Invisible Fires

by abigailcqd

Megan, a student, is thrown into a whole new universe with creatures of every kind. Forming friendships and bonds with amazing people, saving worlds and seeing wonders. Daleks, Torchwood, Paris, the London Blitz, World War Three, the past, the future, alternative worlds and far away worlds. She lives a life she could only hope for and it is amazing.

11. Paintbrushes

Sorry, I haven't been updating, hectic life with GCSE's and that, but anyway, I'm going to be updating Wednesday's and Sundays, so something to look forward to during the week, I hope ;). Enjoy, thanks for reading.

Abi.

---

1st October 2005 - Mary Anne College - London.

---

"Boys football team need to be ready at reception by 12:40, if you go to Miss Alex you can get an early lunch pass, if you're late you'll get left behind", Mr Roube said, reading out the announcements at assembly, "I want to see Tola, Jacqueline, Antony and Remi after assembly and...anything else?", he asked the surrounding staff,

"The Van Gogh competition deadline is on Friday. Remember the prize is a £20 voucher and a box of chocolates, anyone can enter", Mr Freud added. I tilted my head, frowning as I considered his words, Vincent Van Gogh...hmmm.

---

I laid my head on Cat's lap, looking up at the movement of the clouds, beside me on the bench sitting was Emmanuel,

"So, you gonna enter the Van Gogh competition", Emmanuel asked me, I turned to him wondering why he asked that, "I saw you looking interested at assembly", he explained,

"Not really, I'm more interested in his mind and life than his paintings", I said,

"I'm not surprised, this coming from a historian", Cat muttered,

I shook my head, "But think about it, he was totally unappreciated his whole life, and as soon as he died, everyone noticed him. Back then his painting weren't worth shit, nowadays you'd have to sell your soul to get one",

"Bit of an exaggeration", Emmanuel commented, smirking.

"Well...",

"Hey", Lauren called, walking over to us, "You seen Andreia's art work for that competition",

"That's girl is a descendant of Gogh, I swear", Cat said,

"God, yeah", I nodded, "Don't you have to go football?", I asked Emmanuel. There was a pause, where we all stared at him,

"Shit!", he cursed and jumped of the bench, running.

"He isn't serious", Cat chuckled,

"The clouds are moving", I muttered,

"No, they don't move, the Earth moves", Lauren explained,

"Apparently, it moves really fast, but we can't feel it", Cat said,

"Imaging if we could", Lauren mused, "Or imagine if we could see the Earth from space",

"That would be so cool", Cat grinned,

"Yeah...", I mumbled, and kept my eyes trained on the clouds,

"You ok?", Lauren asked,

"Yeah, I'm fine", I replied, nodded, "Just..tired".

---

I walked up the steps in my block, the lift was broken, although I really shouldn't have been using them. I was on 2nd floor. I had music pounding in my ear that I was sure wasn't healthy for my ear drums and was holding a box of chips.

I got up the last step and turned to see the TARDIS, shining at me, I munched on my chip as I stared at it. I hadn't seen the Doctor for like 2, 3 weeks. And I still needed to tell him what I knew about that Taylor guy.

I smiled and strolled in, eating another chip, "Doctor?", I called, looking around and taking out my headphones,

"Ah, Megan", the Doctor said, appearing at the top of the steps, "How've you been?", Amy and Rory appeared at the top of the steps, smiling a bit too brightly,

"Hi Meg", Amy said, cheerfully

"Hey, Megan",, Rory said, in the exact same way,

"Ok...why is everyone on ecstasy?", I asked, slowly,

"Ecstasy, is that the one that makes you fly?", the Doctor mumbled to the Ponds, who shook their heads.

"Seriously, what's up with you?", I frowned, leaning my box of chips on the console,

"Nothing, nothing", the Doctor mumbled, then glanced at the Ponds before smiling, "So wanna go anywhere, Cian, planet full of fake stars. Oh, or Akhaten, so many cultures on such a small world. Or we could see a star being born", he offered, excitedly. But also...wait.

He was guilty. He was guilty because of that Taylor fella.

"Oh", I mumbled, frowning, should I be angry that he was doing this out of guilt?

"Oh, oh what?", Amy asked,

I looked at them, "Umm... I know", I said slowly, "About Taylor".

They all paused,

"How?", the Doctor asked, "You shouldn't be able to remember, you..",

"I found a photo of him and me and Jack, and then Jack explained", I said,

"Jack told you?", Rory asked,

"When did you see Jack?", Amy questioned,

"About 2 weeks ago", I answered.

They clearly didn't know what to say, they were glancing at each other, worriedly. I sighed and brought out the picture, "I found this", I said, giving it to the Doctor, "It's fine, I know Jack knows me when I'm older but that other guy..", I muttered,

"That's Taylor, isn't it?", I asked, "Taylor Richmond",

"Yeah...", the Doctor muttered,

"But...but I don't get it, you said you knew me when I was older..but didn't you know him too?", I asked, "Should he not be able to die, because he has to grow up and met you",

"Time's always in flux, nothing is set in stone, anything can change at anytime", he explained,

"So he can't ever come back", I mumbled, with such a finality that no one could rebuke it,

"Megan..I don't know what to...", Amy said,

"No me neither", I shook my head,

"You gonna be alright?", Rory asked,

"Yeah, course, yeah. I will be", I answered, "It's just...", I paused, not knowing if I should say it,

"It's just, there's this gap, in my head. Like I'm waiting for something and I don't know why", I explained, no one said anything, "I'm gonna...I think I'm gonna watch some TV", I said,

"Meg..", the Doctor sighed,

"No, it's fine..I'm..I'm fine", I reassured him, then took my chips and left the console room, heading for the living room/aquarium. I went in and plopped myself on the sofa, I turned on the telly and flicked through, wanting to find a comedy, because they made me happy.

I sighed, and rubbed my eyes, the TV show washing over my head. Then someone cleared their throat behind me,

"Fancy going out?", the Doctor suggested, sitting beside me, I smiled politely,

"Maybe not toda...", I frowned trailing off,

"What is it?", he asked, noticing my uncertainty,

"Could we go to...I would like to see a bit off Van Gogh", I asked,

"Van Gogh, what a guy!", he gushed, "Alright, we'll see Van Gogh, Oh, there is a brilliant art gallery in France, the-",

"Musee D'Orsay, yeah I know", I grinned, "Can we go there now?",

"Come on!", he beamed, yanking me off the couch and practically dragging me to the console room where we saw the Ponds chatting over tea, "Look alive, Ponds. We gonna get us some art", the Doctor announced, piloting the TARDIS and making the Ponds hold on to their mugs for dear life.

"Woooo!", the Doctor cheered,

"Ha ha!", I chuckled, gripping on a TARDIS railing till my knuckle turned white.

Then it all stopped abruptly,

"Woah", Rory called out, narrowly catching his mug before it fell,

"Righto, what are we waiting for?", the Doctor asked, heading for the door, "Let's see some Gogh", he said, eyes alight with glee, I smiled back glancing at Amy and Rory who were setting down their mugs carefully.

---

"So this is one of the last paintings Van Gogh ever painted. Those final months of his life were probably the most astonishing artistic outpouring in history. It was like Shakespeare knocking off Othello, Macbeth and King Lear over the summer hols. And especially astonishing because Van Gogh did it with no hope of praise or reward...", the tour guide seemed to have a particular passion for Van Gogh, his eyes bearing the same excitement that the Doctor had.

"Woah", I chuckled, staring at 'A Starry Night', my eyes wide.

"Enjoying yourself?", the Doctor asked,

"Yeah", I beamed, "Thanks for...bringing me",

"You're welcome", he smiled back, looking around for the Ponds who were observing his self portrait.

I walked around, then watched the tour guide speak from a distance,

"Each of these pictures now is worth tens of millions of pounds, yet in his lifetime he was a commercial disaster. Sold only one painting, and that to the sister of a friend. We have here possibly the greatest artist of all time, but when he died you could sold his entire body of work and got about enough money to buy a sofa and a couple of chairs. If you follow me now...", he walked off,

"Who is it?", a kid asked,

"It's the doctor", another one said, I frowned and spun on the spot,

"He was the doctor who took care of Van Gogh when he started to go mad", the other one informed. I scowled, I didn't like that word, 'mad'. It's sounded mean.

"Oh, look, look, lookie", I squealing, running to the 'Church at Auvers', I stared at it, in glee, seeing it for real was amazing.

"Yes. You can almost feel his hand painting it right in front of you, carving the colours into...shapes", he finished his sentence hesitantly, "Wait a minute",

"What?", I asked, frowning,

"Well, just look at that", he pointed, I followed his line of vision and saw a face in a church window,

"What is that?",

"Something very not good indeed", he said, scratching his head, I glanced at it,

"It's a face, why's there a face",

"Dunno, but it's not a nice face at all. I know evil when I see it and I see it in that window", he told me, then walked off. I stared at the evil face and frowned. Evil. Hmmmm.

"Excuse me. If I can just interrupt for one second. Sorry, everyone. Routine inspection, Ministry of Art and Artiness", the Doctor announced, grabbing back my attention and making the Ponds walk over to the crowd too, "So, errr",

"Doctor Black", the guy supplied,

"Yes, that's right. Do you know when that picture of the church was painted?", he asked

"Ah, well, ah, well, what an interesting question. Most people imagine-", he began, his rather interesting speech but the Doctor cut him off, making me scowl,

"I'm going to have to hurry you. When was it?", he pressed,

"Why, what's important about it?", Amy asked me, glancing at the picture,

"There's a..face in a church window, a face that's not supposed to be there", I told her,

"A bad face?", Rory asked,

"I don't know",

"Well, in that case, probably somewhere between the first and third of June", Black said,

"What year?", the Doctor asked,

"1890", I piped up,

"Yes, that's less than a year before, before he killed himself", he said, sadly. I looked down, hating that that was true.

