Chapter 3: The Unquiet Dead. This one is not one of my favorite episodes, so I didn't have quite the same amount of enthusiasm for writing it, but I did the best I could.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.

"So where are we going now?" Rose asked.

She, the Doctor, and Allanara were standing around the TARDIS console. Allanara looked at the Doctor expectantly. "I'm sure you have a suggestion." she said.

"Well, now that we've been the future, we should go to the past." the Doctor said.

"Sounds good to me." Rose laughed. "What year?"

The Doctor looked at Allanara. "Miss Chameleon? Suggestions?"

"Hmm." Allanara said thoughtfully. "1860."

"What happens in 1860?" Rose asked.

"I don't know." Allanara replied. "Let's find out."

The Doctor worked his way around the console until finally they stopped. "Here we are." he said. "Outside that door, Naples, Christmas Eve, 1860."

"Oh my god." Rose said. She turned to look at him eagerly. "Let's go."

"Wait a minute." the Doctor said before she could run outside. "You can't go out dressed like that. You'll cause a riot. There's a trunk down that hall, first turn on your left, down that hall, make a right, fifth door down on the left. Hurry." Rose ran off. The Doctor turned to Allanara. "And as for you."

"I'm not putting on a dress." Allanara said firmly. "Absolutely not."

"I've given up on you." the Doctor said. "I know you're not putting a dress on, I'm not even going to try. You remember that long coat I got you for the Titanic?"

"Yes."

"Go get that and put it on. It'll cover up your clothes. Go!"

Allanara nodded and walked out of the console room. She went down a corridor and stopped at the last door on the left. Her room. She went inside and went straight for the closet. There wasn't a whole lot in her room. Empty shelves lined the walls, occasional random objects sitting on a few of them. There was a small lamp on the table next to her bed, along with a book and a journal. She had no pictures. She pulled her coat out of the closet and put it on before heading back to the console.

She ran into Rose in the hallway. Rose was completely dressed up in a fancy dress from the era. "How do I look?" she asked Allanara, spinning around so she could see the whole dress.

Allanara gave her a look. "Slightly below average." she said snidely, before continuing down the hall. Rose rolled her eyes and followed.

The Doctor looked up when they walked in. "Wow." he said, looking at Rose. "You look amazing!"

"Thank you." Rose said, blushing.

The Doctor turned to Allanara. He frowned. "I suppose it would be too much to ask you to wear a hat?"

"Don't push it, Time Lord." Allanara replied. "Let's get on with it."

"Wait, wait!" Rose said, running past the Doctor over to the door. "You both have done this before. It's my turn." She opened the door and stepped outside. The Doctor and Allanara followed.

"Wow." Rose whispered. She looked around. "This is incredible. I mean," she turned to the Doctor, "Christmas 1860 only happened once...and it's now..."

"Come on, let's go." Allanara said, pushing past Rose.

"We're coming, Allanara." the Doctor said, rolling his eyes.

The three of them walked through the city. The Doctor stopped and picked up a newspaper on a corner. He caught up with the girls again and looked at it. He frowned. Allanara noticed. "What is is?" she asked.

"I was wrong. It's 1869, not 1860." he replied.

"I don't care." Rose said happily.

"And this isn't Naples." the Doctor went on.

"I don't care." Rose said, still looking around.

"It's Cardiff."

Rose's smiled faded. "Oh."

Allanara snorted. "What's wrong with Cardiff?"

"Nothing." Rose said. "Cardiff is very...nice."

"Uh-huh, that was convincing." Allanara said sarcastically. "And as for you," she added, turning to the Doctor. "The wrong year again? It's hard to believe you've been flying that thing for so long. Also, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn't purposely get the year wrong because I picked it."

"He wouldn't do that." Rose said.

"Yes, he would." Allanara retorted.

"Yes, I would." the Doctor admitted. "But I didn't. It was an honest mistake."

"You certainly make a lot of 'honest mistakes'." Allanara snapped.

