A/N: Sorry for the late update; I've had writer's block.

Poor Falcon. He'd feel so bad…

Laurlyn listened to the human's thoughts, her stomach twisting. Kayla had convinced herself, over all this time, that she really loved this man, this 'Falcon'. The man who hurt her, again and again.

"It's sick." Laurlyn whispered to herself, emotion clogging up her throat. "It's just sick."

It was sick. It was so wrong, so horribly wrong.

As Tektran lifted Kayla into his arms, the telepath watched them both carefully. She was only here to observe, to make sure that Kayla made it out of here alive. But she could do no more.

This fact tore at her heart. She wanted to tell the Doctor, wanted to see Falcon pay for his crimes. Pay for his lies. Pay for what he'd done to that simple, sweet girl who had trusted him so much…

Laurlyn wiped the tears off of her face.

It was so wrong.


Kayla blinked slowly. Her head was pounding.

She started to sit up, sending waves of nausea through her. She closed her eyes and swallowed, trying to keep herself from feeling too horrible, trying to pull herself together…

An arm wrapped around her shoulder, holding her steady. "It's all right. You're safe; you're fine…"

The voice was soft, as though Kayla was so fragile, so incredibly delicate. It was a male's voice, one that Kayla recognized, but couldn't quite place where from.

"Doctor!" The strange, familiar voice called, still in a whisper. "She's awake!"

Kayla heard something fall, and then heard the sound of feet pounding against the floor as someone ran to her side. A hand gripped hers tightly. "Kayla?"

Kayla breathed a sigh of relief. It was the Doctor's voice. He sounded so scared…

"I'm ok." She tried to reassure him. She gently squeezed his hand, still clutching hers.

"You scared me to death!" He whispered.

Kayla slowly tried to open her eyes. She squinted against the sudden surge of light. Slowly, her eyes began to adjust, and she was able to see the Doctor, smiling softly at her.

"Can you stand?" A gentle voice next to her asked. Kayla suddenly remembered where she knew that voice from.

She turned to face King Tektran, shivering slightly. His arm tightened on her shoulders. She nodded. "I think so."

Slowly, carefully, with Tektran's help, Kayla got to her feet. The Doctor kept his hand in hers. It was obvious that he didn't like being unnecessary, as he was while Tektran was there.

"Think that you can make it to the TARDIS?" The Doctor asked. "It's not too far; I brought her a bit closer."

She nodded weakly. "I…I think so."

Tektran helped her outside. The snowflakes brushed against her skin, making her shiver. The Doctor immediately removed his coat and placed it on her shoulders. Worry filled his deep brown eyes.

He walked ahead of them and opened the TARDIS for them. Tektran helped Kayla onto the bench, where she collapsed, exhausted from even this brief episode of consciousness.

"She needs rest." Tektran whispered as she fell asleep once more.

The Doctor nodded. "Thank you, Tektran. If you hadn't found her…" He shivered, unable to continue.

For a moment, the two stood in silence, watching Kayla on the bench, the Doctor's coat wrapped around her. She looked so calm; as though nothing in the world could touch her.

"I'm going to find the person that did this." The Doctor's eyes were dark, glittering with fury. "And they're going to pay."

Tektran placed a hand on The Doctor's shoulder. "You are not the only one who wants that."


He ran.

He couldn't stop running. His heart was pounding in his chest, his lungs screaming for the air he could not give them. A sharp, brutal pain was stabbing his side. Each step made it harder and harder to move his legs.

But he kept going. He couldn't stop. To stop would be to condemn himself to death.

Beneath his feet, the grass died in his footprints. His nose began to bleed, and he wiped away the crimson with one hand as he pushed his legs harder.

But how do you outrun something that's everywhere?

The grass beneath his feet delicately tried to cling to his legs, but it broke with his momentum as he ran. And then it tried harder, no longer quite so delicate.

The plants whipped out at him, curling around his feet, making it harder and harder for him to move.

And then impossible.

The greenery had crept up to his legs, weaving around them in intricate patterns that held him still.

He chocked. "No!"

He started to sob as the plants wove themselves tightly around him. "Pl-Please!"

The shadow appeared in front of him, and absolute terror gripped his heart. It pounded loudly in his ears, and he wondered why it didn't just stop.

The shadow reached forward with one clawed hand. The man whimpered.

"Don't do this." He begged. "Please, please. I don't want to die!"

The shadow's head tilted to the side.

Why do you fear?

Its whispered words in his mind were curious, as though it couldn't possibly understand the nature of fear; not only his fear, but the actual emotion itself.

He looked up at it pleadingly, yet incredulously at the same time. His words were garbled and breathy, somewhat hysterical. "Why? Why else! Humans are afraid of death!"

The shadow's head tilted even further. But you are not dying.

"No!" The man laughed, his sanity beginning to fade, no longer willing to see life as it was. "No! It's worse."

You came here first. You changed us. You made this. Why are you so reluctant to accept your own changes?

"Because we didn't know!" The sobbing was back. "Please. We can change this."

There has been too much change. No more. No more from your kind; we don't want it. We don't need it.

The hand placed itself on his head, and the darkness enveloped him.


Keeran began to pace, chewing on his nails nervously.

"He should be here. He should have come back."

Lea rolled her eyes. "Relax. He'll be here." She closed her eyes and placed her head against the wall.

"But he should be here!"

The door banged open.

Keeran breathed out a sigh of relief. A tall shadow stood in the doorway, the light not strong enough to show his features. "You took your time getting here, Dreyson. We were starting to get worried."

Lea snorted. "I wasn't."

Keeran blew it off. "Come on. Let's get this stuff unpacked."

He turned around to the crates, ripping one open and rummaging through the contents.

The shadow tilted its head curiously.