"Thank you, sir. Very helpful indeed. Nice bow-tie. Bow-ties are cool", the Doctor gushed, smiling at me and the Ponds. I shook my head slowly,

"Yours is very...", Black complimented, but couldn't find a suitable word to finish his sentence with,

"Oh, thank you. Keep telling them stuff", he said, then bounded off, leaving us to follow,"We need to go", he said, firmly,

"But I wanna see some more pictures", I whined, the Ponds nodding eagerly,

"Art can wait", he said, pulling me away, I don't know why but I grabbed Amy's hands who grabbed Rory's hand so we formed a chain, "This is life and death. We need to talk to Vincent Van Gogh", he said.

I sighed and followed the Doctor down the steps and ran across the floor, out to the TARDIS parked outside. He stopped to fiddle with the key,

"So, hang on, we're going to see Vincent Van Gogh because you saw a face in a window in one of his paintings?", Rory asked as we stepped in,

"Yeah, pretty much", the Doctor answered,

"Is that a bit...I don't know, hasty?", Amy asked, walking up the steps,

"Yep", he answered, then stopped, "Problem, Pond?", he asked, smiling.

"Never", she replied also smiling,

"Ok, then, are we set, ready?", he asked,

"Yeah, let's go", I grinned, clinging on to the TARDIS's railings.

---

We exited the TARDIS, and this was when I noticed I was still in my college clothes,

"Hang on, we can't go out like this", I said, "I mean won't we be..you know, charged or something. I mean I'm wearing jeans and she's wearing a mini skirt. Think of the male heart attacks", I exclaimed,

"It'll be fine, come on France, 1890, fashions in flux, people'll just think you're two exotic fashionista's", the Doctor assured,

"Yeah, or prostitutes", I mumbled,

"Right, so, here's the plan. We find Vincent and he leads us straight to the church and our nasty friend",

"Easy peasy", Amy concluded,

"That's a bit boring", Rory commented,

"Not easy peasy, no. I suspect nothing will be easy with Mister Van Gogh", the Doctor said, regretfully. We were strolling through an alleyway, up to this nice looking cafe,

"Now, he'll probably be in the local cafe. Sort of orangey light, chairs and tables outside", the Doctor described. Amy smiled and brought out her book,

"Like this?", she said,

"That's the one", the Doctor agreed,

"Or..possibly, like that?", Rory added, nodding to the cafe in front of us,

"Oh that is just not real", I chuckled,

"TARDIS got it right for once", Amy muttered,

"Oi!", the Doctor protested, wacking her lightly with her own guidebook then walking off, "Come on",

"Hello", the Doctor greeted,

"Hi", I beamed, walking up to a man, "You wouldn't know a Vincent Van Gogh around here?", I asked,

"Don't mention that man to me", the guy muttered, walking off. I frowned,

"Ok", I called back to him,

"Do you know Vincent Van Gogh?", the Doctor asked the waitress,

"Unfortunately", she grumbled, rolling her eyes.

"Unfortunately?", Amy scoffed, pausing her viewing of the cafe to look at the woman who offended Amy's idol.

"He's drunk, he's mad and he never pays his bills", the woman continued,

"Yeah but he's a good painter, right?", Rory tried.

Didn't work, I've got to be honest, everyone just laughed. Poor Rory,

"Not to them", I explained, facing my friends, "During his time he wasn't exactly appreciated, they weren't educated on mental health. Just disregarded him", I said in a hushed tone,

"Is that why he killed himself?", Amy asked, quietly.

I couldn't answer her question because an argument that must have started inside the cafe voiced it's way outside,

"Come on! Come on! One painting for one drink. That's not a bad deal", someone argued.

Amy beamed and walked around to get a better view inside, but it didn't matter because the arguers came out,

"It wouldn't be a bad deal if the painting were any good", the cafe owner said, picking up the painting and observing it with scorn, "I can't hang that up on my walls. It'd scare the customers half to death", he scoffed.

I bit my lip as I stared at the ginger, then noticed Amy doing a little dance as she worked out who the ginger was. Rory folded his arms in amusement whilst the Doctor observed the situation with controlled glee,

"It's bad enough having you in here in person, let alone looming over the customers day and night in a stupid hat. You pay money or you get out", he sanctioned,

" I'll pay, if you like", the Doctor piped up. The owner turned to him and frowned,

"What?",

"Well, if you like, I'll pay for the drink", the Doctor offered, "Or I'll pay for the painting and you can use the money to pay for the drink".

I frowned, with what money?

"Exactly who are you?", Vincent asked,

"Oh, we're...new in town", he answered, nodding to his surrounding friends.

"Well, in that case, you don't know three things. One, I pay for my own drinks, thank you", Vincent began, though he was laughed at because of the first point.

"Two, no one ever buys any of my paintings or they would be laughed out of town. So if you want to stay in town, I suggest you keep your cash to yourself", he continued. I watched him with fascination, "And three, your friends are cute, even the weird one, but you should keep your big nose out of other people's business",

"Weird one?", I frowned, "Hey!",

"You won't stop staring", he pointed out,

"Well, I can't help that you're so cute, can I?", I shot back, making him smile a bit. The Doctor groaned,

"No, no, nope, you are not flirting with Vincent Van Gogh", he scolded,

"I wasn't flirting", I protested,

"Kinda were flirting", Rory added, at the same time Amy said, "Yeah, you were".

I opened my mouth to defend myself but I had none, alright so I was flirting with Vincent Van Gogh, but who wouldn't!

"Come on, just one more drink, I'll pay tomorrow", Vincent begged,

"No", the guy said simply, then tried to walk away,

"Or, on the other hand, slightly more compassionately, yes?", Vincent coaxed. I rolled my eyes,

"Or, on the other hand, to protect my business from madmen, no",

"Or?...",

"You know, there comes a point when this just gets boring", I complained, "Now, I want a bottle of your finest", I told the guy, "And I will share it with the best looking painter in the house", I added, then looked at Vincent, "Know anyone?", I asked,

"Flirting", the Doctor muttered, walking past me,

"Flattery", I retorted, following him in.

---

"So how old are you then?", I asked Vincent,

"36", he answered, I nodded, one more year to go.

"Right", I muttered, then was about to sip the wine we had when the Doctor moved it away from me,

"Hey!",

"Underage", he sang softly,

"How old are you?", Vincent asked,

"25", I replied, lying of course,

"Oh my God", Amy scoffed,

"That accent of yours. You from Holland like me?", Vincent asked her,

Then there was a ramble of 'yes' and 'no' from all four of us, we paused,

"No, no she isn't", I said slowly and firmly,

"I'm Scottish", Amy clarified,

"And I'm...Megan", I added,

"Rory", Rory said, putting his hand up in a sort of half wave.

I pointed to the Doctor, "The Doctor",

"I knew it!", Vincent exclaimed.

"Knew..knew what?",

"My brother's always sending doctors, but you won't be able to help", Vincent told us,

"Oh, no..no he's not that kind of Doctor...sorry..can I...see that?", I asked, noticing a painting beside him. He lifted it up hesitantly. I was speechless,

"That's incredible", the Doctor gushed,

"Absolutely", Amy agreed,

"One of the best", I beamed,

"One of the best whats? You've never seen my work before", Vincent asked,

"..Ah, yes...I..just, one of the best paintings... I've ever seen...you know, generally", I stammered,

"Then you can't have seen many paintings, then", he said sadly,

"Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself", I scolded, making him frown and look up, "You're paintings are good, amazing even. And if the world is too blind to see that..then screw them", I told him,

"Screw?", he questioned, not familiar with my language,

"Well...it's a bit like...err", I paused, thinking,

"Like, bugger off", Amy added. I nodded, that was a good comparison,

"Screw them", Vincent said,

"Now you're getting it", Amy beamed which made Vincent beam,

"Your hair's orange", he stated. I frowned and looked at Rory and the Doctor for assurance that I was right. This conversation was weird.

"Yes. So's yours", she retorted,

"Yes. It was more orange, but now is, of course, less..ora-",

"Oh wow, we are not talking about hair colour", I groaned,

"Err..Vincent painted any churches recently?", Rory asked flippantly,

"Ahh..yes, any churchy plans? Are churches, chapels, religiousy stuff like that, something you'd like to get into? You know, fairly soon?", the Doctor pressed,

"Cool it", I whispered to him,

"Well, there is one church I'm thinking of painting when the weather is right", Vincent said,

"Lovely", Rory smiled, glad we got somewhere.

"That is very good news", the Doctor agreed.

Then a woman came in, screaming bloody murder, I frowned, looking at her in concern,

"She's been murdered! Help me!", she cried,

"Shit", I exclaimed,

"Shit?", Vincent frowned,

"It means-",

"You are not teaching Vincent Van Goh how to swear", the Doctor exclaimed, "Come on!".

We all bounded out of the cafe and ran, I didn't know where we were running to, I just followed the Doctor, to be honest. I raced to the crowd I could see in the near distance, we arrived and I skidded to a stop when I saw a body...

The worst kind of body, it wasn't even a proper one, it was bit, ripped and clawed off. I gaped in horror,

"She's been ripped to shreds!", someone exclaimed.

The Doctor was pushing past the crowd, "Please, let me look. I'm a doctor", he said, then, when he saw the body, knelt down beside it. I was dumbfounded, staring,

"Who is it?", someone muttered,

"Is she dead?", someone asked, what kind of stupid question? Of course she was. Then the mother arrived shoving her way past the people, she saw her daughter and whimpered,

"Away, all of you vultures. This is my daughter. Giselle", she mumbled, "What monster could have done this? Get away from her!", she growled,

"Ok, ok", the Doctor muttered, standing up and moving away from him,

"Get that madman out of here!", the mother growled, throwing stones at Vincent and then everyone else did too, but they hit us as well.

The Doctor urged me to move from my position, "Come on, hey, it's ok".

I snapped out of my phase and let myself be dragged out of the crowd and pulled away safety. We all ran to another street and the Ponds and Vincent panted, leaning on a wall.

