in his one hand as he was certain his hand had broken, but he didn't care, he didn't feel it, he didn't feel anything except the blinding need to get in there and save them.

He couldn't lose them, he just couldn't! Not only because of the Mating but...even if he'd had the bracelet on him at that exact moment, he...he could be strong for his daughter, he could live for her in a way he knew Angel would want him to. But Ayla was in there too! Ayla, his little girl, was dying beside his Mate! He couldn't survive that, not losing the both of them at once, he wasn't that strong.

To have lost everything one had and be given a chance of getting it back...to lose it again...

He'd once said to Auntie and Uncle, that they had given him hope in finding other Time Lords and taken it away, had been on the brink of rage then. But this...this was real, he HAD a Mate and a daughter and a family again, he wasn't alone, he had THEM...and now they were being taken away from him. And he knew exactly what that would do to him.

Break him.

Kill him in more ways than just physically dying ever could.

He started shoving against the glass, his hearts pounding, his blood pumping ice water, his mind racing, feeling the panic of the Mating instinct and his own paternal bonds springing to life at the sight of his daughter and his love suffering so. He threw his weight against the wall, slamming his shoulder into it in a vain attempt to get them out...but...nothing.

"Doctor..." Angel breathed as she and Ayla collapsed to the floor, him sinking to his knees with them, shaking, unable to breathe, unable to really see any longer with the tears in his eyes.

No...please...he begged, he begged and pleaded with every deity, star, power-that-be, he could think of, please don't take them!

"Dad...dee..." Ayla weakly reached for him, his hand pressing to the glass where hers was heading...when her little hand fell, the two of them breathing their last, no sign of regeneration on the horizon...

~8~

"NO!" the Doctor gasped, shooting up in bed, shaking, the breeze he'd made at his sudden move chilling the sweat that had layered him. The sheets were twisted around him from his thrashing, his hearts racing, his head pounding, his breath not coming quickly enough. He felt dizzy and off balance as he pressed a hand to his head, trying to shake off the dream, trying to erase it from his mind, feeling...so...scared.

He swallowed hard, knowing what he needed to feel calm and safe and...happy...again. He looked over beside him...and saw Angel wasn't there. He leapt up, his mind on the dream, and went crashing over the side of the bed to the ground, landing hard on his shoulder, still twisted in the sheets that he frantically kicked off. He pushed himself to his feet and stumbled into the hall, shoving through the bedroom door and nearly running into the wall across from him in his panic. He stumbled more, his body too tense and agitated and shaky to really focus on walking properly as he grabbed another doorknob and opening it, his hearts stopping when he saw Ayla wasn't there either.

Had it...had it been real?

Had it been a memory?

But just as his mind went to a VERY dark place and he moved to check his wrist to see if the Dampening Bracelet was there...he heard the faint sound of Ayla giggling, of Angel laughing, coming from down the hall. Before he even realized he'd moved, he bolted down the corridor, half-running into the door frame of the kitchen, his eyes wide, his hearts slowing as he saw his girls were in there. They were actually and physically standing in the kitchen, in their pajamas, Ayla sitting on the counter as she stirred a mix in a bowl, Angel at the stove, flipping pancakes. Ayla was wearing a small green night dress while Angel seemed to prefer dark blue, baggy flannel pants and a light blue tank top to sleep in for this incarnation. He himself preferred simple bottoms and no shirt, which he very much loved because it made him feel all the closer to Angel when they cuddled at night.

"Daddy!" Ayla cheered, spotting him, not seeming to notice his flustered state, "Look what mummy and I made!" she turned and set the bowl down so she could pick up a plate of pancakes sitting beside her for him to see.

He just stood there, panting. Just...staring at them as though he couldn't believe they were there, that they were ok...that they were smiling at him given the fact he hadn't been able to save them... He closed his eyes and shook his head, it was a dream, he hadn't needed to save them because they were perfectly fine.

"Are you alright my love?" Angel asked, looking back at him over her shoulder, concerned. Not even needing to feel his rampant emotions to know something was wrong. He was...pale, he was shaking and there was a fine layer of sweat covering him, and not the good kind. He seemed...frightened and alarmed and...relieved at the same time.

"Fine," he swallowed, taking a much needed breath to try and calm himself more, "Just fine," he took a step in, still a bit shaky, but managed to walk over to Ayla without stumbling or jerking which was something given the terror he still felt in his hearts, "What have you got there sweetheart, chocolate chip?"

"Mhmm," Ayla nodded, taking one off the plate and taking a bite of it.

He smiled at that as she offered him the one she'd started eating and just...kissed her forehead instead, brushing a hand down her hair as it was out if its pigtails, just...taking a moment to revel in the fact that his daughter and Mate were ok. That thought alone had him falling back onto a chair by the small kitchen table, relieved. It had been just a dream. A terrible, awful dream, but a dream none the less, the worst one of his life, but...his girls were just fine.

