A/N: Another double update. Why the hell not, eh? lol

Chapter Ten

The Hardest Part

As they had expected, the door to the power room was shut. However it was obvious that Ashley was on the other side. Various thumps and bangs could be heard and the lights seemed to flicker in time with the sounds. The Doctor felt a dull ache somewhere inside of him. This wasn't just going to be difficult for her.

Jackman moved to the keypad by the door and went to input the code. The Doctor put his hand on his arm and shook his head.

'Not yet.' He told him.

Jackman didn't complain. He stepped back and watched apprehensively. The Doctor moved and stood by the door, gritting his teeth together as he composed himself. He quickly went over the situation in his head. Ashley was trashing the power room. So far she only seemed to be on the electronics, but it didn't sound like it would be long before she got around to the more important things like the fuel pipes and the air supply. The Doctor remembered that this also happened to be the same room where he parked the Tardis.

He hoped she hadn't gotten around to trashing that yet.

Finally he took a breath, and then knocked on the door. 'Ashley? It's me.'

The banging and the thudding stopped. He listened, but only a dull buzzing sounded from the others side. He pictured Ashley in his minds eye, half crouched with handfuls of wires, red hair wild, eyes round and terrified. He had to help her.

'Can you hear me, Ashley? It's me. The Doctor.'

'Go away!' Her voice sounded shrill and desperate. It cut through him.

'I'm here to help you,' he told her, trying to keep a level tone. 'You've been contaminated by whatever affected those people on the city. You just need to sit it out. I promise you it'll pass through your system and you'll be fine in a day or so.' He listened for a response, but only the thuds and bangs started again. The lights buzzed. 'What are you doing in there anyway? It's like a disco out here.' He hoped humour might help, but he had a strong feeling it wouldn't.

'Don't talk to me like you know me!' Ashley yelled from the other side. Her voice became louder as she approached the door. 'You don't know me! You don't know anything about me!'

'Ashley listen to me.' The Doctor said sternly. 'I know that this isn't you. I know you wouldn't hurt someone without having a good reason too. I know you wouldn't endanger anyone's life like you're doing right now.'

'Oh, sorry,' She laughed in a manic way that made with the Doctor and Jackman shudder. 'I forget… I forget you do know me, don't you? You know more about me than I do in fact! These things I can do, you know why I can do them, don't you?'

The Doctor gritted his teeth briefly. 'Ashley I'm coming in. I want to talk to you.'

'How the hell am I supposed to trust someone who keeps secrets, eh?' She demanded. 'I keep asking you to tell me and you won't! I've shared lots of things with you Doctor. I've shared so much and yet you won't even tell me your real name! How can I possibly trust someone who can't even tell me their name!'

'You know my name, Ashley-'

She thudded the door hard, making him recoil. 'Your name isn't the Doctor!'

The Doctor looked to Jackman and nodded. 'I'm coming in now Ashley.'

Jackman frowned vaguely. 'Are you sure?' he whispered.

'I was thinking, you know,' Ashley's voice seemed fainter. She must have moved away from the door. 'Do you want to know what I was thinking?'

The Doctor raised a finger to Jackman. He paused and waited. 'What were you thinking?' he called through the door.

'I was thinking about that night. You know… that night where you first came to my house. You took me to the Tardis and you said you were going to take me somewhere safe. And you took me straight to him. You said that we got took there… that you had no control over it. But you would have known straight away. When you were flying it, you acted like you knew exactly where you were. I saw your face when you first opened the door to see that moon, and you didn't even look surprised! You knew fine well where we were!'

'Ashley, no. That's not-'

'Don't interrupt!' she yelled. There was a silence, probably her waiting for him to try and speak again. 'You took me in there and while I was in the holding bay you went to talk to Crowe, didn't you? I bet you got a big old clap on the back for taking me there. And then you thought you'd mess with me.'

'You know that's ridiculous!' the Doctor cried. 'I got us out of there! Just let me explain…'

'I couldn't do any of the things I can before I met you!' Ashley cried back. 'How come I could suddenly burn things and… and control how people felt after I met you? You said yourself that there are no coincidences, Doctor. Explain that to me!'

The Doctor fell silent. That had occurred to him before, but he had preferred not to think about it.