I slowed to a walking pace and covered my mouth with my hand, still looking down the street,

"Meg, Meg?", Rory asked,

I looked at him, my eyes glazed, "But she was...", I breathed,

"It's ok",

"No it's not!", I exclaimed, "She's dead, she was ripped and torn apart, how is that ok?", I asked,

"Megan", the Doctor soothed, "Hey, we'll sort this, I promise", he looked at Vincent, "Are you all right?",

"Yes, I'm used to it", he muttered,

"You shouldn't be, that was horrible", I sighed, scratching the back of my neck,

"Has anything like this murder happened here before?", the Doctor asked,

"Only a week ago. It's a terrible time", Vincent confessed, we began to move off,

"As I thought. As I thought", the Doctor mumbled, "Come on, we'd better get you home", he said,

"Where are you staying tonight?", Vincent asked. The Doctor beamed at him,

"Oh, you're very kind", he gushed,

"What?", Rory asked, frowning,

"Yeah, what?", I repeated,

"Well, do you have any friends in 1890 to stay with?", he questioned,

"Well, no but-", I began,

"So what's wrong with staying with our friend, Vincent?",

"What, other than the fact we met him 10 minutes ago?", I mumbled, softly,

"Yes", he said,

"Right, yeah",

"So then", the Doctor spoke up, "Dark night. Very starry", he pointed out.

I smiled to myself, trust the Doctor to try and be subtle.

"It's not much. Really not much, I live on my own. I guess you could all fit, it'll be a squeeze but you should be okay for one night. One night", Vincent muttered,

"We're going to stay with him?", Amy gushed, grinning as she squeezed Rory's arms in excitement,

"Until he paints that church", the Doctor mumbled,

"So a couple days then", I concluded, "Nice", I smiled,

"Watch out. That one's wet", Vincent warned,

"Huh?", I frowned, then me and Amy noticed the painting of his bedroom, I stared at it, wide-eyed and so did Amy. The Doctor and Rory simply followed Vincent, I looked at Amy and we both chuckled.

I decided to go in, I mean if you're going to spend the night a Vincent Van Gogh's you might as well see everything.

I strolled in and was met with the best rendition of a house ever, it was filled with art and art stuff and canvases,

"Sorry about all the clutter", he apologised,

"Oh, please, clutter away, I won't stop you", I assured, paying particular attention to the painting of his Doctor, a painting I had see about 20 minutes ago in a gallery in 2011.

"I've come to accept the only person who's going to love my paintings is me", he admitted,

"I doubt that, somehow", Rory scoffed, making Vincent look up at him, "I have a feeling you're paintings are gonna go far", he told him. I saw Amy give him a peck for that out of the corner of my eye, I inwardly cringed.

"But wow though", Amy breathed, "Really...wow",

"Yeah, I know it's a mess. I'll have a proper clear out. I must, I really must",

"Don't you dare", I warned, "You keep this place any way you want".

He smiled at me, "You're very kind, kindness is most welcome", I nodded, as a way of saying you're welcome, "Coffee anyone?",

"Yeah, please", Rory said,

"Not for me, actually", the Doctor decline,

"You haven't got milkshake, have you?", I asked,

Vincent frowned, "No, is that another curse word?", he asked,

"No, it's a...drink", I told him,

"That hasn't been made yet", the Doctor muttered. I smiled brightly,

"Don't worry about it, Vince", I said.

I walked into his living room, and looked at all the photos, I chuckled, brushing my hands on paintings that would be worth billions in the future and here I was, touching them.

I walked back into the kitchen with the adults,

"Right, so, this church, then. Near here, is it?", the Doctor asked,

"What is it with you and the church?", Vincent questioned, I smirked,

"Just wondering", I shrugged,

"It's more that a wonder. It seems to me you lot never talk about anything else", he pointed out, "You're all very strange",

"Well, if we weren't would you have noticed us?", I asked, raising an eyebrow,

"Suppose not", he said,

"Okay, so, let's talk about you, then. What are you interested in?", Rory asked as we made our way back to the living room,

"Well, look around. Art. It seems to me there's so much more to the world than the average eye is allowed to see", he said, his eyes alight with raw passion,

"I believe, if you look hard, there are more wonders in this universe than you could ever have dreamed of", he told us.

I beamed at him and glanced at my friends,

"You don't have to tell us", the Doctor replied.

Vincent nodded, "I know, I can see that in you Doctor, such wise eyes for one so young, you must give me your secret", he said, sitting down and sipping on his coffee,

"He puts tea bags over them", I muttered,

"Tea bags?", he frowned,

"Too early", the Doctor sang, I sighed,

"Forget about that, then", I told Vincent.

Amy stood up and wandered around the room, looking at the photos, "So what is it about art?", the Doctor asked,

"Not so much about art, it's about what you can get out of images. Someone can just look at a flower or a vase or a room and say, 'that is a vase' and 'that is a room', it takes a true artist to realise they are more than just objects, they are time and effort and creativity, they are a persons true passion put into something you can see", he explained,

"Damn", I breathed, "That's deep, you should..write that down or something",

"Errr...where are you going?", the Doctor called to Amy, "There's a monster on the loose and you wanna go wondering off",

"You do it all the time", she retorted but when he wouldn't let off she rolled her eye, "Just outside, I wanna check out the paintings",

"Hang on", Rory said, standing up, "I'll go with you",

"Oh, you want to protect me", she teased,

"Nah I just wanna look at the paintings", he shrugged,

"Oh, ha, ha", she replied as they left the house.

"All that life in her, she's a bright one Doctor", Vincent said,

"Oh, we know", he chuckled.

---

"It's colour! Colour that holds the key. I can hear the colours Listen to them!", Vincent exclaimed, jumping to the Doctor and willing him to actually listen to the colours.

I stared at him, entranced by it all,

"Every time I step outside, I feel nature is shouting at me", he proclaimed, "Come on. Come and get me. Come on!", he was shaking the Doctor now, and I felt like I should help but it looked to funny to stop,"Come on! Capture my mystery!", he yelled in his face.

I pursued my lip, not knowing what to do or say now,

"Errr...maybe..maybe you've had too much coffee, eh, Vince", I suggested,

"Yeah...", the Doctor mumbled, "Yeah, how about some nice calming tea? Let's get you a cup of chamomile or something, shall we?", he muttered, standing up, "The Ponds, where are they?" he asked me,

"Out-",

"AHHHHH!", a scream interrupted me,

"...side", I mumbled,

"No, no, no!", he muttered.

He raced outside, with me and Vince following on, and we bounded out of his house and to the crouched figure of Amy and Rory who was soothing her,

"Amy? Rory? What happened?", the Doctor asked,

"I don't know. I didn't see it. We were having a look at the paintings out here when something hit me from behind", Amy breathed, Rory held her shoulders and calmed her down,

"It's okay. He's gone now", the Doctor soothed,

"No! No!", Vincent cried, I spun,

"What-what's wrong with him?", I asked, as he had a sort of panic attack,

"Take it easy. Take it easy!", the Doctor said,

"What's happening? What's he doing?", Rory frowned,

"I don't know", the Doctor admitted, I jumped in front of Vincent and eyed him warily,

"Careful, Meg", the Doctor warned,

"You alright?", I asked Vincent, and his only reply was to pick up a pitchfork, "...huh", I mumbled,

"Run!", he told us, "Run!", It was like he was trying to protect us from something, and he seemed set on it too,

"Yeah, yeah, yeah", the Doctor nodded, "That's not a bad idea. Amy, Meg, Rory, get back. He's having some kind of fit", the Doctor announced, I frowned,

"You sure?", I asked, stepping towards Vincent,

"No, now get back, I need to calm him down", he told me, "Meg", he hissed,

"I don't think it's a fit, Doctor", I frowned, I took another step towards Vincent, "Hey, Vincent, tell me, what can you see?", I asked, softly, "What is it, what are you seeing?",

"Look out!", he cried.

Then something, something I could see, collided harshly with my side and flung me, forcefully to the left. I was literally chucked into the air, and toppled to the hard concrete with a crack,

"Ahhhhhhh!", I screamed as I hit the floor on my back luckily.

"Meg, you alright?", the Doctor called,

"No, I am not alright!", I snapped, getting up and brushing myself down, "What the hell was that?", I demanded,

"Duck!", Vincent yelled, so I did and I felt air being blown over me, like something swished above,

"Ok, I felt something..did not see it", I yelled, "What are we fighting?",

"That is a good question. Let me help you", the Doctor said to Vincent, he went to grab a pole and drew it out like it was a sword. I frowned and looked around to see whatever they were fighting, because I still couldn't see it,

"You can see him, too?", Vincent asked hopefully,

"Errr..no", I called, rushing to the side where the Ponds were, hopefully it was safe,

"Megan, be careful", Rory warned,

"Megan!", Vincent cried, just as I got not 2 feet from the Ponds I was hit again, this time harder and I flew further. I screamed as I was dragged through the air and hit a wall. An unfortunately placed wall that meant I collided with it and then passed out.

---

"Ungngghh", I mumbled-groaned,

"Don't try to move your head, it'll hurt", Rory said,

"Why will it hurt?", I murmured,

"Well, because you had a face full of brick slammed into it", he replied,

"How long was I out for?", I asked,

"Not long, 5 minutes, enough time for us to fend off that thing, well not us, just Vincent", he explained, dabbing the back of my head with something wet. I hissed in pain,

"Seems like all I've been doing is passing out and running", I commented,

"You know it's worth it all", he smiled. I nodded to myself and smiled up at him,

"Ah, Megan, sorry I didn't warn you earlier, is it really bad?", Vincent asked walking in with a bowl of warm water for Rory to use, behind him was Amy and the Doctor,

"Meg, God, are you feeling better?", Amy asked,

"Well, I'm not feeling worse", I shrugged,

"She's fine, I just have to stitch up this small cut", Rory told us,

"Ah, good man Rory", the Doctor praised,

"Come on, don't worry about me, worry about the thing that did this to me", I told them, sitting up in my chair,

"She's right, what was that thing, Doctor?", Amy asked, sitting down too,

"All we know is it's strong", he muttered, then looked at Vincent, "And he's invisible. What did he look like?", he asked,

Vincent looked around the room, "I'll show you", he said, painting over a picture of some nice violets,

"Oh, no, no. No, no!", the Doctor complained, seeing this. I gaped in horror, then bit my lip. Oops.