"Oh, you are really unpleasant to be around, you know that?"

"Oh, shut up, both of you!" Rose interrupted. "Honestly, it't like being with a couple of five-year-olds. Badly behaved five-year-olds."

Suddenly they heard a scream from inside the theater they were in front of. The Doctor grinned. "That's more like it." he said, throwing the newspaper behind him and running into the theater. Rose and Allanara followed him.

Inside the theater, the audience was panicking. Everybody was fighting to get out. The three time travelers looked around for whatever had caused the panic. "What happened?" Allanara asked.

"I don't know." the Doctor replied, looking around.

"There!" Rose gasped, pointing. An old woman was sitting in the middle of the seats, and was glowing blue.

"Go check it out. Allanara, you're with me." the Doctor grabbed Allanara's hand and pulled her onto the stage while Rose ran into the seats.

The blue glow shot out of the old woman and flew around the room. "Incredible!" Allanara shouted. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know." the Doctor replied. Then after a moment he said, "Gas. It's made of gas."

The man who had been on the stage came hurrying forward. "What on earth are you doing?" he demanded angrily. "This is not funny, sir, not funny at all!"

"It's not supposed to be funny!" Allanara yelled back. "Who are you?"

"Where's Rose?" the Doctor asked suddenly. "Allanara, where's Rose?"

"You told her to go investigate the old woman." Allanara replied, not looking away from the other man.

"The old woman's gone, Allanara."

"What?" Allanara whirled around and saw that he was right. Somebody had moved the old woman. "Empliad!" she shouted.

"Language!" the Doctor scolded. "Come on, we have to find her." he jumped off the stage, and Allanara followed.

"Now wait just one minute!" the other man yelled, and followed them.

The Doctor and Allanara got outside. "Do you see her?" the Doctor asked.

"There!" Allanara said. "That man put her in the carriage." she pointed to where an older man was shutting Rose into the back of a carriage.

"Stop that coach!" the Doctor shouted. He jumped into the back of another carriage. "Come on Chameleon. You, driver, follow that coach."

"Do not listen to him!" the man from the theater followed Allanara inside. "I will not permit you to still my carriage!"

"Your carriage?" Allanara repeated.

"Yes, my carriage!"

"Look, sir, my friend is in grave danger." the Doctor said.

"What did you say your name was again?" Allanara asked.

"Dickens." the man said. "Charles Dickens."

The Doctor and Allanara both stopped and looked at him. "Get out." they said together.

"I beg your pardon?" Charles Dickens asked angrily.

"Charles Dickens? The Charles Dickens?" the Doctor asked.

"I...I suppose so..."

"Author of A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities and all that?" Allanara asked.

"Yes."

"Ha!" the Doctor cried, looking absolutely thrilled. "What an honor to meet you sir. I've read all your books, I loved them. I'm your biggest fan!"

"I fail to see what a device to cool oneself has to do with it." Dickens said.

The Doctor and Allanara glanced at each other. "No, it means like a fanatic. I enjoy your work very much."

"A little too much." Allanara grumbled. "First time he read A Tale of Two Cities he marched around for two days yelling 'Listen to the echoing footsteps, Allanara! Listen to the footsteps! It was the best of time, it was the worst of times!'."

"Listen, my friend is in a lot of trouble and I can't let anything happen to her." the Doctor said. "Please, we need to follow that carriage."

Dickens looked at him for a moment. Then he called to the driver. "You heard the man. Follow that coach!"

"There's a good man, Charlie!" the Doctor cried.

"Nobody calls me Charlie." Dickens said.

"But-"

"Oh, shut up!" Allanara shouted. "Honestly, I can barely stand being around you." she rolled her eyes and looked out the window. "Men." she muttered.

"I heard that." the Doctor said.

"Good."

000000000oooooooooo000000000

The Doctor knocked on the door to the funeral home where the carriage had stopped. Allanara and Dickens were standing behind him. A young woman opened the door. "I'm sorry, we're closed."