Keeran turned back to him. "Come on, Dreyson. Are you just going to stand there all day?"

The shadow came into the light.

Keeran and Lea stumbled backwards. Keeran swore.

"No… no, it's impossible…!" he exclaimed.

Darkness swirled around them, and the figure that had previously been black in their vision turned red as all else became shadow.

Lea stumbled out of the door, into the bright light. She began to sob as Keeran's screams reached her ears.

But she could do nothing to save him. She pulled herself to her feet and started to run.


Tears were streaming down Kayla's face as she threw her fists wildly into the air. "No, no, please, no!"

Tektran watched her, fighting invisible enemies in her sleep. She was pleading with someone, begging them, trying to get away.

Tektran lifted her off the bench and cradled her against his chest, sitting down where she had previously been laying. He stroked her hair back, whispering empty words and hollow promises.

"Please wake up." He asked her. "Please, just wake up. It'll be all right if you just wake up…"

She let out a long, drawn out moan, sobbing into Tektran's arms.

He looked worriedly at her. "Doctor…"

"I see it." The Doctor said. His eyes were tight, his expression hard. He was angry; but he didn't know what to be angry at. "She has nightmares all the time, Tektran."

"What about?"

"She won't tell me."

Tektran swallowed. He gently stroked Kayla's cheek.

And then the TARDIS lurched out of control.

The Doctor leapt to the center console, stabbing at buttons. "What are you doing?" He demanded.

Tektran hurriedly stood, making sure not to disturb Kayla as he did so. He placed her back on the bench and walked to the Doctor's side. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know!" The Doctor kicked the console for good measure, then sunk to the ground, looking exhausted.

"Hey… guys? What's up?"

Tektran and The Doctor whirled around to see Kayla, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. The TARDIS jolted again, and Kayla rolled with the movement, using it to help her to her feet.

"What's wrong?" She asked, instantly on alert.

"Are you all right?" Tektran asked at the same time.

She blew it off. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. But what's happening?"

"The TARDIS is doing something… wacko." The Doctor explained as the time machine gave another stomach-wrenching tilt. He rolled backwards on the floor. "WOAH!"

Kayla giggled and gripped his hand, yanking him upright. "Fix it, maybe?" She asked.

The Doctor nodded once, turning to the console.

Kayla shot an apologetic grin towards Tektran. "Sorry. The TARDIS does this sometimes." She thought for a moment, then seemed to realize that he wasn't meant to be here. "Hey, what happened? Why are you…?"

"Here?" Tektran completed for her. He smiled weakly as the TARDIS made a sickening zigzag motion. "I…ah… saw you… in the snow. You looked… well, you looked pretty bad, so I… I fixed up a couple of the worst marks…" His smile wavered as he spoke, his blue tints darkening in embarrassment.

Kayla raised her eyebrows, but didn't get a chance to respond before the TARDIS landed, throwing them all to the ground as she tilted almost completely sideways.

The Doctor, as usual, was the first on his feet. He shook his head dizzily. "Ok… um… ow."

Kayla stood up, helping Tektran regain his balance. "What happened?"

The Doctor looked at the scanner. He frowned. "Ooh. Icky."

"What? What is it?"

"Very icky."

Kayla grinned as she came up next to him. "Icky?"

"Super icky."

"Wow. That's icky."

"You have no idea."

"So tell me."

The Doctor let out a low, drawn-out whistle. He clicked his tongue, then announced. "Icky."

"Ah." Kayla said, as though he'd explained everything.

"I'm sorry…" Tektran said, looking bewildered. "What?"

The Doctor clicked his tongue again, then turned to face the two of them. "Well, there's a… disturbance."

"In the Force." Kayla completed in her best 'Darth Vader' voice, unable to help herself.

"Exactamundo." The Doctor said, nodding. "The Vortex Force. Something is seriously messing with space, and the TARDIS doesn't like it."

"What, just space?" Kayla asked. "Not time?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Just space. A big area of space. Huge." His eyes narrowed in thought. "You might want to stick around and help out with this one, Tektran."

Tektran raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

The Doctor nodded, his face abruptly serious. "Whatever this anomaly is…"

"I thought we were calling it a 'disturbance'." Kayla piped up.

The Doctor waved it off. "Yes, yes, anomaly, disturbance, whatever it is, it's headed for Reltakia IV."


Lea never expected her rescuer to arrive in a little blue box.

One moment, there was nothing there. And the next, a fierce wind blew her hair back, stinging her eyes. A blue object slowly began to materialize in front of her, and a noise filled her mind, like the breath of a giant.

She stared at the box that had appeared in front of her. She couldn't breathe; she'd been running for a long time. She could only hope their intentions were friendly.

She collapsed to the ground, unable to continue. Especially if this newcomer was another enemy she was meant to outrun.

The door in the side of the box opened, and a man stepped out. He had brown hair that was sticking up all over the place, and a long brown coat. After him, a woman and another man emerged. These two were having an urgent-sounding conversation.

"This is my world, Kayla!" The man said. He had blue tints in his skin, but otherwise looked completely human. "My home!"

"I know that." The woman replied, trying to be calm. Her brown hair was tied back in a (very messy) ponytail, and she was wearing black square-framed glasses. "But I'm just saying, the TARDIS may be the best place…"

"Please." The man intervened. "Please, I can not sit by and do nothing." He looked pleadingly to the man who had exited the box first.

The first man sighed but gave no more reply than a simple shrug.

The woman chewed her lip, then smiled tentatively. "Well, I could never sit back, either." The smile stretched into a grin. "Come on, Tektran, we're wasting time!"

The three froze when they reached Lea on the ground.

She swallowed, then whispered, "Help me… please…"

The world turned black around her.