"Why didn't you wake me?" he looked at Angel.

"It was meant to be a surprise," she told him, glancing at him over her shoulder, flipping a pancake, "Ayla wanted to give you breakfast in bed. And so did I," she added, "It's not often I wake up before you."

He gave a small chuckle at that, this new her was a very...deep sleeper. Unless Ayla was having a bad dream or there was some danger, then she flew awake, but she could sleep through practically anything it seemed. He did rather LOVE waking her up in the mornings when they did sleep, his favorite part of the day...well, his favorite part of the start of the day. He loved seeing her blush when she fully woke to the different ministrations of his, always different every day.

"Eat up love," Angel smiled, setting a plate of warm pancakes before him.

He reached out as she passed him, catching her hand and tugging her back, looking up at her as he took her in, just...smiling in relief that she was alive and ok. He gently pulled her down by the hand he was holding to kiss her, deepening it a little more than was probably necessary for having just woken up, but...needing it. He needed to be reminded she was there, she was ok, she was alive, and she didn't hate him.

He sighed as he pulled away, resting his forehead to hers as his eyes drifted closed, "I wish I could wake up like that every time," he murmured.

Angel laughed, "You already do," she winked at him.

He smiled, watching her walk over to Ayla, it was true. He did wake up like that every morning after they slept. Well, not with the crippling fear haunting him, but...with Angel in his arms. He would wake up and just stare at her, watch her sleep, content to let her sleep, feeling a patience and a calm he rarely ever felt when he wasn't with her. Sometimes he'd trace her face with feather light touches, or just lay his head beside her and look at the side of her face, or trace patterns on her shoulder and back, or give her little kisses, gently coaxing her awake. He loved that, he loved the little intimate moments they shared in the morning before Ayla awoke. It wasn't often that they needed sleep like that so it made the moment even more special. And Angel always gave him a kiss once she was awake, much like she always did as they fell asleep as well. According to her, that was the best note to end a day on and the best omen to being one with as well, kissing the person you loved.

He nodded to himself, yes, everything was just fine, and turned to dig into his rather delicious looking pancakes...

But...just as he was about to lift his fork to his lips...he noticed a Headless Monk was sitting right in front of him on the other side of the table where Angel usually sat, Ayla typically sitting between them...

~8~

The Doctor looked around and saw that Angel and Ayla were gone, his hearts about to stop, fearing that he'd just been dreaming before, that they had really perished...when he noticed the colors around him seemed dim...this was another dream.

Which meant the last dream was a dream and the one before that was a dream and...oh his head hurt now.

"What do you want?" he glared at the Monk, knowing he had no right to be there, that it had to be something more than a dream. The only time he dreamt of the Headless Monks was when he remembered Demons Run and what happened to Ayla. He would never EVER just dream of one sitting before him as though they were having tea and scones in a café.

"There is a woman who wants to meet you," the Monk replied, his voice deep.

"That's nice," his jaw tensed at the mention of some random woman, "I've got a Mate already. Not interested. Never will be."

"Your help is required."

The Doctor set down the fork still in his hands, leaning in to try and peer at the Monk, "Who are you?"

"A messenger."

"Whose messenger?" he leaned back, he hated that, he hated that someone had a message for him...because it meant it was someone who knew he was alive. And that was NOT a good sign at all.

"Darla Von Carlson."

"Never heard of her," he stood, about to force himself awake...

~8~

...when he saw they were now in a disused room, most certainly not in the TARDIS, "Where's the TARDIS?"

"We were never in the TARDIS," the Monk stated as he stood before the Doctor now, confirming his thoughts that the enitre thing, all of it had just been dream after dream.

"Right," he sighed, rubbing his head, "Psychic projection. Someone sending me a dream message. Well I hope I fell asleep somewhere comfy. Preferably in Angel's arms..." that was the thing about dreams, you could never really remember what your last thought or position or place was till you woke up.

"Do you recognize where you are?"

He looked around, grimacing as he hated to admit that yes, he DID know where he was. He could recognize the architecture around him, the markings on the walls, the feel of it, there was only one place in the Universe it could be, and it was NOT a place he wanted to remember or dream or even think on.

"I remember," he nodded, now tense, alert, "How do you hang up on this thing?"

"You can't."

"Oh yeah? And what if I just wake up?" he closed his eyes, concentrating, and woke up...

~8~

...on a beach, Angel beside him on a beach chair, basking in the sun, while Ayla played near the water, building a sandcastle. He smiled as he eyed Angel, she was wearing a bikini with a small sort of skirt/wrap over her hips. Oh he loved it when she wore it, it had taken him ages to convince her to. It seemed this incarnation of her was quite a bit more modest than her last selves had been as well. He doubted Martha would be able to get this her into some of the outfits she'd attempted in the past. But he'd finally managed it, with quite a few kisses thrown into the mix to distract her of course, a double victory for him. Because not only did he get kisses out of it, he got to see her looking glorious as ever. She was lying there, dozing off beside him, unworried about getting sunburn, they'd been sure to get the strongest form of sun block they could, not wanting Ayla to burn either.