"What?", Vincent asked,

"That was just, a really nice painting", Rory sighed,

"Oh, just... on you go", the Doctor encouraged.

We watched as Vincent drew out a rough sketch of a creature with beaks and claws, he did it with such intricate design. When he'd gotten mid way, I got a ping on my phone, that made everyone look up, my eyes widened

"What was that?", Vincent asked me,

"I...I whistled", I said, then demonstrated a whistle that sounded like the 'ping'.

"Oh, ok", he said, then got back to his work. I went for my phone and looked at it, frowning, it was a text from Cat, she said:

'Tried doing a painting for the Van Gogh competition, what do you think?'.

Attached to the photo was a picture of her painting, I smiled and pocketed my phone. I wonder if Vincent would let me take a painting he didn't want for college.

"Ok, ok", the Doctor murmured, making me look up and see that Vincent had finished the sketch, "Right, you lot, make Mr Van Gogh comfortable. Don't let any invisible monsters in through the front door", he said.

I stood up, slowly, eyeing him, "Where are you going?",

"To check out what this is", he answered,

"But I wanna come", I whined,

"Err...no you have a head injury, you are staying in the safe places",

"But it could be outside, waiting", Amy countered,

"Well, don't worry. I'll risk it. What's the worst that can happen?", the Doctor shrugged,

"Nothing good ever comes from asking that question", Rory said,

"It's true, you could get torn into pieces by a monster you can't see", Amy agreed,

"Oh right, yes, that. Don't worry. Keep an eye on Megan", he said, "And I'll be back before you can say where's he got to now?", he left us with that vague sentence and went off. I sighed and leaned on the table,

"Not that fast!", the Doctor exclaimed, reentering the room, I squealed and spun to glare at him, he was smugly smiling, "But pretty fast. See you around", he muttered, and left the room once again. I scoffed and went to see if he was really gone this time.

"Well, what now?", Rory said,

"I must get to bed", Vincent announced, "Who knows when that Doctor of yours will come back, and I have a feeling sleep is not on his agenda", he remarked,

"Night, Vincent", I smiled, and sat myself on his armchair as he climbed up his steps, I took out my phone and fiddled with it.

"Aren't you tired?", Amy asked,

"Err...not really, I will be, might just sleep here", I told her, tapping the armchair,

"Ok, we'll see you in the morning", Rory smiled, heading for the stairs,

"No humping please", I called back, snuggling in the chair. I rested my eyes till I heard receeding footsteps and then heard a door close. When I heard this I snapped my eyes open and looked around.

I wasn't tired. What was I supposed to do, it's not like they had telly or anything, so what did they do for fun?

I rolled my eyes and slipped off my shoes so I wouldn't make a racket then stood up and wondered around the living room, looking at the painting and just generally scanning the room.

I glanced outside from the kitchen and tilted my head...no light pollution...no rain. A clear night. Stars!

I grinned and stepped out to the garden quietly and chuckled softly, looking at the sky. Oh wow. It was so beautiful, just watching those stars, flicker effortlessly in the clean crisp black night, and then the glorious moon, shining proudly, illuminating the tiny world below. I bit my lip, suppressing a grin as best I could.

I yawned and took a blanket from beside me and leaned on the railing, wrapping up warm. I could fall asleep, watching the stars.

---

I sniffed myself awake, if that's possible. And frowned, did I sleep outside for the whole night? I yawned and looked around, yep. I did. I sighed and stood up, rubbing my face awake, I turned and walked into the kitchen and listened, everyone was still asleep, it must've been early then. I took Vincent wash basin and cleaned my face, then took a bit of bread and munched on it.

I swallowed the bit of bread and checked my phone when a noise, a clattering from outside forced me to snap my head open and frown. I glanced up to the ceiling to see if it was coming from upstairs but when I heard it a second time, and paired with a snuffling I stepped outside, staring around, wide eyed.

I stepped out, fully into the garden, listening intently and then a heard a deeper growl from the other side of Vincent s fencing. I rolled my eyes and hauled myself over it, grunting as I landed not too gracefully on the other side.

Then I was shoved roughly to the side, not hard enough to make me fall but hard enough that I was pushed out of the way and hit the fencing with my back, I gasped and noted that the sound trotted down the street, and without thinking, because I never do, I chased after the invisible thing.

I raced down the alleyway when it hit me that it was invisible, how the fuck was I going to chase it, but a box at the end of the street tumbled down unexpectedly so I guessed it was around there and chased it down, I rounded a corner and groaned when I saw the adjoining street was a longer stretch.

It's too early for this shit.

I ran down the street that was so much longer than it needed to be and paused at the end of it, I was at a crossroads, literally. I frowned, catching my breath, I'd lost an invisible creature, I'm not surprised.

I sighed and looked around, listening for anything.

I cursed and turned back to lean against the wall, facing someone. I yelped, startled by the Doctor's frowning face,

"Taylor, why would you do that?", I questioned, angry. He stopped staring at me astonished, then went to angry mode again,

"What are you doing out?", he asked, almost glaring at me,

"Yeah, well, I heard a noise", I shrugged, "And I wasn't tired".

He sighed and adjusted the...what the hell was he carrying,

"What the hell is that?", I muttered, frowning at the contraption he had attached to his torso, "It looks like something that was rejected on Dragon's Den",

"Oi, don't diss this", he retorted, flicking my forehead, "This little baby can identify any creature in the known universe",

"And do we know what that thing was then?", I asked, falling into step with him and we walked back to the house,

"It is called a Krafayis, it's invisible", he told me,

"Yeah, I...well...I noticed", I stated,

"Anyway, it's lost and abandoned, it's brutal but we need to get it home, these creatures don't do well on their own", he informed me,

"Right...", I mumbled, "Do you think...do you think it wants to hurt these people?",

"I..think it's dangerous, and I think we need to get it home", he responded, avoiding my question. There was a pause, where we walked a couple of paces till I spoke up again,

"How did he die? Taylor, I mean", I asked, quietly, looking at the ground,

"He..err...he got shot by Restac",

"Yeah, but how come I don't remember him?",

"There are cracks, rippling throughout the universe, it's pure time energy that consumes anything, if it touches you, you cease to exist, you are wiped from the past forever", he explained,

"Jack said you and the Ponds remember him because of your timeline or something", I muttered,

"Well, Taylor was a big part of your life before time traveling. Him not being there would leave a lot of gaps in your past so your timeline just closes up around him and makes you forget because if you did remember you wouldn't survive long with such a complicated structure in your head",

"Hmm, understood some of that", I nodded, I shrugged, "Makes sense",

"Ok, good?",

"As good as",

"Good enough for me", he smiled, I scoffed and walked into Vincent's house, pushing the wooden door, Rory came into view,

"Morning Pond", the Doctor beamed, closing the door and taking of his device from his torso,

"Oh, and where were you?", Rory demanded, trotting down the steps,

"Outside", I answered, smiling, "Have you just woken up?",

"I have, Amy is outside", he said moving through the living room, "She's been busy", he remarked, knowingly,

"Busy?", I frowned and stepped out into the garden, I glanced at the blanket I'd left discarded on the steps then raised my head, only to be blinded my yellow devils.

"What the...?", I mumbled, eyes wide at the scene. Amy was standing, adjusting some flowers, amongst a sea of other sunflowers. I shook my head,

"What do you think?", she beamed, extending her arms in a showy way,

"It's...blinding", Rory muttered,

"Thanks", Amy rolled her eyes, "Hey, Doctor?", she called into the house, and a few seconds later the Doctor stood out, grinning the sun,

"Blimey, you don't get this weather back home, do you?", he commented, "Is he still sleeping?", he asked,

"Yeah but Doctor, don't-", Rory began,

"Wake, wakey, rise and shine! Breakfast is served in the courtyard", the Doctor announced into Vincent's bedroom, I rolled my eyes and sighed. He opened the balcony doors and literally dragged Vincent closer, "Come on. And Amy's got a little surprise for you",

"You'll need sunglasses", I warned, glancing at the bright yellow flowers,

"Sunglasses?", Vincent muttered. I groaned,

"Never mind", I muttered,

"I thought I'd brighten things up to thank you for saving me last night", she said sweetly, placing her head in her palm,

"Ah", Vincent mumbled, inspecting a plant near by him,

"I thought you might like, you know, possibly to perhaps paint them or something? Might be a thought", Amy suggested, shrugging. I bit back a smirk,

"Yes, well, they're not my favourite flower", Vincent confessed. I stopped and frowned at him,

"Sorry what?",

"You don't like sunflowers?", Amy questioned,

"No, it's not that I don't like them. I find them complex", Vincent elaborated, "Always somewhere between living and dying. Half-human as they turn to the sun. A little disgusting. But, you know, they are a challenge", Vincent remarked,

"That is surprising", Rory muttered, "Do you hate your bedroom too?",

"Little bit", he shrugged,

"Anyway...moving on, there's something I need to show you", the Doctor interrupted, leading us back into his house,

"What is it?", Vincent asked,

"I've found your friend", the Doctor informed, picking up a sheet by the armchair and placing it on a table. Vincent gasped and stared at it more intensely,

"That's him. And the eyes, without mercy", Vincent said, staring at the creature a bit shocked,

"This is a creature called the Krafayis", the Doctor elaborated, "They travel in space. They travel as a pack, scavenging across the universe. And sometimes one of them gets left behind. And because they are a brutal race, the others never come back", he explained,

"So, dotted all around the universe are individual, utterly merciless, utterly abandoned Krafayis. And what they do is, well, kill, until they're killed", he shrugged,

"Which isn't often", I said

"Because other creatures can't see them", the Doctor finished,

"But I can", Vincent nodded, understanding,

"Yes. And that's why we are in a unique position today, my friend, to end this reign of terror. So, feeling like painting the church today?", he questioned,

"What about the monster?", Vincent asked,

"Not a monster", I corrected,

"What?",

"Not a monster, this thing isn't a monster, it's a creature, it's a living thing, not something out of a book",

"But it's killed", he protested,

"Everything has a reason, let's not judge till we know what it is truly, yeah?", I suggested smiling softly. He nodded slowly,

"So why do I have to paint the church today?", he asked the Doctor,

"Take my word for it. If you paint it, he will come", the Doctor said, ominously,

"Ok..ok. I'll get my things", Vincent said, excitedly,

"In your own time. And I promise you, we'll be out of your hair by this time tomorrow", the Doctor assured, I frowned at him and then noticed Vincent's solemn face as he left the room in silence. I thought nothing of it because then the Doctor muttered,

"This is risky",

"Yeah, but we're always risky", Rory pointed out, sitting at the table,

"This is different", the Doctor responded,

"How?", Amy asked,

"Well, think about it. This is the middle of Vincent Van Gogh's greatest year of painting. If we're not careful, the net result of our pleasant little trip will be the brutal murder of the greatest artist who ever lived", he said, in a hushed tone, "Half the pictures on the wall of the Museé D'Orsay will disappear. And it will be our fault".

