Hello! how is everyone? Hope you're all good and your days are nice and sunny. Unlike mine which is just...rainy.

thank you to all those that reviewed. Sailormajinmoon, skidney and DragonRose4. Thanks to JanetClarke, LadyGryffindor313, Raccoon Girl, and Sherlockian082994 for following/favouriting the story as well. Always lovely to know that people are reading this story.

DragonRose4: You'll definitely find out what she does in this chapter. And believe me she's not going to be happy about this. Thank you so much for the lovely review :)

skidney: As always I love your reviews. Thank you so much for writing them. Every word counts :)

sailormajinmoon: I know..I rotten luck for her but I really couldn't resist doing it for this story. Seemed far too good to pass up. Don't worry about the squareness gun...and I think that Mary Anne will definitely have some words for the Doctor after all this. And I love that movie :)

Disclaimer: Not Mine...ever. Most unfortunately.

Tooth and Claw: Part 3

I stared at the man inside the cage, not really understanding how the person inside could be a beast. I didn't really want to answer my own question about that. That answer might just make me as scared as the others in this cellar, "Don't make a sound," Lady Isobel said quietly to me and I looked at her, "They said that if we scream or shout then he will slaughter us," I frowned at that slightly, "If we make a noise then he will devour us whole,"

"But he's in a cage," I replied to her, pointing at the man who looked around the same age as I was. He certainly wasn't as old as the other monks that were upstairs, "You can see that, he can't get out of that cage. It looks to be pretty strong metal. Even if they said that he would be able to eat us, he can't get through that cage. He's a prisoner in there, same as all of us. If he can't get out of there then there's nothing to be afraid of. He's the same as us,"

"He's nothing like us," she whispered to me and I looked back at the man, his head was bowed, "That creature is not mortal," the man raised his head, opening his eyes to show nothing but blackness. The other people made whimpering noises at the sight of them, but I didn't react to the sight, "You see, that creature does not belong on this world,"

"So he has to come from somewhere, that'll be useful," I stood up, ignoring Rose's pull on my arm, "He's not going to escape from there at the moment," I reasoned with her, "We should find out where he's from,"

"Don't enrage him, child," a man on the floor said to me, "He'll kill you,"

I ignored the words, "Who are you?" I asked the man, walking towards the cage as far as the chains would allow me to go. I pushed down the terror inside of me, "I'll accept that your body is human, at least you look human, but who are you inside that body?" I sat down, staring at the man through the slates in the cage, "I know that you're not human,"

"My body is human flesh and blood," the man said to me and staring at me with that curiosity that seemed to burn right through. There were more whimpers from behind me but I refused to looked behind me and lose my nerve, "So hot and damaging," he continued, "I've lived on this planet the same as you,"

"But what are you inside him?" I pushed, moving a little closer, "Because I don't think that you belong in that body, you seem too...I don't know," I swallowed, "Clever for someone that looks twenty years old. So…who is talking to us right now?" he merely smiled, "What planet are you from? Designation number, date, anything. Believe me; I can believe anything these days so you won't see me disbelieving you,"

"Oh, intelligence," he bared his teeth at me and I recoiled slightly in revulsion at the sight of the rotten colour, "You're quite right. This body was born ten miles away," I shifted a little closer, "A weakling heartsick boy stolen away by the Brethren for my...cultivation," so that's what the monks had been doing with whatever this alien was. I turned my attention back to the man as he leaned closer to the bars, "I carved out his soul and sat in his heart," I must have showed some disgust on my face because he next said, "You recoil from that sentiment, does it revolt you?"

"You killed a boy that did nothing to you," I answered him, "And you didn't just kill him, you used his body, his voice and his life to sustain your apparently parasitic existence. Yes, I would say that it disgusts me somewhat," I nodded, "And I have the feeling that you've been here for some time, I wonder how many boys you've infected and grown into. Certainly more than one I think, although I'm guessing at that. This body could have been enough to sustain you for a long time,"

"Yes, certainly more than one," he blinked at me, those eyes that had no pupil in its centre, "I have been here for nearly three hundred years," I swallowed at that, mentally counting how many people that had to be, so many boys and so many lives used for this, "So many questions...and so much fear towards me,"