"Eyes front, my love," Angel called, as though feeling his eyes on her, which she very much could.

He chuckled and held out a hand as she blinked her eyes open, taking her hand and just...playing with her fingers a moment, glancing over at Ayla as she built not just a sandcastle, no, he could see she was building a sand-TARDIS. He started to laugh at that when he heard the Monk's voice echo in his mind, "No, Doctor, the beach isn't real either. You are still dreaming."

He jerked up, looking around for the Monk, to see the beach had disappeared, the world shifting again.

~8~

They were floating in space, him and the Monk, standing there really, "What do you want?!" he demanded of the Monk.

He didn't like this, not one bit. Not just that he kept being forced out of lovely dreams about his Mate and daughter, but because this projection...it was powerful if it wouldn't let him wake till the message had been given. And anything powerful enough to get to his mind without him letting it in...besides Angel...was something he was automatically wary of.

The Monk simply waved his hand and symbols appeared in the air between them, "Space time coordinates. You will meet Darla Von Carlson here. Her daughter is in danger and only you can save her," the Monk was silent, seeing him flinch at the mention of a daughter being in danger, "You recognize the planet?"

"Yes," the Doctor swallowed hard, before glaring at the Monk, "And I will NOT take MY daughter there."

He would not, he refused. That planet, that was not a planet HE even wanted to go to. He wanted to help but...too much didn't add up. How had this woman found out he was alive? Did she even know? How was she projecting this to him? Why THAT planet? What happened to her daughter?

"You will," the Monk insisted, "But first you must say it."

"No."

"Name the planet."

"I will not say that name!"

"SAY IT!" the Monk ordered...

~8~

And the Doctor jolted awake to find himself lying on one of the sofas of Torchwood, where he KNEW he'd fallen asleep before, with a cry of, "NO!"

"Name the planet," he could hear the Monk's voice fading in his mind.

"Skaro," he swallowed, running to Jack's office, glad the man was elsewhere in the Hub at the moment, and sonicing his bottom drawer of his desk open, pulling out the man's poor old beaten down Vortex Manipulator. After all the sonicing it off and fixing it by Jack and sonicing it off and fixing, over and over, the poor thing had barely any life left. He could see Jack had tried to repair it again, but that it just wasn't working any longer, the man keeping it for the memories.

But with a little sonic help it might be able to get through two more trips...one there, and one back. He looked up as he strapped the device to his wrist and swallowed hard, he didn't want to do this. But...he couldn't risk Angel or Ayla going there, or Jack trying to stop him, he couldn't risk the TARDIS being there either and...he needed to know who this Darla woman was, how she knew how to contact him, how she knew he was alive. Because if she knew, who else did?

There were only a handful of people he trusted to know he and Angel were alive, that they'd found Ayla, and not say anything. He was hanging around one portion of them, helping to repair the Rift Manipulator that Jack had said a Weevil had managed to tear apart only a day or so ago, not trusting anyone else to repair it...except Angel, but...Angel was visiting Sarah Jane with Ayla as the girl had a playdate with her 'cousin' Sky, and he didn't want to disturb her. They'd agreed that he would be dropped off there before Angel took the TARDIS to Sarah Jane's and then she'd pick him up once more, everyone trusting that Angel would pick him up in time and not months later like he might have ended up accidently doing.

And...it was probably better that they weren't there...he didn't want to risk them. His jaw tensed, he would NOT risk them in this. He would go find out how this was possible, he'd find out how this woman knew, and then...he'd deal with it himself. He would NOT let anyone harm his family.

Never again.

And, with that, he slapped his hand down on the Vortex Manipulator...and disappeared.

A/N: Were you scared at first? I hope so ;) Big, BIG things planned for this last story in the saga (until the next series of DW comes out and I can post the next story) that I think/hope quite a few people will enjoy ^-^ This was actually really fun to write, mostly because I liked how the Doctor kept waking up in all these different places and I wanted to see how much of Angel and Ayla I could sneak in ;) So I sort of altered the original café scene to be the breakfast moment ;)

But we know what's coming next, Asylum of the Daleks. Oh boy... }:) I'm glad you all enjoyed the first chapter though ;) I really am SO excited for you to see what's coming in this story ^-^

Also wanted to apologize, I had intended to put a sneak peek of my Star Wars Anakin/OC story up two chapters ago, at the end of AFA, but I completely forgot to copy and paste it in, and only realized after I'd posted the last chapter. So here it is, 300 words instead of 200 to make up for it. Sorry it's late!