"Closed?" Allanara repeated.

"You can't be closed!" Dickens cried. "The dead don't die on schedule!"

"I know my friend is in there." the Doctor said. "I saw you take her."

"There is nobody here, sir."

Suddenly there was a scream inside. "That's her." the Doctor said, and ran past the servant girl into the house. Allanara ran after him, followed by a cautious Dickens. The girl followed them, insisting all the while that they leave. The owner of the funeral home stopped them in the hall. "Where is my friend?" the Doctor demanded.

"She's not here!" the owner insisted.

"Then how do you know that it's a she?" Allanara asked.

There was another scream from behind the door they were standing next to. "That's her." the Doctor said again. "Allanara?" Allanara smashed the lock with her foot and the door popped open. "Thank you." the Doctor said, and ran inside. Rose was being attack by a corpse glowing with the same blue light that they had seen around the old lady in the theater.

The Doctor pulled Rose away. Allanara looked at the corpses in fascination. "What are they?" she asked.

"Oh my Lord!" Dickens gasped.

"Hi." the Doctor said to Rose.

"Hi." she replied. She glanced behind her. "Who's your friend?"

"Charles Dickens." the Doctor replied.

Rose glanced again. "Ok."

"Help us." the corpses said. Allanara caught the Doctor's eye, and he shook his head. "We need your help." the ghost-like beings then came out of the corpses and disappeared into the gas lamps.

000000000oooooooooo000000000

"Tea, Miss?" the servant girl, Gwyneth, offered, handing Allanara a cup.

"Thank you." Allanara said, taking it. "Um, you don't mind if I take this horrid coat off, do you?"

"Oh, please go ahead, Miss." Gwyneth said with a small smile. Allanara smiled back and took off the coat the Doctor had made her wear. Gwyneth gasped. "For shame, Miss. How can you go about in such clothes?"

"Oh, give it a few centuries." Allanara said. "Everyone'll be dressed like this." she paused. "I'm Allanara, by the way. You don't have to call me miss. Nobody else ever does."

Gwyneth smiled again. "Thank you, Mi-" she broke off when Allanara raised her eyebrows. "Allanara, I mean. Thank you Allanara."

Allanara smiled and walked over to where the Doctor was watching Rose yell at Mr. Sneed, the owner of the funeral home. "First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands have a quick wander, you dirty old man!" The Doctor laughed, and even Allanara grinned.

"I will not be spoken to like this!" Mr. Sneed said, but Rose just kept going.

"Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies! And as if that ain't enough, you go off and leave me to die! So come on, talk!"

"It's not me, it's this house!" Mr. Sneed yelled. Everyone stopped to stare at him. "It always had a reputation." Mr. Sneed admitted. "Haunted. But I never had much trouble until a few months back. And then the stiffs..." he caught Dickens eye, "...I mean, the dearly departed started getting restless."

"Tommyrot." Dickens said.

"You witnessed it!" Mr. Sneed cried.

"Come on, Charles, you must admit there isn't much of another explanation." Allanara said.

"I saw nothing more than an illusion." Dickens said firmly. Allanara huffed with frustration.

"How can you write as many books as you have and yet have so little imagination? I mean, the odds of two people who look so much alike that they're able to switch places before an execution without people questioning it being the same age and actually meeting each other are astronomical, but that's the main plot point of one of your books. How can you have enough imagination to make tell me that is realistic but that the concept of ghosts is ridiculous?"

"My stories are exactly that: stories! Here we are talking about actual reality. And the real world is something quite different."

"I disagree." Allanara insisted. "What would be the point of living if there were no mysteries of the world? We cannot presume to understand everything. You say there is a strict, defined line between fantasy and reality. But where does fantasy come from? Fantasy is the result of dreaming about worlds that we don't understand. But that fact is, Mr. Dickens, that we wouldn't revel in it the way we do if some small part of us didn't believe it could be real. Where is the line between fantasy and reality, if you're so sure one exists? There's so much the human race doesn't know, there's so much that even I don't presume to understand...how can you tell me with absolute certainty that ghosts are only the stuff of nightmares? To say that there is no chance of there being anything out there beyond our definition of reality would be arrogance. If you ask me, it exists until you can prove to me it doesn't."