I shook my head, "You're just a man, and no matter what's inside you, at the moment that's all you are," I leaned forward, "And that doesn't scare me one bit. Not right now," I held his gaze before mustering the breath to carry on this semi interrogation, "But what I want to know right now, at this precise moment in time while me and my sister along with what seems like the entire household staff are all tied up, is what is inside that human body? That thing that's controlling the boy,"

"You know me as I know you," the man said, tilting his head, and I raised an eyebrow, "The Wolf dogs your footsteps even as you walk ever closer to the edge of your destruction," my head shot up at that, shock pouring through me, "You were all alone in the dark, cut off from every spark of life but the Wolf pulled you back into the living breathing world," I was frozen in place at his words, "And yet you run from the Wolf, so frightened of it touching you again when all it wants to do is consume you completely, making you burn brighter,"

"You can't know about that," I choked out, "How can you possibly know about that, you weren't there. No one was there, so how did you know about it," the man laughed, "What happened was two hundred thousand years in your future, you can't..." I halted my words, forming my next sentence carefully, "I never said anything about a wolf so what makes you think there was one,"

"The girl who died and died again, saving no one," he informed me and I closed my eyes, and I could feel my heart beating frantically, "I can see the Wolf in your eyes, it's there, same as me. What are you?" I said nothing to him, "You don't know what you are anymore," he sounded gleeful, "It changed you so much and no one understands, not your friends, not your family. We are so far away from home, are we not?" It was talking as if I was somehow exactly like it.

This was the hardest thing to summon up the courage to continue to talk to this thing that I was almost certain was a werewolf, "If...if you want a way to get home," I started before pushing on, knowing that I had to do this even if I was terrified of what this person was, "If you need a way to get home then we can get you there. My friend has transport that can get you back to where your home is, and you can be amongst your people once again. You don't need to stay here; you don't need to be in a prison. We...we can help,"

"Why would I leave this place?" He inquired, and I shook my head, not knowing what he was talking about, "A world of industry, of workforce and warfare," I looked down, shaking my head, "I could turn it to such purpose," Why did every alien we meet think that this was a good idea, hadn't they seen the countless attempts before them? And hadn't they seen the countless failures on others parts? The man looked at me with glee, "I would migrate to the Holy Monarch," he told me.

"You mean Queen Victoria?" I asked him, wrinkling my nose, "I don't know, you might be better off in the body you're in," I bit my lip but the question struggled out of my mouth. "Why would want to migrate to her? She's a little old lady,"

"With one bite I could pass into her blood," he remarked, staring innocently at me, "And then it begins, the Empire of the Wolf," So I was right, he was some kind of a werewolf...a real living werewolf, and on my birthday as well. Ian Drury was looking to be really nice at the moment, "And you wouldn't be able to stop me, even with everything that you possess," he slammed against the bars, and the people behind me that I had almost forgotten let out screams, "I could take you apart piece by piece leaving nothing behind," I shook slightly, "Even if the Wolf does follow at your footsteps,"

"I told you I don't know anything about that!" I insisted, "I really don't!"

His hands curled around the bars, "You burn like the sun," he said and Rose pulled me back, and this time I allowed her to do so. I felt how much I was shaking as I look at her hands. I hadn't even realised, "But all I need is the moon," he grinned at me, "And when I am free...I will feast on the flesh of your Burning Wolf," I really hoped that he didn't mean me but his sickening smile seemed to indicate the latter, "Better run, little girl, I can taste your fear and I will hunt you down as you run from me,"

Rose turned my head towards and I met her eyes, "Don't look at him," she ordered me and I shakily nodded at her, "Don't listen to a word that thing has to say, you've tried to reason with it and it hasn't worked. You've done enough for now," light suddenly streamed into the cellar and I couldn't help but stare as the man pressed his face to the bars, looking at the moonlight. This couldn't be happening to me now, "Right...it's my turn now," Rose looked at the staff, "All of you! Stop looking at him, Flora!" She addressed one of the maids, "Don't look at him,"

"Rose..." I said distantly, watching as the man removed his cloak, showing pale flesh underneath, "Rose, tell me there's no such things as werewolves," I turned to her, and if her eyes showed a fraction of what I feeling then we were in trouble, "No such things as witches, vampires or werewolves, it's just...fiction that we were told as children in books as something to scare us. It's real, it's just a story. Tell me that it's all just a dream in my head...Please,"

"I'm sorry," she whispered and I nodded tightly, "But we need to get out of here, so everyone grab hold of this chain and pull!" I started yanking on the chain, hearing a crunch of bone behind me, "I said pull!" Rose ordered, "Stop your whining and pull! That includes you, Your Ladyship," she ordered Lady Isobel, "Now come on!"