Star Wars: (Anakin/OC)

Younglings moved out of the way as Anakin stalked down the halls, everyone able to tell he was in a foul mood from his latest meeting with his Master. None of them wanted to risk incurring his ire, able to sense the Force around him swirling in irritation. However, had they paid more attention to the Force, they'd have sensed another presence nearing him and would have warned them away.

Anakin had just turned a corner…when someone not only crashed into him, but grabbed his arm, using the momentum of the run to twist it lightly, not painfully, behind his back as they proceeded to hide behind it, more like they were gripping his hand than trying to trap his arm. He looked over his shoulder to see…it was a girl.

She was blonde, her hair held back in a ponytail, a Padawan's braid dangling down the side of her face, with sparkling gray eyes he could see peeking up at him, a small, light splattering of freckles along her nose. He could see she was holding a lightsaber hilt in her other hand, clearly having just come from a duel of some kind. But what really struck him was that…she was…smirking, her pale pink lips quirked up on the side.

"What are you…" he began.

"Stop Talking Skywalker!" she cut him off.

He opened his mouth to tell her to let go of him and explain…only to look back down the hall as he heard stomping and saw three other Padawans running towards him.

"Where is she?!" one demanded, which made Anakin lift an eyebrow at the tone of the boy's voice. He was flushed, angry, almost…vengeful, not a good trait in a Jedi.

"Who?"

"Amira-Tal!"

Anakin blinked, feeling the girl squeeze his hand, so that was her name.

A/N: Hmm...I wonder what Anakin will do? Help her or out her? ;)

I've got another sneak peek set for November...of Doctor Who! Woo! Doctor/TL4 ;)

Some notes on reviews...

I can promise that I'm going to do my best to keep any and all stories where I add children to the mix as non-domestic as I can. There will, of course, always be little family moments, they can't be ignored, like feeding children or putting them to bed (that would be abuse on the parents' part not to do it lol), but I'll always try to keep it from consuming a story and be more like little moments on the side or memories. I can guarantee there will be adventure and danger and an awful lot of running. Much like with LJ being as adventurous as the Doctor, Ayla is just as curious as him ;) Lol, I just realized quite a few of the actual episodes for Series 7 are very family oriented/based :) But either way, if a story ever gets 'too domestic' for some, I'll never fault anyone for stopping reading a story if they don't like it or lose interest, it's natural and it happens :) I'm very much looking forward to the 12s, I've got big things planned for the 12th Doctor, now I just have to hope my 'vision' of what I want will work with 12's personality ;) I originally hadn't thought about rethinking 12th Angel when I heard Matt was leaving, only because I didn't want to worry myself too much over it until they announced who 12 would be. Now that I know it's PC, I had a better idea of 12th Angel. Originally she was meant to be Amy Adams (like from Enchanted) but more strawberry blonde than her natural hair color, but I think Nicole Kidman works very well for both 11 and 12 :) Oh the Ponds will be having some troubles and it will have a little to do with River, but maybe not in the way most will expect ;)

Lol, I definitely think the anonymous tumblr asker jumped the gun a little bit. I think it was only...3 or 4 hours after I'd posted the story? Maybe 6? A little too early to comment and taunt about the number of reviews. But that's awesome that they were sort of proven wrong lol :)

I can say we'll find out VERY soon how Angel forgets, as for whether the Vortex has anything to do with it, we'll have to wait and see ;)

Lol, it's really weird in that regard, how many reviews I've read, because...I sort of forget the number. It's like, I read them all at the end of the day for a chapter, so I can do the notes on reviews and just to see what people think. And that's sort of like...the day, and not 'the reviews' if that makes any sense at all lol. I just take it day by day and treat it as one big group...till I realize we're near a 100 or 500 and then I realize wow we've gotten through a lot lol :) It's always my favorite part of the day, reading and responding to as many as I can :)

I'm glad you're excited for the 'Mates' after Ayla. This was just another small hint of what's to come. BIG things planned for them and the fluff ;) But yup, I'm very sure I'm not Moffat, I'm nowhere near his level in writing :)

We'll definitely be getting a little more on their thoughts of getting used to life on earth once more ;)

That's awesome! Congrats on picking an episode to start in :) I'm probably not going to have that episode in my future AUs though, only because I just couldn't get into it when I watched it the first time. You never know though, I might rewatch it and fall in love with it and include it then, but so far it's not a part of those outlines :)

Is it bad that I'm glad the story summary is worrying you? Because I'm really happy it is, it should be }:)

Oh Donna might just be back sooner than you think ;)

Thanks! I'm glad you're liking the stories so far :) I'm very excited for Oswin (and Clara) too :) And of course! I love giving birthday wishes so...

I wish a very Happy Birthday to Mia Oldham! I hope you have an awesome day! :)