Dickens stood up. "I refuse to sit here and listen to this absolute nonsense." he said, and left the room.

Allanara sighed and left the room as well.

000000000oooooooooo000000000

Allanara walked into the back room where Rose was helping Gwyneth. Rose glanced up when she walked in. "Hi Allanara." she said. She returned to her conversation with Gwyneth. "So, did you go to school, or what?"

"Of course I did, Miss." Gwyneth replied. "I went every Sunday, good and proper."

"Only once a week?" Rose asked.

"We did sums and everything." she paused, then went on, "To be honest, I hated every second of it."

Rose laughed. "Me too." she looked at Allanara. "What about you, Ally? Did you go to school?"

Allanara blinked, surprised by the sudden use of "Ally", which nobody called her. "Of course I did. In a little town near London before my parents died, and on Staliance afterwards."

Gwyneth smiled. "Don't tell anyone, but one week, I didn't go and ran on the heath all on my own." she giggled.

Rose giggled as well. "Oh, I did plenty of that. My mate Shareen and I used to sneak out and go look at boys."

Gwyneth stopped laughing abruptly. "Well, I don't know much about that, Miss."

"Oh, come on, there must be somebody." Rose insisted. "Allanara?"

Allanara rolled her eyes. "I haven't had time to look at boys or girls in years. I'm me, remember?"

"Well..." Gwyneth began shyly, "There is this one boy, he delivers bread from the bakery. He has such a nice smile."

"Oh, I love a nice smile." Rose said. "Nice smile, nice bum."

"Well I have never heard the like!" Gwyneth cried.

"Rose, it's 1869." Allanara scolded.

"Ask him out." Rose said, ignoring Allanara. "Give him a cup of tea or something. It's a start."

"It's strange, Miss." Gwyneth said with a small laugh. "You have all the clothes and the breeding, yet you talk like some sort of wild thing." Allanara laughed. Gwyneth looked at her. "And you, in those strange clothes with such strange ideas. And no respect for your elders, like the Doctor or Mr. Dickens."

"Maybe we are different." Rose said. "Maybe that's a good need something in your life other than Mr. Sneed."

"Oh, now, that's not fair Miss." Gwyneth responded. "Mr. Sneed is not so bad. He's been very good to me, taking me in. I lost my parents to the flu when I was twelve."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Rose said.

"Thank you, Miss. But I'll see them again someday. They're waiting for me. I'll sit with them up in paradise." she smiled at the thought. "Perhaps your parents are up there as well, miss Allanara." she said kindly, looking at Allanara. "And your father, Miss." she added to Rose.

"Yeah, maybe." Rose said. Then she realized something. "How did you know he was dead?"

"Your father is dead?" Allanara asked in surprise.

Gwyneth looked uncomfortable. "The Doctor must have mentioned it."

"But I didn't think the Doctor even knew about that. Allanara didn't." Rose said, frowning. "He died years ago."

"But you've been thinking about him." Gwyneth said suddenly. "Now more than ever. You've come so far...from London. I've seen London in pictures but never like that."

"Gwyneth?" Allanara said suddenly, stepping forward. Gwyneth was staring at Rose, transfixed.

Gwyneth continued talking. "So many people, walking around half naked, for shame. And large metal boxes racing up and down the streets. And you have seen so much...and yet so much to come...the darkness...the big Bad Wolf!" she gasped and stumbled backward. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry Miss."

"It's alright." Rose said, glancing at Allanara, who was looking at Gwyneth with a mixture of confusion and concern.

"Does that happen often, Gwyneth?" she asked.