I looked down at the table, the gravity of our situation only just hitting me. I didn't know what to say,

"We'll be careful", Amy quipped, "We will",

"Yeah, course, but no matter how careful we are this thing is invisible, there's only so much we can all do", Rory retorted,

"He's survived this long without us", I said, "He can take care of himself",

"We can only hope", the Doctor muttered, then looked up at the ceiling, "I'll get him", he said, getting up. I sighed and got up, following the Doctor outside and waiting at the bottom of the steps for Vincent to come out. I leaned on the wall behind me and looked at the flowers Amy had arranged.

The Doctor knocked on his bedroom door, I glanced up,

"Vincent?", he called, checking his watch then knocking again, "Vincent?", he walked in and left my sight, I looked back out to the garden, listening in.

I couldn't hear much for a while, till there was a raise of volume

"Come on. Come out. Come on, let's go outside", the Doctor urged, I frowned, why was Vincent unwilling to go?

"Get out!", Vincent yelled, making my head snap up and the Ponds come outside, also confused, "You get out. What are you doing here? What are you doing here?!", he cried.

Next thing I saw was the Doctor leaving his room and looking really sad about it, I frowned, "What's happened, what's wrong?",

"We're leaving", the Doctor stated,

"..No we're not", I replied,

"Meg", he sighed, "Everyone knows he's a delicate man. Just months from now he'll...", he glanced back up the room, then back at me, "he'll take his own life",

"Don't say that. Please", Amy whispered, as Rory consoled her with an arm on her shoulder. They followed the Doctor in the house, getting ready to leave.

I looked down, contemplating all that had happened and all I'd heard, then looked back up that stairs. Should I?

I looked back into the house where they were discussing what to do, I looked back up the staircase and climbed it, to get to Vincent's door, I knocked gently,

"Vincent?", I said, walking in,

"Leave me", he muttered into his pillow. I looked back outside then walked in, closing the door and resting my back on it,

"Now I can't do that",

"I don't care for you or your friends", he said harshly, "Just leave me alone, go on. Get out!", he yelled. I flinched at his words and his tone and once again glanced back at the door, but rethought it.

I instead went over and sat on the floor facing his head, though it was buried in the pillow, "No, I'm not going. And you can shout all you like and protest for as long as you want, I'm not leaving you", I said simply, crossing my legs and waiting there. He paused a second and then turned to face me,

"Why?",

"Because...I need you to know, you're not totally abandoned", I said,

"No, why are you comforting me? You're in pain yourself yet you think about me", he muttered,

"I'm not in pain",

"You're grieving then", he said,

"No...I'm not", I countered,

"Then why do you cut?", he asked.

I stopped, a frowning slowly morphing onto my face, my heart race increased because I felt a pain on my right wrist. I shook my head slowly, not knowing that my left hand had grasped my right wrist. When I did notice I looked down at it and took in a shaky breath as I pulled my sleeve back to reveal about 7 carefully positioned red slices on my wrist that could only have been done intentionally.

I shook my head again, pain etched on my face, a tear had fallen onto a cut and had stung it slightly.

"But...I didn't..", I muttered, "Why did I do that?", I breathed,

"You're upset, I understand",

"If you understand could you explain it to me?", I asked, my eyes wide, "I don't remember doing this, I don't know why I would...", I questioned, letting more tears fall.

Vincent frowned and finally got off his bed. He lifted me to stand and when I did I pulled away from him and brushed my hands over the wrist, and then more harder as if I was trying to clean them off.

"It's ok..Meg", he soothed,

"No..it's not, I'm upset, I'm so so sad", I mumbled, "Why am I sad?",

"Sometimes our heart feels things quicker that our brains can understand", he explained,

"How do you know that?", I asked,

"I know it, that's all I can say", he replied. I sobbed gently, taking in another breath that was so hard to do a couple minutes ago. Next thing I knew my nostrils were engulfed in a musky, cotton smell, my nose buried in scratchy wool that was more comforting that it would have been, for Vincent had hugged me.

I controlled my breathing enough so that I could hug him back tightly.

"Let's go", he mumbled,

I pulled back and sniffed, looking at him teary eyed, I nodded and pulled my sleeve over my cuts and wiped my eyes,

"You sure?", I asked,

"Yeah, come on", he nodded, "If you can soldier on then so can I", he said, lightheartedly, I scoffed softly,

"Yeah", I mumbled, leaving him to get his stuff.

I left his room and the sun immediately knocked me off balance, not literally but still, I was a bit stunned. I widened my eyes to get used to it and cleared my throat, walking down the steps.

I pushed through the curtains and walked into the house, they looked up at me, I smiled,

"Come on. We have to do this on our own", the Doctor sighed, I shook my head mutely, "Meg, we haven't got a choice",

"Oh, I know, it's just if Vincent wants to go, who are we to leave him?", I shrugged, raising an eyebrow, the Doctor frowned,

"What do you mean?",

I rolled my eyes and as if on cue, Vincent arrived at the staircase near the door,

"I'm ready. Let's go", he announced, glancing at me, smiling a little.

---

I trotted down the path to the church beside the Doctor whilst the Ponds were chatting away to Vincent,

"You alright?", the Doctor asked, I smiled,

"You can stop asking that now", I said,

"What?",

"I don't remember him Doctor, I haven't got a clue who he was, I can't be upset", I explained, scratching my wrist,

"Memories can leave, feelings can't", he told me, "You might not remember him but you must feel sad sometimes, and you have no idea", he explained. I looked down, moving my hands from wrist.

"Yeah...", I muttered,

"You've felt that then, you've felt sad and you don't know why", he prompted. I blinked and frowned,

"Doctor...it's more than just being upset", I mumbled,

"What then?", he asked, eyeing me. I sighed and extended my arm and pulled the sleeve to reveal my cuts, "Meg...",

"I don't remember doing it, I don't why and I don't know how", I explained, panicking,

"When did you find out?",

"Vincent showed me",

"Vincent knows?", he asked,

"Yeah...Doctor why did I do this?",

"You know why",

"No..no I don't, because I don't remember him, because he never existed therefore I shouldn't be upset", I snapped,

"You still feel it though",

"No, I can't. You don't know what it's like, what it does to you. Expected to feel this, self-harming for no reason, being upset for no reason. There's a reason why I wasn't supposed to remember, it's because it tears you apart, you told me. I can't believe he was real, it hurts, it hurts too much", I vowed, pulling my sleeve over the scars once again,

"I understand, I do, I get it", he sighed, then put his arm over me for a side hug. He kissed the top of my head and let me go, "You'll have me, Meg, and the Ponds and Jack, this will pass", he assured.

I'm not sure I want it to.

"Ok. Ok. So, now, we must have a plan. When the creature returns-",

"Then we shall fight him again", Vincent said firmly,

"...Well, yes, tick", the Doctor said hesitantly, But last night we were lucky. Amy could have been killed. So this time, for a start, we have to make sure I can see him too",

"And everyone else too", I added, on the side,

"Well, it's best if I can see him first", the Doctor replied,

"But it would be better if we could all see him", I countered,

"Obviously, but the priority is me seeing him",

"Oh, well someone thinks they're special", I remarked, raising my eyebrow. This was all done in a jokey fashion,

"And how are we meant to do that, suddenly?", Amy interrupted,

"The answer's in this box", the Doctor quipped, tapping the box he'd been holding, "I had an excellent, if smelly, godmother",

I frowned, "Please elaborate", I asked following him on,

"So, basically-", the Doctor began,

"Oh no", Vincent murmured, "It's that poor girl from the village", he pointed out. I looked down at the ground out of respect, not before noticing the sunflowers of the coffin. Sunflowers.

I glanced at Vincent, who noted the sunflowers also, I smiled internally, because to smile outwardly would get me in a lot of trouble at that precise moment.

"We do have a plan, don't we? A proper one?", Rory asked the Doctor,

"No", he answered simply, "It's a thing. It's like a plan, but with more fantasticness", he said, continuing down the path,

"Fantasticness, yeah that's a word", Amy commented,

"Anything can be a word once it's spoken", he retorted, "Like blurble",

"Blurble", I giggled, "That's so funny",

"Blurble?", Vincent scoffed, "You're a strange kid",

"I'm not a kid, I'm 25", I retorted,

"No, you're not", he shook his head, "You're 17",

"Who told you that?", I questioned,

"He did", he said, nodding to Rory, I turned and glared at him,

"Sorry", he shrugged,

"Whatever", I grumbled,

"And you do act like a kid, it's not that hard to work out", Vincent added,

"I don't act like a kid", I whined, he raised an eyebrows at me as we came up to the child, "Most of the time", I muttered, under my breath.