I pulled along with her, praying in my head that this would work. Because I really didn't want to die here. In a cellar with something that was the epitome of my nightmares transforming behind me. Something that had promised would tear me apart and kill me. I really did not want to die with just this left for me. Not this time, I did not want to fall back into the darkness on today of all days, and I did not want to be left to the mercy of a wolf that seemed to know me somehow.

The chain suddenly broke as a growl sounded behind me. There was an actual wolf in the room with me right now, a wolf that had no inhibitions and would hunt us down, every last one of us without any type of mercy. I turned to look at it, seeing a large wolf trapped inside the metal cage, but I could see that it was straining to get out of the box. It was too large and eventually it would be able to get out of there by sheer force and size of the bloody thing.

The door suddenly burst open and I saw the Doctor and Sir Robert run into the room, "Where the hell have you been?!" Rose demanded of the man, as she pulled off the chains. Of course now they opened when the wolf was in the room. So bloody typical of the whole thing, "Alice…don't look at it," she warned me and I attempted to smile at her, "I mean it," I let my hands drop to my sides when she finally pulled them off.

"Oh that's beautiful," I closed my eyes at the Doctor's words, really hoping that he wasn't talking about the wolf that was in the room, "You really are," so he was talking about the wolf. Rose grasped my hand as she pulled me out of the room, away from the werewolf. A horrible shiver ran up my neck as I heard the creature howl into the night, "Come on, you two," the Doctor shouted behind us, "You've got to keep moving!" I didn't even feel like glaring at him.

The hallway was a shambles when we arrived with everyone talking over each other to try and kill the werewolf that I was almost positive was right behind us. The steward was handing out guns and Lady Isobel was gathering up the maids, and leading them towards the kitchens. I suppose it was the best thing for them. The less people in danger was the better. The Doctor was busy trying to remove the manacles on my wrists. It wasn't really helping that I was shaking uncontrollably.

"I could be any form of light modulating species triggered by specific wavelengths," the Doctor was telling me, as he trying to get them off, "Did it say what it wanted?" I was looking at the entrance where the wolf would come down, "Mary-Anne?" I turned towards him, "Are you all right?" he asked me, concerned and I nodded back at him, "You sure?"

"Yes," my voice came out as a whisper and I swallowed trying to clear the dryness, "Yes, it wanted…many things. The throne, the Queen, the crown," and me, I felt like adding on to that sentence, remembering that it had promised to rip me apart piece by piece and I shook my head slightly, "You name it, it wanted it. A world of…warfare and industry with the largest Empire on Earth," I tried to smile but failed miserably at that. There was a loud bang at the other end of the corridor and I involuntarily gripped the Doctor's arm as he made his way towards it, "Don't," I said and he looked at me silently. I let go of his arm, but he took my hand tightly as we walked and looked at the other end. The wolf was standing there, panting slightly but it growled when it looked at me and the Doctor pulled me back where the men were lined up to shoot.

"Fire!" the Steward shouted as the wolf entered the hallway, and it recoiled as the bullets rained down upon it. I frowned slightly seeing that it still appeared to be completely fine, "Fire!" another round went off and the wolf disappeared from sight, although I was fairly certain that it was merely lying in wait for us.

"All right, you men," the Doctor said to the others that seemed to be rather satisfied with their work, "We should retreat upstairs. Come with me," the Steward merely scoffed, before walking forward. I let out a frightened squeak, "I'm telling you that we have to go back upstairs. Queen Victoria is up there with no idea of what's going on,"

"I'll not retreat," the man informed us, "The battle's done, there's no creature on God's Earth that can survive such an assault," I merely turned away from him, "I will sleep well tonight with that thing's hide upon my wall," he walked over to the entrance of the corridor before smiling triumphantly at us, "It must have crawled away to die," I heard the roar before I saw the wolf and the Doctor pulled me away from the sight of the creature ripping apart the Steward as we ran into the next room, hearing the screams of the other men behind us.