"Ever since I was a little girl." Gwyneth whimpered. "My mother, she said I had the sight. She told me to hide it."

"But lately it's been getting stronger." a voice behind them said. All three girls turned around and saw the Doctor standing in the doorway.

"Yes sir." Gwyneth replied. "Visions in my head. I've tried consulting spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts."

"Good." the Doctor said. "Then you can tell us what to do."

"What to do for what, sir?"

The Doctor smiled. "We're going to have a seance. Come on, let's fetch Charlie and Mr. Sneed."

Rose and Allanara followed them out of the pantry. Rose remembered something from their previous conversation. "Boy or girls?" she asked.

Allanara smiled slyly. "I'm very flexible with that kind of a thing." she said. "Very, very flexible." and she walked on, leaving a rather surprised Rose behind her.

000000000oooooooooo000000000

The Doctor, Allanara, Rose, Gwyneth, Dickens, and Mr. Sneed all sat around a table. "This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in big town. We must join hands." Gwyneth said.

"I cannot take part in this." Dickens said.

"Humbug? Come on, keep an open mind." the Doctor said.

"This is exactly the kind of mockery I strive to unmask." Dickens said. "Seances, ha. Nothing more than luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing."

Gwyneth looked at the floor. Allanara reached over and laid a hand on her shoulder, glaring at Dickens. "Now don't upset her." the Doctor said. "I love a happy medium."

Allanara bit back a laugh and Rose said, "I can't believe you just said that."

The Doctor smiled. "Sit down, we might need you."

Dickens began, "But-"

"Sit down, old man." Allanara snapped. Dickens look appalled, but obeyed nonetheless.

"Good man." the Doctor said. "Now, Gwyneth, reach out."

They all joined hands. "Speak to us. Are you there?" Dickens rolled his eyes, and Allanara kicked him. "Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden."

Allanara shivered. She could hear a whispering somewhere. "Can you hear that?" Rose asked.

"Nothing can happen." Dickens insisted.

"No, Rose is right." Allanara said. "There are voices coming from...coming from somewhere..."

"I can see them." Gwyneth said. She was becoming surrounded by a blue glow. Shapes began to rise up above their heads, blue ghost like creatures.

The others voices began to fade from Allanara's hearing. All she could see were the creatures, and everyone else was just a blur in the background. "I can see them too." she gasped.

"We are the Gelth." a voice said, but she couldn't tell if it was in the room or in her head. "Please, you must help us. Our world was destroyed in the Time War, the devastating Time War. There are only a few of us left. We need bodies. Please, you must help us. Pity the girl. Pity us."

Allanara felt herself fall. Her head hit something hard, and she passed out.

000000000oooooooooo000000000

Ellie hardly dared look up. Not because she was worried somebody would pass by and realize she didn't belong there, but because if she looked at the Doctor in that ridiculous disguise again, she would burst out laughing and never be able to stop. "I'm not sure this is going to work." she hissed just loud enough for him to hear as she leaned over the bucket.

"Nonsense." the Third Doctor replied, equally as quiet. "You make a very convincing cleaning maid. Don't take that the wrong way."

"It's not me I'm worried about, Doctor, it's you." Ellie said. "You are many things, Doctor, but a woman is not one of them."

"As long as I keep my head down and stay out of the way I should be able to pass as a cleaning woman."

Ellie sighed. "If you say so."

"Shh, someone's coming." they busied themselves with cleaning the window as footsteps came down the hall.

"What's all the fuss?" a familiar voice asked. Ellie smiled to herself as UNIT Captain Mike Yates walked past. He was undercover as a business man here for this mission. The Doctor started writing something in the soap on the window.

Mike and the security guard he was with stopped by the lift. "Oh, some milkman. Wandering around where he shouldn't be." the guard said in response to Mike's question. Ellie winced at the thought of their failed previous disguise. "They'll find him."

At that moment, Mike turned around. Ellie crouched down again and the Doctor moved over and pointed to the message he had written in the soap. Get rid of him. Mike looked surprised and glanced at Ellie, who waved from her spot on the floor.