We walked through the iron gates and into the churchyard, I looked up at the building, it was so tall.

"Come on, you can help me set up, Meg", Vincent said.

I turned and took the stand from him to stab into the ground as the Ponds and the Doctor looked at the church and tried to work out what window the beast would appear in,

"Have you told him?", Vincent asked, "About your scars",

"Yeah..", I mumbled,

"And?",

"He said he's there for me", I shrugged,

"Did he explain it to you though? Why you don't remember?",

"It's complicated, but in a nutshell I did it because I'd lost someone that I cared about, but I don't remember them because it would hurt my mind", I explained, putting a canvas on the stand,

"Ok, this person, did they mean a lot?",

"I don't know, I don't remember",

"I think they must have",

"Why?",

"Because even though they've been wiped from your life, you still care about them enough to be upset at their absence",

I was about to answer when the Doctor came up to us, smiling, "Ok, we all set?", he asked,

"Yep", I nodded,

"And you'll be sure to tell me if you see any, you know, creatures?, the Doctor said, slowly as if Vincent was a child,

"Yes. While I may be mad, I'm not stupid", Vincent replied, looking at him knowingly, I held back my smirk and looked at the church,

"No. Quite. And, to be honest, I'm not sure about mad either. It seems to me depression is a very complex-", the Doctor began,

"Shush. I'm working", Vincent scolded, I nodded and went to sit just behind him so I could see his painting, cross legged on the ground.

"Well, yes. Paint. Do painting!", the Doctor urged, fanning his hands about, Amy plopped herself beside me and Rory perched himself on the iron gate just behind us, the Doctor just kept on talking,

"I remember watching Michael Angelo painting the Sistine Chapel. Wow! What a whinger. I kept saying to him, look, if you're scared of heights, you shouldn't have taken the job then", I rolled my eyes,

"Shush", Amy muttered.

"And Picasso. What a ghastly old goat. I kept telling him, concentrate, Pablo. It's one eye, either side of the face", he did this behind Vincent, sort of reenacting how he spoke to Picasso,

"Doctor", Rory warned.

I sighed and rested my head on her shoulder for a couple minutes before I begun to doze off so I sat up straight and sneaked my phone out, making sure Vincent couldn't see.

I went to check Cat's message from last night. I pursued my lips on how to reply to her, then settled on,

Yeah, it looks great, don't know if you're going to beat Van Gogh's descendant's piece of art but good luck anyway.

I sent it and fiddled with my phone a bit, before it pinged,

"You whistling again, Megan?", Vincent muttered,

"Yep, yeah, I'll stop if it's annoying", I answered,

"Oh, no, you whistle away, please", he said, I brought out my phone,

Of course, Van Gogh's descendant is going to be better than me, dumbo :P, you at home? Can I come over?

My eyes widened, no, no, she can't come over, because I'm not at home!

I sighed and replied, Nah, we're out at Nando's, gonna be back late.

I had to clear my throat over the sound of my phone pings so Vincent wouldn't fuss over my 'whistling', but when the sound died I checked my phone.

I'm getting some too yeah? ;)

Yeah, I've a whole leg of chicken saved just for you

I'm actually smelling that now

I scoffed and set my phone down, regarding the church curiously, I looked at all the windows and then tried to look for the creature but I realised how stupid that was because it was invisible. Good thing I don't think aloud, huh?

The next half hour was filled with me finding a comfortable position to rest in and the Doctor fidgeting, talking and generally rambling on, I rolled my eyes and settled my eyes before he started talking. Again.

"Is this how time normally passes? Really slowly. In the right order", he grumbled, then stood up and walked around, "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's an unpunctual alien attack",

"Are you ok?", I questioned, standing up, "You're all fidgety and nervous and...well, annoying", I admitted, frowning at him,

"There something wrong", he muttered, moving around me to eye Vincent's painting, "And I can't quite put my finger on it",

"There!", Vincent exclaimed, standing up from his seat, "He's at the window",

"Where?", Rory asked, coming up beside him,

"There, on the right", Vincent pointed, I frowned, once again looking for an invisible,

"As I thought. Come on. I'm going in", the Doctor announced, picking up his stuff,

"We're going in", I corrected,

"Well I'm coming too", Vincent said,

"No!", we all exclaimed, staring at him. He was a bit shocked at that, the poor guy. I shook my head and walked up to him,

"No, not you, ok? I get that you're the only one that can see it, and yeah, if you were with us it would be great, but you are too important to history. We have to keep you safe because you are more important to the world than any of us put together", I said to him, quietly,

"But you're going to go?", he asked,

"Yeah", I shrugged,

"But none of you are armed", he exclaimed, looking at the rest of them,

"I am", the Doctor quipped,

"What with?",

"Overconfidence, this, and a small screwdriver. I'm absolutely sorted", he listed tapping the thingymabob he was carrying, "Just have to find the right crosactic setting and stun him with it. Sonic never fails", the Doctor boasted,

"Well...", I muttered,

"Anyway, I'm going this alone, none of you are coming with me, Meg, that means you too", he ordered,

"What? You're gonna fight this invisible, brutal creature on your own, yeah?",

"Yes", he stated, I raised my eyebrow,

"Ok, I won't follow", I shrugged,

"I mean it", he warned,

"So do I",

"Rory, make sure they don't",

"Yeah", Rory nodded.

"Don't follow me under any circumstances", the Doctor repeated,

"Okay", I said, exasperated,

"We won't", Amy nodded.

The Doctor switched his gaze from Amy's trustworthy face to my slightly amused face, that told him that I was definitely not going to stay there, he moved his fingers from his eyes to us, miming 'I'm watching you', I nodded slowly as he walked off,

"Will you follow him?", Vincent asked me, glancing at Amy too,

"Yep",

"Of course".

Vincent chuckled, "You're insane",

"Yes we are", I beamed, "Problem?",

"Not a chance",

"The Doctor said to stay here, you two can't go", Rory said firmly,

"Aww..no you're just being mean", Amy teased kissing him on the cheek, I smirked and face him, hinting that I was going to go soon,

"The Doctor said to stay", Rory repeated,

"Yes he did", I agreed,

"So...", Rory prompted,

"So what?".

He sighed so cutely that I felt sorry for him, "Don't stress Rory, come on, it does terrible things to your wrinkles",

"I don't have wrinkles", he protested, my eyes widened,

"No...no..you..err, you absolutely do not..have wrinkles", I said unconvincingly.

He gaped at me and while he pondered over his wrinkle situation and debated with Amy and Vincent about it, I picked up a big stick laying on the floor and played with its weight. Deciding it was fine to take I headed down for the church,

"Megan!", Amy called, raising an eyebrow,

"Sit tight, Pond", I called back, "He'll yell and then you'll come running", I grinned, she rolled her eyes allowing me to go.

I chuckled to myself and ran into the church's dark hall, I stopped at the entrance, feeling very isolated, I looked around at the poorly lit area.

I suddenly feel like this is a bad idea.

I gripped the stick and walked on, in silence, listening out very very intensely so I could hear the shuffling. For a few moments there was nothing but then I heard a clattering from the other room and gasped as thundering footsteps blew past me, I hid behind a church bench till the footsteps went, then came out to see the Doctor or anyone else.

I looked around again, looking for the Doctor when I felt a breath beside me, I froze, eyes wide. Slowly I tried to move away. Maybe it's back was toward me..but then why would I feel it's breath? Maybe...it's sparing me, or checking if I was a threat.

I tried to move but as soon as my foot touched the ground I felt a softer breeze, I think it's head was turning to face me because the breathing because more direct. So it had very good ear.

I decided to keep still and wait as the creature pawed around my area, sniffing around. I had to hold my breath for a while, conscious that my breath would prick up it's ears.

My face was contorted in pain as my lungs struggled to find breath. You know, there are times when you just hate being asthmatic. I stayed like that for a few more seconds until Vincent bounded into the room, holding up a chair, I gasped from the shock of it all and started reigning in the breaths that I needed as Vincent taunted the creature.

"Meg!", the Doctor exclaimed, running out of the confessional box that I didn't know he'd been in, and the Ponds and Taylor too...wait..what? Did I say..?

"Hey! Are you looking for me, sonny?", Vincent cried, "Come on, over here. Because I'm right here waiting for you", he mocked,

"Come on. Quickly. Get behind me", he urged us, I did so, slightly in a daze by what I just said.

The Doctor whizzed his sonic at the air, either threateningly or magically,

"Doing anything?", he asked.

"Uh uh".

"Oh, come on, back out here", Rory said, leading us out into the churchyard, I looked around, trying to work out where it would be,

"Where is he?", the Doctor asked

" Where do you think he is, you idiot? Use your head", Vincent admonished,

"Tiny bit mean", I muttered,

" Anything?",

"Nothing", he stated, "In fact, he seemed to rather enjoy it",

"Oooh", the Doctor mumbled,

"Not important", I scolded, "Come on",

"Meg! Duck!", Vincent warned, I squealed and crouched really quickly, "Left!",

I jumped to the left and was instantly flung to the right. Again. Only this time I tumbled into the Doctor and forced us both into the wall, I groaned and the Doctor mumbled,

"Ow", from underneath me,

"Right, sorry. Your right, my left", Vincent apologised,

"Oh, well at least we've learnt our rights from our lefts, now who's going to fix my leg?", I demanded, angrily and sarcastic. That's me all over.

"This is no good at all. Run like crazy and regroup", the Doctor muttered, sadly as Rory hauled him up,

"Oh, come on, in here", Amy sighed, pulling me with her and leaving the boys to get themselves sorted.

We ran into the adjoining building which had an unnecessarily heavy door which required all five of us to push shut, I sighed and leaned against it,

"Ok, ok, errr...right, plan, the plan is...Meg, Taylor, you..", he trailed off, looking at me slightly worried, "Sorry, sorry I didn't..",

"It's fine, it's fine", I muttered, not looking at him,

"Ok...so, what is the plan", Rory said, looking at me, worriedly as well.

