"Three hundred and sixty-two, in the past twenty-four hours."

We stared at Rory, who had just read off the number of disappearances aloud in our group meeting. It was evening, the following day, and things had stayed pretty much the same.

Jack cleared his throat. "And... how many shadows sighted?"

Rory consulted the computer read-out again, scratching his head absently. "Um, well... looks like about the same."

"How many exactly?" jack prompted.

"Three hundred and sixty... sixty-one. Wait... one more just took place in a rural part of Spain, just got reported... so, three hundred and sixty-two, same number as the shadows."

"Ah!" Jack exclaimed, "So there's a correlation! I don't see how this all fits together, but it's a big start. So, the question still remains... what the hell is causing these disappearances?" He spun around in his chair, turning to face me where I sat on the couch next to Amy. "That's where your Doctor comes in handy. Finding the cause behind the problem. His specialty, in a way..." I smiled slightly, still a bit unnerved by how many people were vanishing without a trace. Sure, in the grand scale of things, the total of about two thousand total disappeared wasn't very large compared to the size of the total human population, but the amount was growing very rapidly and seemed to be gaining in speed with each passing hour.

"You know, this may sound crazy," Amy began, sitting up straighter, "but I get an odd feelin' that the shadows are connected directly to the people who later disappear. I mean, of course they are, but what if it's more than mere coincidence who disappears and who doesn't?" Rory and Jack nodded thoughtfully at her words.

A chill ran through me.

"I think you're right," I murmured, looking down at my feet, "like the shadows themselves are after-images of the people themselves, like a mirage of the real thing."

The others stared at me for a moment after my rather grim statement. "Hang on,"Jack urged, looking at me very seriously, "what exactly are you implying? Do you think that the shadows are just that? Shadows of the people who then later disappear?"

"But then that means..." Rory muttered, looking vaguely horrified, "that means that one of us, we were on the TARDIS when that shadow appeared. Is one of us... scheduled to vanish?"

"Well, now," Jack began, resting his chin on his hand, "I dunno, that's a very good theory, especially when we're dealing with temporal disturbances and such, but..."

"It was me," I interrupted, still looking anywhere but at their pale faces.

"What?" Amy murmured.

"I... The Doctor said that it was me. The Shadow in the TARDIS. He said he could sense it." I paused, not sure whether this had been a god idea, telling them, but I decided that nothing should be kept a secret in a situation like this. "That's why he sent me away to be with all of you, so that you could keep an eye on me, make sure I don't get faded around the edges." I tried to smile to lighten the mood, but it came out more like a grimace.

"You're goin' to... disappear?" Amy cried, bolting up and waving her arms wildly, "But, but we've gotta do somethin'! Kepp you in a box or... just keep you safe!"

Jack looked very worried, and he folded his arms in thought. "The Doctor may have already assumed that Hero's disappearance is inevitable. That it can't be prevented. Perhaps that's why he was in such a hurry to be off, so that he could solve this as quickly as possible, before it's too late."

I bit my lip, unable to meet their gazes.

I float near the ceiling, like a balloon, but I feel so heavy, like my bones have turned to stone. Yet I float there, effortlessly.

The Doctor stands nearby, far below me, a strange golden glow hovering around him, and for a few terrible seconds I think that he's about to regenerate, that I'll lose this version of him forever, but then I relax as I realize I'm only seeing his energy, his essence. A chill overcomes me and I slowly rotate to face the object of my growing fear.

A dark figure, cloaked in seething ruby energy, stands opposite the Doctor, regarding him coldly. Frantically I glance from person to person, and the Doctor begins to speak.

"So, you use a temporal alignment distablizer. I'm impressed." He smiles genuinely at the dark figure, taking a slow step forward. "You do realize, however, that you're causing quite a bit of distress down on the planet below? And I cannot just stand by while you conduct such invasive experiments, I'm afraid..."

"ARE THE EARTHLINGS YOUR PETS?" the dark figure sneers, "YOUR CHILDREN? YOUR PLAYTHINGS?"

"Some of my dearest friends are human," the Doctor replies quietly, "My wife was raised on Earth, I have always cared for it as a planet, regardless of its shortcomings and flaws. You will release all of them. Now." He speaks calmly, but his eyes flash a warning.

"I SEE NO REASON THAT I SHOULD HUMOR YOU, DOCTOR, SO IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME I HAVE WORK TO DO..."

The dark figure raises it's hand, pressing a large purple button on a handy console, and the Doctor is suddenly surrounded by several lethal-looking probes, who extend electrified prods and slowly begin to advance. I gasp silently from my position above the scene, struggling helplessly as I realize that there's nothing that I can do.

"I see, interesting," the Doctor says, eying the advancing probes with slight apprehension. One gets behind him and touches its prod to his back. He jerks violently, dropping suddenly to the floor, his face twisted in apparent pain."That wasn't very kind!" he exclaims, grabbing at his back and grimacing, "I shall have to stop you, you know." He is once more speaking to the dark figure.

" I KNOW. AND YOU SHALL FAIL. MY WORK IS FAR TO IMPORTANT."

"Right, well, we'll see about that."

My hearts glow as I hear the Doctor's bravery showing through, the smallest hint of pure confidence which is simply "him."

The probes shock the Time Lord again, and his groans weakly from his current position on the floor.

"Not fair... getting someone... when they're down..."

"YOU SHALL BE A FINE SPECIMIN, DOCTOR, CONSIDERING YOUR SPECIES AND AGE..."

"I'm not alone," the Doctor murmurs, raising his head from the ground to glare defiantly at the dark figure. Suddenly the Time Lord looks up, straight at me, and my hearts thud almost to a stop.

"Hero. You'll be here very soon. And I'm sorry. But it's going to be alright, together we'll be strong."

I stare down at him, unable to speak.

"Our love is stronger than anything," he continues, but is then silenced except for a few whimpers as he is once more electrocuted.

I sat bolt-upright in bed, hitting my head rather painfully against the bunk bed above me. I swore softly, clutching at my throbbing skull. Why did the Doctor always have to get into trouble? And why was I dreaming about it?

Amy had been sleeping quite peacefully in the next bed over, but she opened her eyes slowly and peered at me as I continued to nurse my bruised head.

"Alright?"

"Yeah, just a dream... I sat up to fast," I chuckled, trying to put her at ease. She gazed at me silently for a few seconds, then nodded sleepily and closed her eyes again. I relaxed, letting my hands fall once more to my sides as I turned over what I'd just seen.

Apparently, the Doctor needed me. And I, him.

And the one way to get to where he was, well...

I have to disappear. Vanish without a trace. Lovely.