"Sir Robert?" I looked up to see Queen Victoria run down the stairs, "What's happening?" I had forgotten that she probably knew absolutely nothing about what was going on in the room that was behind us. She had been able to keep away from all the violence until now which wasn't particularly good when considering the Wolf was also intent on infecting her with its parasitic influence, "I heard such terrible noises," there was a scream from behind us, "What on Earth was that?"

Sir Robert pushed forward, "Your Majesty, there's no time to explain," He said apologetically, "But we've got to get out of this house as fast as we can," he looked around, "But where is Father Angelo? Is he still here?" because he was just who we really needed right at this moment. The head monk wouldn't allow us to get anywhere if he could help it.

But Queen Victoria looked rather shifty as she replied, "Captain Reynolds disposed of him," I raised an eyebrow at that. If that was the case then why wasn't Captain Reynolds here?

The Doctor tried the front door, "The front door's no good, it's been boarded shut," he looked at the small woman, "Pardon me, Your Majesty, you're going to have to leg it out of a window," we hurried into another room, and Sir Robert opened a door. Instantly bullets hit the window, ricocheting off the metal frame work and we all ducked to avoid getting hit. I peered out into the night seeing the red garb of the monks. They looked more like the type of monks that dabbled in martial arts rather than prayer, "I reckon that the monky-boys want us to stay inside," the Doctor remarked.

"Do they know who I am?" the Queen demanded.

"Yeah, that's why they want you," Rose said and Victoria eyed her, "The wolf's lined you up for a…biting," that had to be the worst explanation of what was happening at the moment. But seeing as we were currently on the run from the creature at the moment, it would have to suffice. I gripped onto the Doctor's hand as a howl tore through the room, "It's getting closer," she looked at the Doctor, "I don't suppose you have a good idea on what to do now?"

"Yeah…we run," the Doctor said, and she looked at him disbelievingly, "You got any silver bullets on you?" he asked and she rolled her eyes, "There we are then, we run," he turned to the Queen, "Your Majesty, as a Doctor, I recommend a vigorous jog. Good for the health," he took her hand, "Now come on!"

We fled the room, running as fast as we could up the stairs to wherever the Doctor was leading us. I could hear the wolf thumping down below us, racing up the stairs as we ran and I knew that it would easily catch up with us, especially as we didn't exactly know where to run to. And there was the danger of not running quick enough. Clearly Queen Victoria didn't run very often by the way she was running at the moment. Or perhaps it was the dress.

We turned a corner, and I caught a glimpse of the wolf at the other end of the corridor we had just run down. We wouldn't have a hope in hell trying to escape them, I thought, until I noticed which corridor we had just come down. I knew where we were now, and I looked down to see my squareness gun to the side of the corridor. I quickly picked it up, before turning it around, aiming it at the wolf and pulling the trigger. The wolf seemed to be punched backwards and it retreated down another corridor.

"What on Earth was that?" Queen Victoria asked me.

I tapped the gun, "Squareness gun," I answered her, "Sonic cannon," and it had been drained of batteries, typical, "One shot wonder, I'm afraid, the batteries dead," I looked at Rose, "I think we owe Jack our lives," she nodded, breathing heavily. Captain Reynolds suddenly appeared besides me, holding a revolver, "Oh, someone's turned up then, where have you been?"

"I went to look for the property, Your Majesty," he addressed the older woman, "It had been taken. The chest was empty,"

"I have it," she answered, but I couldn't muster up the energy to be interested in what they were talking about. That wolf was nowhere in sight and I didn't trust the silence that it gave off.

"Then remove yourself, ma'am," he replied, before reloading the gun, "I'll take this position and hold it. You keep moving for God's sake. Doctor, you stand as Her Majesty's Protector," he cocked the gun, "And you, Sir Robert," he turned to the other man, "You're a traitor to the crown,"

"Bullets can't stop it!" the Doctor insisted.

"They'll buy you time!" Captain Reynolds retorted, "Now run!"

So what did you think? Hope it met to everyone's standard.

I did change the whole conversation between the wolf when he is all trussed up in that cage for several reasons. One I wanted to make it a lot more malevolent and more...I don't know, more of a threat than it was in the episode. Which to be fair, it did seem to just be running around after them, roaring at several points. And second, I sort of wanted make Mary Anne's fear of wolves go a bit deeper. Take that how you will.

Anyway...nearly reached 80 reviews on this story which is fantastic. I've decided to sent out a small sneak preview every ten reviews. Just to give something back.

Catch you next time.

:)