Author's Note: Sorry I didn't post yesterday, things got busy.

Chapter 10

Fever raged in Rey's head like constant static.

The four of them crunched through the dried, burned leaves, leaving the smoldering cottage behind them. BB8 bumped along behind Rey, occasionally tilting his head up and looking at her with a concerned beep. Her fingers seared into the Doctor's coat sleeve, which was already singed black in places. Anne pushed ahead of them, making for the stream with the quick efficiency of one who had trod this path many times before.

"So, here's the plan." The Doctor glanced at the trees around them as if expecting them to be listening. "We're going to build a dam. We want to hold it back completely, dry up the stream. So, there's sticks and stones all around here, surely we can find a downed tree or something and go from there. Rey, you need to rest. BB8 can help me with a schematic, I've got the basic idea here but I need details. Anne, you're a hard worker, you can help me haul things. I think we'll be able to fill in the gaps with stuff from the TARDIS, I can always find useful stuff in the TARDIS. Anyway, once we've got that set up, then comes the hard part." He glanced around again, stopping for a moment and lowering his voice. "Then—then we steal the master gene."

Anne turned back and tilted her head to the side. "What's a master gene?"

"Oh, it's the thing that controls the fever. Little black box, about this big." He let go of Rey for a moment to hold his hands about six inches apart. She stumbled a little and he slid an arm around her waist again. "Should still be in the clearing. Anyway, once we've got it, we take off toward the stream again. Make as much noise as possible. Yell at them that we've stolen their most valuable possession." He grinned a lopsided grin. "We want them to chase us. Right into the stream. And then—and then we break the dam."

Rey managed a slight nod. Smart, really, if they could pull it off.

Ahead of them, sunlight glinted off water and they emerged onto the banks of the stream. Repulsion shuddered through Rey and she pulled back, backing away a few steps before she realized what she was doing. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists until it hurt. This wasn't her. This was the fever, some alien presence inside her. She had to resist. She had to.

She steadied herself against a tree. She had to resist. She could resist. It wasn't her, it was the seeds of an alien being growing inside her. She could eject it, tell it to go die a watery death. The thought brought a quirk of a smile to her face.

The Doctor dashed forward, splashing through the stream. "Alright, I've got this worked out! Anne, I'm going to need some logs!"

Anne shrugged off her shawl and scurried into the woods. Rey stared blankly at her, barely seeing the movement. She didn't realize she was sitting until she felt a stick poking into her leg. She could resist this. She could eject it.

She squeezed her eyes shut and focused. Focused on forcing the alien presence out of her, like she had forced away the creatures of the Revolution. Like she had resisted the lure of the psychic sensors aboard the Mariana. Imagined it as a bubble of consciousness, something she could push away with an invisible shield, pushing outward, away from herself—

Heat seared in her fingers and fire burst from her fingertips.

She let out a little shriek and her eyes popped open.

The Doctor whirled, his arms full of wood. For a moment, fire streamed from her hands, catching the leaves around her, her breath coming in short gasps as she tried to draw it back. No! No, that wasn't what she had meant!

The fire rushed back into her veins and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. She collapsed back against the tree, gasping.

Instead of ejecting it, she had nearly triggered the conversion.

She struggled to draw a breath and her stomach heaved. Everything shimmered like desert heat waves. Something pricked against her mind, something that wasn't her.

She frowned. It felt a little like the planet, a little like the creatures from the Revolution, a little like the being from Falling Star Lane. One presence, separated slightly into many smaller presences, all united in a web of consciousness. She closed her eyes, trying to focus in on the feeling. It tugged at the alien fever within her, sending fire searing through her veins, burning just beneath her skin.

Her eyes popped open with a gasp.

These were the fiery creatures. The creatures that had converted Anne's father. The creatures that were trying to convert her.

And they had sensed her attempt to resist.

They were coming.

"They're coming—" She managed to gasp out the words as the presence grew stronger, the heat rose hotter beneath her skin. "Doctor, they're—"

Crackling flames roared through the trees and a wall of fire emerged, sweeping through the forest as if it were nothing but air. A voice roared through the woods and Rey could feel it roaring in her head as well, like a double echo.

"You can never defeat us!" The creatures swept toward the Doctor and he sidestepped and darted backward, splashing into the stream.

He grinned. "Can't touch me now, can you?"

Anger from the shared presence pricked at Rey's mind and she forced it back. It wasn't her. It wasn't her.

A form separated itself from the fiery mass and stepped forward, holding a small black box in its flaming hands. Rey frowned, staring. It was the same box she had seen in the clearing. Was this the master gene?

She had stood and was walking forward before she could stop herself. The flames licked around the box, never touching it, ever-shifting. She reached forward, longing to touch them, longing to see what it looked like inside the jewel-like orange…

"You will never defeat us." The voices combined together in a roaring, whooshing laugh. "We will kill your friend. See how she is already moving to join our ranks." Its fingers moved, washing across the box. "One move, and we can complete the conversion." It paused and Rey felt sudden, crushing disappointment washing over her. She stumbled forward, drawn by the flickering orange. They never had candles or fires on Jakku, just harsh electric light and summer sun. She stared into the depths of the creature's fiery body, trying to find its center, its being…

"Make your choice, Doctor." Her lips parted and she found herself speaking along with them. "Give us the planet, and your friend lives. Continue resisting, and she dies."