"I don't know, actually", the Doctor admitted, "My only definite plan is that in future I'm definitely just using this screwdriver for screwing in screws",

"Well, at least we've got something", I commented,

"Give me a second. I'll be back", Vincent said, leaving us.

I frowned and looked back at the door, "Ok, we've got to think of something", I mumbled,

"I suppose we could try talking to him", the Doctor suggested

"Talking to him?", Amy frowned,

"Well, yes. Might be interesting to know his side of the story", he reasoned just as the door gave another thud that knocked us off a bit, "Though maybe he's not really in the mood for conversation right at this precise moment", he added, anxiously,

"We've got nothing to lose", Rory argued,

"Ok, then. Listen. Listen! I know you can understand me, even though I know you won't understand why you can understand me".

It took a moment for me to work out that sentence, longer than I'm willing to admit,

"I also know that no one's talked to you for a pretty long stretch, but please, listen. I also don't belong on this planet. I also am alone".

Poor Doctor, he could never be alone.

"If you trust me, I'm sure we can come to some kind of, you know, understanding. And then, and then, who knows?", he suggested, hopeful. We all paused, hoping that the silence was the beast considering the Doctors offer. It was consideration. It was rerouting.

The glass windows on the other side of the room smashed just as Vincent ran into the room, holding his easel,

"Over here, mate!", he called.

We all ran to the stone behind Vincent and used it as cover, Vincent, after checking on the beast went behind the stone too and crouched,

"What's it up to now?", the Doctor asked out of breath,

"It's moving round the room. Feeling its way around", Vincent replied,

"Hmm?", I asked,

"It's like it's trapped. It's moving round the edges of the room", Vincent answered, I looked at the floor, remember all that had happened when I came into the church,

"Oh..", the Doctor mumbled,

"Before, it was right next to me but it didn't do anything, but when I made a sound it worked out where I was, like it was following the sound, like it was...",

"I can't see a thing", Amy hissed. Yep, she's got it right.

"I am really stupid", the Doctor sighed, staring at me because I was the only one that understood in that moment,

"Oh, get a grip! This is not a moment to re-evaluate your self-esteem", Amy scolded, quite pissed off.

"But, think about it though", I insisted, willing the Ponds and Vincent to understand,

"Why does it attack but never eat its victims? And why was it abandoned by its pack and left here to die? And why is it feeling its way helplessly around the walls of the room?", he questioned,

"It's blind", I stated,

"It can't see. It's blind", he repeated, "And that explains why it has such perfect hearing!", he exclaimed which made me roll my eyes,

"Oh, lovely way of expressing that, genius", I muttered,

"Which unfortunately also explains why it is now turning around and heading straight for us", Vincent said almost apologetically,

"Vincent", the Doctor called, moving me backwards unconsciously, " Vincent, what's happening?", the Doctor called,

"It's charging now", Vincent cried, "Get back. Get back!".

As soon as he turned back from warning us he was lifted up, and left dangling in the air, clinging onto the easel as it was wedged in the air, he yelled terrified at this sudden situation.

In a second he thudded to the ground, but jumped right back up to help the poor Krafayis, he went to it, sadness evident on his face,

"He wasn't without mercy at all. He was without sight"l, he said, solemnly, "I didn't mean that to happen. I only meant to wound it, I never meant to...", he trailed off, guiltily,

"He's trying to say something", the Doctor told us,

"What?", I asked, sitting beside him to stroke the Krafayis, even though I didn't know which bit I was stroking,

"I'm having trouble making it out, but I think he's saying, I'm...I'm afraid. I'm afraid", he said, then sighed, staring at the Krafayis he couldn't see, "There, there. Shush, shush. It's okay, it's okay. You'll be fine. Shush", he concealed, stroking it like I was.

"He was frightened", Vincent stated, looking down in shame, "And he lashed out. Like humans who lash out when they're frightened. Like the villagers who scream at me. Like the children who throw stones at me", he said, guiltily, I stood up and walked up to him,

"It wasn't intentional", I assured, placing a hand on his shoulder,

"The creature is dead, and I was the one who killed it", he responded, I sighed, not having a comeback,

"Sometimes winning...winning is no fun at all", the Doctor mumbled, more to himself than anyone else.

---

We were walking back from the church, mostly in silence, with only the bright moon and stars keeping me company down the long path to the village. It was chilly, but not so chilly that I noticed or even cared, I just continued trekking down the path, just behind the Doctor and Vincent, just in front of the Ponds.

I reached to my pocket and felt the comforting weight of my phone, all hell would have broke loose if I'd left it in a church in 1890.

I lifted my head to notice the Doctor had slowed down to fall in step with me, I looked up softly smiling as the wind blew my hair around my face annoyingly,

"Hey", I said, my voice a bit quiet from not speaking for so long,

"Listen, Meg, what I said back there, about Taylor", he began,

"No..no, it's fine",

"I know, I'm sorry but it's just, I don't think you realised it but you called me Taylor earlier on",

"...when?",

"Remember when you left the house on your own in the morning and we bumped into each other after running from the Krafayis, you were scared and you said why would you do that?", he prompted,

"Yeah, yeah, I remember, but..I...I really said Taylor?", I asked,

"People vanish from the universe all the time but they always leave traces behind, memories, emotions", he told me, I nodded,

"Why did you tell me that?", I asked, looking at the ground,

"I just thought you should know", he shrugged,

"No, that's not it, it's more than that", I muttered, "You and Jack, you keep urging me to believe in him, keep reminding me of him. Like you don't want me to forget what never existed. What would acknowledging that he was here do?", I questioned,

"...Meg, I-",

"Except...", I frowned,

"Except?",

"You think I can bring him back don't you?", I said, outraged,

"No, of course I don't",

"Doctor...", I warned,

"...just maybe, a little bit",

"Okay, I get that travelling with you means you have to step up to the plate, alright, I get that. I know that you're going to find yourself in situations that you have no idea hot to get the fuck out and in the end by some God forsaken miracle you do, but you are asking me to rise a man not from the dead, but from non existance", I scolded, quietly, so as not to attract Vincent or the Ponds attention,

"I am not asking you to do anything. I have a theory, it's a shaky theory but it's a good one", he explained, I rolled my eyes and looked out to the fields, "Meg, I know you feel like you're missing something in your life, and it hurts", he paused, looking at me, "I just have hope. Please, give me that, just hope", he asked. I sighed,

"He must mean a lot to you", I commented,

"And you".

I nodded and put my hands in my pocket, continuing the walk till we walked past a field, I looked out to it, then up.

"Come", Vincent said, "Follow me, I want to show you something", he told us, leading us into the landscape of a field,

"Such a clear night", Vincent muttered, "So beautiful",

"Yeah, could paint it?", Rory suggested, smiling to himself,

"Already have, a year ago",

"What's it called?", Amy asked,

"I don't know, I can't think of a title", he mumbled,

"It should be something simple", I said, walking alongside him,

"Yeah...like A Dark Dream", he mused,

"Er...no, not that", the Doctor frowned,

"Blind Stars?",

"Nope", I mumbled,

"The Moonlight",

"Try again", Amy quipped,

"A Starry Night?",

"Yes!", we all exclaimed, then stopped feeling awkward, I cleared my throat,

"Yeah, that's a nice title, if you want", I shrugged. He chuckled and sat in the middle of the field, I frowned looking at him, "Is this what you wanted to show us, how to sit down'?",

"No", he scoffed, "Lie next to me", he said, I looked at the rest of them and lay down, looking up. The Doctor lay next to me,

"Take my hand, Meg", he said, "Try to see what I see", I took his hand and then the Doctors, we formed a little circle between us,

"We are so lucky we are still alive to see this beautiful world. Look at the sky", he pointed out, "It's not dark and black and without character. The black is in fact deep blue. And over there, lighter blue", he exclaimed, eyes alight with such passion that just did come with need to be insane to see beauty. And that was brilliant.

"And blowing through the blueness and the blackness, the wind swirling through the air and then, shining, burning, bursting through, the stars. Can you see how they roar their light? Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes", he concluded, sighing as he calmed down from his rant,

"I've seen many things, my friend. But you're right. Nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see", the Doctor said, smiling up at him. Vincent rubbed my hands softly,

"I will miss you terribly",

"I'll miss you more", I countered, squeezing back.

---

The following morning, and the second morning I'd woken up with the same clothes. Just thought I'd point that out. Anyway, I was drumming my fingers on Vincent's table as he was getting something from the other room, he emerged and had something behind his back, I stood up, glancing at the Doctor and the Ponds who were really excited,

"I'm sorry if it's not what you want, but it's the best I can give", he said, and then brought out his self portrait, I gasped and yanked it out of his hands. I stared at the others who were at chuckling point,

"I only wish I had something of real value to give you", he apologised, I giggled shaking my head as I handed it to the Doctor,

"Oh, no, no, no. I could never accept such an extraordinary gift", the Doctor told him,

"He can't, I'll take it", I said, eyes bright,

"No she won't", Rory scolded,

"But it's the..",

"Nope", Amy grinned,

"You guys are boring", I muttered,

"Very well", Vincent chuckled, taking it off the Doctor, "While Meg be the first to actually want it, you're not the first to decline the offer", he admitted, he smiled at Amy,

"Amy, the blessed, the wonderful", he declared, she smiled and kissed his cheeks,

"Be good to yourself, and be kind to yourself",

"I'll try my best", he promised,

"And maybe give the beard a little trim before you next kiss someone", she mumbled,

"I will, I will", he smiled, "Ah, Rory, count yourself a luck man, to have such wonderful friends. I can't think of anyone more deserving", he beamed, they shared a manly pat on the back,

"You're gonna go far Vincent, believe that", Rory replied,

He nodded and turned to me, "Meg", he smiled, he pulled me for a short hug and when he pulled back,

"We may have different mothers Meg, but we are siblings, not by blood but by heart", he told me sincerely. I stared at him, dazed by his sweet words, then I pulled him for a longer, tighter, more heartfelt hurt. I closed my eyes and buried my face in his scratchy clothes,

"If you ever think of yourself less than perfect, slap yourself for being an idiot, because whatever happens you will always be loved", I mumbled, my voice muffled by clothes, he nodded and hugged me tighter,

"I hope you'll be happy soon",

"I think I will", I replied, leaning back again and beaming at him, he nodded and turned to the Doctor,

"Doctor, my friend. We have fought monsters together and we have won. On my own, I fear I may not do as well", he admitted, the Doctor, because he didn't know what to say, hugged Vincent.