The doors to the lift opened. "Ok?" the guard asked, turning to look at Mike. The Doctor quickly wiped the message off the window. Mike stared at them a moment longer before stepping into the lift with the guard.

"Oh, I've forgotten my case." he said suddenly, and hurried out of the lift just as the doors closed. "I'll join you downstairs." he called as the doors closed. Then turned around and grinned with such a delighted look on his face that Ellie had to giggle as she straightened up.

He approached them casually. "Don't say one word." the Doctor said in an unnaturally high voice. Ellie and Mike avoided eye contact, because they both knew if they looked at each other they'd start laughing.

"I like your handbag." Mike said politely, looking at the bucket the Doctor was holding.

"Do you?" the Doctor asked. "Well watch out I don't slosh you with it." he thrust it at Mike, who gasped slightly in surprise and he grabbed it. "Now, where can we talk?"

"In my office." Mike replied. He ushered the other two down the hall and into a small office. The Doctor shut the door while Mike turned to Ellie. "Had some trouble getting in, did we?" he asked with a teasing smile.

"It was the Doctor's fault!" Ellie insisted.

"Where's Andrew?"

"Helping the Brigadier. Only the Doctor and I snuck in."

"Are you ok?"

Ellie smirked. "Are you?"

"Watch your snark, Alien Girl." Mike said affectionately, using his pet name for her. He kissed her before turning to the Doctor.

"Alright, Captain Yates, what have you found out?" the Doctor asked.

"Well clearly Global Chemicals is responsible for the trouble at the pit." Mike began.

"Yes, yes, that's obvious, but have you been able to get a hold of any of the waste?"

"That'd be like stealing the crime jewels."

"Can you get a hold of the formula?" Ellie asked.

"Not much chance." Mike replied. "But we could try."

"Where's it kept?" the Doctor asked.

"Everything important is isolated on the top floor." Mike explained. "There's a special lift at the end of the block." he pulled out a notepad and drew a quick map. "It works with some sort of key but the Director is the only person who's got one." he handed the Doctor the map.

"Well done, Captain Yates, this could prove absolutely vital."

"There's one other thing." Mike said. "The Director isn't the real boss. He takes his instructions from someone else."

"Really?" Ellie asked with interest.

"Who?" the Doctor asked.

"Whoever lives on the top floor." Mike replied.

"Someone's coming!" Ellie cried. Mike handed Ellie the bucket and ran over to his desk to grab his case while the Doctor and Ellie started cleaning the file cabinets.

Two men walked into the office. "Ah, Mr. Yates, we were looking for you." the first one said.

"You said you had to get a case?" the second man said. It was the security guard who'd been with him before.

"Yes, here it is." Mike said. "I'm ready now."

"Good." the first man said. As they all left the room, the first man turned around to look at the Doctor and Ellie. "How is it, Doris?"

Panic clenched up in Ellie's stomach as the Doctor said, in his fake voice, "Oh, it's very, very good, lovely." The man nodded and shut the door.

Ellie sighed in relief and rested her head against the cabinet. "I hate you." she said.

The scene faded. Allanara could hear voices now coming from somewhere nearby. "It was my fault. I should have realized that with her being a Stareen, she's naturally more sensitive to psychic energy. It must have been too much for her."

"She got quite a bump on the head from hitting the table the way she did when she fell."

Allanara opened her eyes. She was lying on some cushions laid across the table. The Doctor and Mr. Sneed were watching her. She slowly sat up. Her head was throbbing. "What happened?" she asked.

"How do you feel?" Mr. Sneed asked.

"I'll live." Allanara groaned.

"You passed out during the seance." the Doctor told her. "You hit your head pretty hard on the table when you fell. Your connection with psychic energy overwhelmed you when Gwyneth contacted the Gelth. I should have made you wait in the other room."