'And another thing. How do you expect me to trust you when all you do is lie to me?'

'I don't lie to you.'

'Yes you do and don't do it now! You lie all the time. Every single second I'm with you you're lying to me! You pretend that I'm there because you want me there, like you picked me to travel with you. You pretend that I'm your friend when really-'

'Ashley-'

'When really you only have me there to keep an eye on me! Admit it Doctor. Admit it now or there's no chance I'll ever trust you.'

The Doctor looked down at the floor grimly. Jackman watched him silently. Ashley waited for an answer on the other side.

'You're right.' He said finally. 'It's so I can keep an eye on you.'

There was a pause, and then a bang on the other side of the door. 'Thank you for that one bit of honesty. Maybe now we're actually getting somewhere.'

'But the rest of it is absurd Ashley, I swear! I didn't take you to Crowe and I had nothing to do with your powers.'

'Do you have proof?'

He swallowed. 'Yes.'

'Oh, that thing that you can't tell me?'

'Yes.'

'Oh fantastic!' she cried sarcastically. 'Oh well isn't that convenient!'

'Ashley, I'm coming in.' He nodded to Jackman again firmly. 'I want to talk to you properly.'

Jackman tapped in the code. Before he hit the last number, he looked to the Doctor. 'I'm going to seal the door.' He told him. 'If she doesn't listen to you Doctor, I don't want her getting out.'

'It doesn't matter,' the Doctor replied. 'If she doesn't listen to me, then we're all dead anyway.'

Jackman looked at him for a moment. 'Good luck.' He said, and then pushed the last number. There was a click. The Doctor pulled open the door and stepped inside the room.

Wires lay everywhere, ripped out of their sockets. There was no pattern in the destruction, which proved she didn't know what any of the wires did. His gaze fell upon the Tardis, which was – for now – untouched. Finally he saw her off to the side, peering out from behind a piece of smoking machinery. She looked like he had expected; wild haired, wide eyed.

'Oh, Ashley…' he sighed sadly, shaking his head. 'I'm so sorry.'

Ashley narrowed her eyes briefly at him, and then stepped out. Her hands were writhing quickly in front of her, almost like they had lives of their own. 'I don't trust you y'know.' She told him.

The Doctor nodded sadly. 'I know.'

'Do you want to know the main reason why?'

He just nodded. His voice seemed to have failed him for the time being.

Ashley half smiled. 'Because of the dreams.'

'Dreams?'

She nodded rapidly, pressing her lips together. 'I've been having them loads recently. Well I should say it because it's the same dream. It's the dream where I die.'

The Doctor just continued to look at her silently.

'I… I'm in this place. This really, really cold place. You're there.' She flicked a hand in his direction and suddenly it seemed that she was fighting tears. 'I think you're trying to get to me… but I just fall anyway.' She looked at him. 'You keep promising that you'll protect me, but you just let me fall.'

He started forward. 'It's just a dream, Ashley. It hasn't happened.'

She flinched at his approach but stood her ground. 'Then why is it when I wake up, my nose and my fingers are freezing? Why do I see my breath for a little while after? It's too vivid to be a dream, Doctor. It's the future, and if I go with you it'll happen.'

'No it won't. I won't let anything happen to you.'

She suddenly turned angry. 'But you have let something happen to me!' She pointed to the left and one of the machines burst into flames. 'This happened to me!'

The Doctor watched the flames anxiously. 'It wasn't my fault.'

'Then who's fault was it? If it wasn't yours then who's was it?'

The Doctor looked at her. She marched towards him.

'You tell me right now!' she screamed.

'Or what?' the Doctor yelled back. 'Are you going to burn me? Burn me like you did Kimi Ellis?' He spread his arms out. 'Go ahead! Then everything will be fine, won't it? Your dream won't come true! But you'll still die! That fire will spread and soon you'll burn to death. Do you want that do happen?'

She stared at him with wet, unblinking eyes. She flinched as he yelled once more in her face.

'Well do you?'

She swallowed and glanced down at her hands, then back up to him. She pursed her lips. 'I'm sorry, Doctor.' She whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek.

The Doctor only had the chance to look briefly confused when she slammed her hand in the middle of his chest. He screamed out in agony as unbearable heat surged through his system.