I sighed, I really hope we made a difference.

5 minutes later we were walking away from his house, pondering on whether I should've taken the self portrait, I could have gotten money. Ah well.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?", the Doctor suddenly asked,

"I was thinking I might have left my phone in his house", Rory muttered,

"I was thinking about stealing the portrait", I admitted,

"I was thinking I may need some food or something before we leave", Amy quipped,

"We should get crossiants", I gushed,

"Well, no, you're not thinking exactly what I'm thinking", the Doctor mumbled, then turned to Vincent's window "Vincent! I've got something I'd like to show you. Maybe just tidy yourself up a bit first".

---

"So, what's happening? Are we actually taking a man from 19th century Venice into a time machine that will take us to 2010?", I asked,

"Yes", the Doctor replied, as we strolled through the village Vincent not far behind,

"And you don't see any problem with this?",

"Look, back there is one of the greatest minds of all time, and one of the most imaginative, if anyone was going to believe in the TARDIS it was gonna be him",

"Are you sure because...", I glanced back at Vincent who was chatting away to the Ponds mindlessly, I leaned into the Doctor, "once we tell him it's done",

"Yes, now, you know we've had quite a few chats about the possibility there might be more to life than normal people imagine?", he said to Vincent, sighing when he saw the TARDIS smoldered in posters,

"Yes",

"Well, brace yourself, Vinny", the Doctor chucked making us all chuckle, well the ones in the know.

Once the Doctor had opened the TARDIS doors and let Vincent in, he walked in then immediately walked out and circled the TARDIS, he did this a couple times before accepting it and walking in with us again,

"How come I'm the crazy one, and you four have stayed sane?", he questioned,

"Who said we were sane?", I scoffed leaning on the console.

He went beside me and checked out the controls, fiddling with some of them, making feel a little uneasy,

"What do these things all do?", he asked, curiously,

"Oh, a huge variety of things. This one here, for instance, plays soothing music", the Doctor quipped, flicking a button, he begun dancing fancily and even roped me into dancing with him,

"Err..while this one makes a huge amount of noise", the Doctor said, questioningly, asking us if he should do it, we all nodded and he flicked it. Vincent jolted and looked around the TARDIS for the source, whilst the Doctor pranced around the console,

"And this one makes everything go absolutely tonto", he said, flicking another button that made the TARDIS go crazy. I squealed and gripped the console, determined not to go flying again,

"And this one?", Vincent asked, about to touch another one,

"That's a friction contrafibulator!", the Doctor exclaimed, stopping Vincent immediately, I stared at him, terrified but he only sent me a smile,

"And this?", he asked, looking at another switch.

"Oh, I know this one", I smiled, "That is..ketchup, and the one down there is..mustard", I answered,

"Mmm, nice", Vincent nodded, then looked at the Doctor, "Come on, back to the cafe", he said, excited. My eyes widened in hidden amusement, "..and you can tell me about all the wonders of the universe",

I opened my mouth, about to say something but then didn't know what I was going to say, I could only get out,

"Errmm..",

"Good idea. Although, actually, there's a little something I'd like to show you first", the Doctor said, nodding to the TARDIS doors.

Vincent frowned and turned on his heel heading to what he though was his home town, he opened the TARDIS doors, expecting to see the brick floors of Provence but instead was meet with the concrete slabs of the 21st century.

He gasped quietly and slowly stepped outside, looking around in pure wonder,

"Where are we?", he managed to say,

"Paris, 2010 AD", the Doctor answered,

"Don't worry, this is another time for me too", I told him,

"Where are you from?", he asked,

"2005", I said, looking around, "So this is the future for me",

"And this is the mighty Museé D'Orsay, home to many of the greatest paintings in history", the Doctor exclaimed, also excited like a kid on Christmas. I grinned at Vincent look of interest.

"Oh, that's wonderful", Vincent commented, then stopped frowing as a person holding a radio walked past. He was almost on the verge of utter confusion when the Doctor diverted his attention,

"Ignore that", the Doctor dismissed, "I've got something more important to show you", he said, leading us into the Museé d'Orsay.

I skipped to be beside the Ponds as we entered the grand building.

When we got to the floor, we went straight to the Vincent Van Gogh exhibit. Vincent, upon entering, froze in the middle of the room staring at the very same paintings that were in his room, but now they were hanging on walls begin observed by millions. Worth millions. Known by millions.

He stared, opened mouth as he regarded each of the 'worthless paintings' he tried to pawn off countless times.

"Doctor Black, we met a few days ago", the Doctor muttered, I went to Vincent and nodded behind him to the two doctors, he turned and watched their conversation also, "I asked you about the church at Auvers", the Doctor continued,

"Oh, yes. Glad to be of help. You were nice about my tie", Doctor Black said, nodding. I smiled, it wasn't that nice a tie,

"Yes. And today is another cracker if I may say so", the Doctor quipped, I scoffed,

"But I just wondered, between you and me, in a hundred words, where do you think Van Gogh rates in the history of art?", the Doctor asked,

"Err..", Doctor Black mumbled, "Well, err...big question, but to me, Van Gogh is the finest painter of them all", he stated simply, making Vincent's eyes snap up, astonished,

"Certainly, the most popular great painter of all time. The most beloved. His command of colour, the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty",

"Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world. No one had ever done it before. Perhaps no one ever will again. To my mind, that strange, wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not only the world's greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived", he finished, on a beautiful note. I smiled even more, so happy that Doctor Black's opinion was the one Vincent really needed to hear at that point in his life.

I frowned when I heard soft sobbing and looked at Vincent who was near breaking down,

"Vincent. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Is it too much?", the Doctor apologised, holding his shoulder, but Vincent shook his head, finding the ability to speak,

"No, no", he said, "They are tears of joy", he smiled, and then he went to Doctor Black hugging him and kissing him, Rory beside me was chuckling at Doctor Black's surprise, "Thank you, sir. Thank you", Vincent praised, over the moon.

"You're welcome. You're welcome", Doctor Black muttered, taken by surprise,

"Sorry about the beard", Vincent mumbled, rubbing his scratchy beard subconsciously.

I giggled at his demeanor, I went to Vincent and hugged him tightly, he gave a happy sob and hugged me back. I knew he was looking around the exhibit at his work, so shocked, so happy, so blissful.

Maybe he believed he was worth it now.

---

I dangled my legs off my school building roof.

It was night, and the Doctor had taken me out there instead of straight home and I went to the roof, avoiding the late night cleaners. Vincent still killed himself at the age of 39. I had hoped we made a tiny difference, gave him a little hope, changed the future but he still did the inevitable. The Doctor said we still added a little happiness in his life, and that did make him happier.

And he labeled his vase painting after me, Megan Vincent, his only sister. That was cool.

"So, I've sealed us off", the Doctor said, sitting by me, "And the Ponds are going to bed",

"Right..", I muttered, "Doctor who?", I asked, only thinking of the questioned,

"Oh, finally", he chuckled,

"What?", I frowned,

"All of my friends, Amy, Rory, they ask that question within the first 5 minutes of meeting me, it's been like a month, Meg", he said,

"Oh...I, at first I thought it was nickname, but then I'd just gotten used to calling you that", I mused, "What is your name",

"The Doctor", he shrugged,

"Your proper name",

"The Doctor",

"You're called the Doctor?", I questioned,

"Yeah",

I scoffed, smiling, "OK..", I paused, "You realise I'm going to find out your name", I stated,

"Oh, I know, I'll just have to wait, do you know Jack's name?",

"Is it not Jack Harkness?", I frowned, he kept quiet, "That's not his name?",

"I thought you knew", he mumbled,

"Hang on, Jack Harkness isn't Jack's name?", I questioned, shocked,

"I really should have said anything", he sighed,

"Do you know it?",

"I can't tell you, Meg", he said, getting up and headed for the TARDIS, I looked back out over the school and then got up, following him in,

"You can't just say things like that and walk off", I exclaimed, closing the doors behind me,

"I can and I will", he retorted,

"Why won't you tell me his name?", I whined,

"Well, do you think Jack would tell you my name?", he replied,

"Does Jack know your name?", I gasped,

"No, no, he doesn't, that's not the point, my name is my secret, his name is his, and that's the way it's supposed to be, if Jack wants to tell you he'll tell you",

"That's not fair, you know literally everything about me", I argued, "and I don't even know your name",

"That is life", he replied simply, tapping my nose. I frowned at his behaviour and turned when he walked past me and to the door,

"I'm home?", I asked,

"Yep",

"I should know your name", I grumbled, walking down the steps,

"If it's any consolation I don't know everything about you", he said,

"Like what?", I scoffed,

"I don't...know who your dad is", he stated,

"You don't?", I asked, "I..just always thought you'd want to find out, curiosity would get the better of you but you weren't saying",

"I could find out if you want", he offered, leaning on the door.

"No...err, no, he's not really part of my life", I shrugged, "I don't want to met him. And anyway, I quite like you not knowing everything", I smiled.

"Goodbye Meg", he smiled as I stepped out of the TARDIS and into my building where I'd been picked up,

"See ya", I replied, picking my bag by the TARDIS door, he playfully saluted and entered the box, closing the door.

I walked around the box to get to the doors by my house, I felt the breeze of the TARDIS dematerializing on my back, I frowned and turned to see the empty space where the box occupied.

I smiled devilishly to myself and pulled out an old battered paintbrush from my pocket, inspecting its appearance and paint marks. What was that worth, I wonder?