"Pfft. Not a chance." she slowly got to her feet. "Did you manage to talk to these Gelth things?"

"Yeah." the Doctor replied solemnly. "Their species was destroyed in the Time War. They want to use dead corpses as bodies so they have a corporeal form again."

"You can't let them do that." Rose said. Allanara looked around and saw Rose sitting with Gwyneth, who looked as though she had also passed out during the seance.

"Why not?" the Doctor asked. "The dead have no use for them. It's like recycling."

Rose stood up. "Those were living people. We should respect them!"

"Do you carry a donor card?" the Doctor asked coolly.

Rose faltered. "That's...that's different."

"You're right, it is different. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home."

"Do it." Allanara said. The Doctor looked at her. "Let them take what they want. Gwyneth can be a bridge for them."

"I know." the Doctor replied.

"You're not using her!" Rose yelled.

"Excuse me," Gwyneth said suddenly. Everyone turned to her. "But don't I get a say, Miss?"

"You don't understand what's going on." Rose insisted.

"You would say that, Miss." Gwyneth told her. "Because that's how it is in your head. That you think I'm stupid."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. I've seen them. The angels need my help." she looked at the Doctor. "What do I have to do?"

"You don't have to do anything." the Doctor told her.

"They've been calling to me for help." Gwyneth said. "I have to help them."

Allanara nodded and turned to Mr. Sneed. "We need to find the weakest part of the house. Where do the most corpses get recalled to life?" she asked, catching Dickens's eye, who simply rolled his eyes and looked away.

"The morgue." Mr. Sneed answered after a moment.

Allanara and the Doctor looked at each other. "We're going to the morgue." the Doctor said.

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Allanara held her breath as Gwyneth stepped under the arch in the morgue. "What happens now?" she asked. No sooner had she asked then the Gelth appeared in the air, flying around them. "Never mind."

"Once you taken over the corpses," the Doctor said, "I'll take you somewhere safe where you can build your own bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, understand?"

"Doctor!" Allanara screamed suddenly. A possessed corpse and grabbed Mr. Sneed from behind. Rose grabbed Allanara's arm and pulled her away. Mr. Sneed choked, and then the blue light filled him too.

Abruptly, the Gelth swarmed the room, suddenly looking much more malevolent than before. "What are you doing?" the Doctor shouted.

"Oh God." Allanara whispered. "We had it wrong...we got it all wrong..."

"I'm sorry, Doctor!" Dickens yelled, and ran out of the room.

"Oh, you're a lot of help!" Allanara shouted after him.

"Ally, I think we have bigger problems." Rose said.

The three of them were being backed into the corner. "I tried to help you." the Doctor said. "I pitied you!"

"We don't want your pity!" the Gelth hissed. "Only your bodies!"

"You said there were only a few of you." Allanara said.

"A few billion." the Gleth responded.

"Empliad." Allanara groaned.

"Language!" the Doctor cried. He grabbed the gate that closed off a small section of the room and slammed it shut as the corpses came for them.

"I can't die." Rose said. "I can't die here, I haven't even been born yet!" she looked at the Doctor. "Right?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry. Time isn't linear. You were born in the Twentieth century and are going to die in Nineteenth, and it's all my fault."

Rose shook her head slowly. "No. No, I wanted to come."

"It's still pretty much his fault." Allanara said.

"Shut up!" the Doctor cried. "What about me? I saw the fall of Troy! World War Five! I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party! And now I'm going to die in a dungeon." a moment later he added in disgust, "In Cardiff." A smile flickered across Allanara's face, despite the circumstances.

"We'll go out fighting, yeah?" Rose said. She took his hand.

Allanara rolled her eyes. One of the corpses jumped for her, making the gate rattle. She shrieked and grabbed the Doctor's arm. He and Rose both smiled. "Never speak of this to anyone." Allanara mumbled.

"I don't think we'll be able to." Rose pointed out.

"Doctor!" a voice suddenly shouted.

"Charlie, what are you doing?" the Doctor cried.

"Turn off the flames, turn up the gas! Flood the place!"

"What?" Allanara asked.

"So we choke to death instead?" Rose cried.

"No, no he's right!" the Doctor cried excitedly. "Increase the gas, pull the creatures out of the corpses!"

Allanara nodded slowly, understanding. "Gas. Right, got it." she reached over and pulled the gas pip off the wall, filling the room even faster.

"Good girl!" the Doctor laughed.

The was a noise like people screaming as the Gelth were forced out of the corpses. "Hurry!" Dickens cried.

"What about Gwyneth?" Rose asked.

"I'll take care of her." the Doctor promised.

"Well what are you going to do?" Allanara asked.

"These creatures have to be destroyed. This room is full of gas." he pulled a box of matches out of his pocket. "I won't let anything happen to Gwyneth, Rose, I promise. Now go. Charlie, make sure she gets out of here." Dickens nodded and pulled Rose out of the room. The Doctor looked at Allanara. "You too."

"But-"

"GO!" the Doctor shouted. Allanara nodded and ran out of the room. She followed Rose and Dickens through the house and out the door. As she went outside, she glanced behind her and saw the Doctor running after her.

"Doctor?" she called.

"Get down!" he shouted, and slammed into her, knocking her to the ground and sheltering her just as the building exploded behind them. Allanara squeezed her eyes shut as it went up in flames. She opened them again as she felt the Doctor get up. "Sorry." he said.

She sat up. "Thanks." she said breathlessly.

He studied her for a moment. "Don't mention it." he said, and helped her to her feet.

Rose and Dickens hurried over. "Where's Gwyneth?" Rose asked. The Doctor gave her a sad look. Allanara understood and looked at the floor. Rose understood as well. "She didn't make it." she whispered.

"There was nothing I could do." the Doctor said sadly. "She was already gone. I think she was dead the moment the stood underneath that archway."

Allanara watched the building burn. "She closed the rift." she said. "She saved the world."

The four of them walked to where the TARDIS was waiting. "Well, Charlie Boy." the Doctor said. "Good work. I just have to go into my...shed."

"What are you going to do?" Rose asked Dickens.

"I have no time to waste." Dickens said. "I'm going to get a coach and go to London to spend Christmas with my family. And then I have lots of writing to do. The Mystery of Edwin Drood still needs an ending. Perhaps the killer wasn't his uncle after all. Perhaps the real killer was not of this world. Because you were right, Miss Allanara." he turned to her. "There is no line between fantasy and reality. We need that fantasy to remain inspired about the world."

Allanara gave him a small smile. "Happy to be of service."

Dickens paused, then turned to the Doctor. "There's just one thing I never worked out, Doctor. Who are you?"

The Doctor simply smiled and opened the TARDIS door. Rose followed him. Allanara turned back to Dickens one more time. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, hey Charlie?" she said, and walked into the TARDIS.

"What is your obsession with A Tale of Two Cities?" Rose asked.

"That's the one he made me read." Allanara replied, nodding to the Doctor. "That and Great Expectations."

"Doctor," Rose said after a moment, "If he does write about this, won't that change the future?"

The Doctor shook his head sadly. "Soon it will be 1870. The year he dies. Sorry."

"The Mystery of Edwin Drood was never finished." Allanara said. "He died while he was writing it. No one ever knew how it was supposed to end."

"Except us." Rose said, looking slightly awed.

A smile flickered across Allanara's face. "Except us." she agreed.

"Let's give him one last surprise." the Doctor said. "He's still standing outside." And without another word, they dematerialized, leaving a very amazed Dickens staring after them in the snow.

Ok, I might have gone a bit overboard with the A Tale of Two Cities references. We just had to read that in school, so it was fresh in my mind. The flashback scene was from The Green Death (1973). My writing time is extremely limited these days, but I'm going to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Winter break starts in about two weeks, and then I'll have lots more time. Until then, please, please review!