The Doctor muttered all manner of equations, scientific theories and philosophical debates to himself as he watched the steady movement of the time rotor. He stood, half-heartedly pulling stabilising levers as he piloted the TARDIS through the vortex. Back to the village. Back to problems that he stood some sort of chance solving.
As the emptiness and the silence and the distractions rang loudly in his ears, the Doctor most certainly didn't ponder his personal circumstances.
Nope.
Alone with that big Time Lord brain of his, not one solitary thought lingered on the fact that he had just unintentionally cocked up one of the very few good things in his life. Nowhere in his mind was he replaying the painful images of a certain blonde walking away from him. Abandoning him to his own devices…
Suddenly, the Doctor was startled from his pondering by a loud bang that echoed through the room. A split second later, a blossoming pain in his right hand alerted him to the cause of the bang. The TARDIS heaved a disgruntled groan at having received the blow to her console.
"Sorry, old girl," he muttered, patting the console softly with the offending hand.
Then he heaved a sigh, throwing his eyes to the ceiling.
"Sorry," he apologised again, shaking his head heavily and scrubbing a hand down his face, "I just can't seem to get things right with either of you two."
The TARDIS groaned once more, this time releasing a softer, more affectionate sound. The Doctor's mind was filled with an overwhelming sense of sympathy, followed by a strong reassurance.
She'll come back, the sensation translated.
At this he gave a bitter laugh. "Yeah, not so sure if that's a good thing," he said into the empty room, probably looking all the mad man most people thought him to be.
Another mental message.
Tell her, it said.
Before he could respond, the TARDIS landed with a small jolt. The Doctor gratefully took this as an opportunity to escape his, at the moment, overly chatty ship.
As he stepped out into the early morning sunlight of the small town he and Rose had initially landed in, the Doctor found himself eager to do something. At times in his life when things would look particularly grim, he found that finding a situation in which he could exert a certain amount of control usually served as at least a temporary remedy.
He would focus on more difficult tasks later.
He spotted Father Dorin rushing over to him as his eyes adjusted to the stark light. "Ah, Doctor!" the clergyman greeted, grasping one of the Doctor's hands in both of his as a greeting, "Glad to see that you survived the night," he looked over his shoulder curiously for a moment before meeting his eyes again, "Did you manage to find your companion?"
The Doctor's eyes became hard as he realised what he would have to do. If he was really going to keep Rose safe, he was going to have to keep her true fate a secret. The Count couldn't be alerted of the fact that his experiment had been successful, and the Doctor had no way of knowing who was under the vampire's compulsion. No way of knowing how many eyes were following his every word and action.
"She's gone," he said in a hard voice, ignoring the pain just saying the words caused him.
Father Dorin's eyes widened. "Oh my," he said quietly, touching the cross that hung around his neck, "Oh, Doctor, I am so sorry. Blessed be her soul."
The Doctor just nodded with lips pulled into a tight line, hating this new game of pretend and keeping his mind firmly from straying to thoughts of the hospital.
"May I ask what happened?" the clergyman inquired not unkindly.
The Doctor didn't need to feign the cold fury that filled his eyes as he answered. "The demon," he said curtly. He suddenly snapped into business mode at this, looking down at the now nervous-looking Father Dorin, "I'm going to put a stop to this. All of this. How fast can you call a town meeting?"
…
The answer to the Doctor's question was two hours.
He watched quietly from his position at the head of the room, a barn that served as the only place big enough for a meeting such as this, flanked by Father Dorin to his right and Felix to his left. He looked over the people—men, women, children—filing in and taking their seats, all of them looking so normal. All of them potential spies for the Count.
The chatter died down as Felix stepped forwards to address the townspeople.
"It is something that has haunted our town for generations," he started, staring down each member of the large crowd in front of him, "It has touched all of our lives in some way. Whether it is through the absence of a mother, a sister, a cousin or a daughter, we have all felt the sting of the pain that this thing has inflicted on us," he paused again, "The demon."
As the words were said, a rustle of unease spread through the crowd. People shifted closer to one another and parents gripped their children just a little more tightly. But, the Doctor noted with a small smirk, no one ran.
Humans never ceased to amaze him with their bravery.
"And now a decision has been made," Felix continued, his voice gaining some strength, "We will no longer stand for this. We will no longer lay down the lives of our loved ones at the feet of this creature. We will take a stand. We will fight!"
Some cheers erupted from the crowd, but for the most part only disgruntled groans were heard.
"And what difference will this revelation make, then?" a woman shouted from the front of the crowd, "We already go out every night, walk around for hours in the name of protecting this town and our loved ones. And every night that we're out there, we find nothing. Just more women missing. What makes you think that it'll make any difference if we fight?"
Her words were met with angered shouts of agreement—which led to more complaints being shouted at the town head. Not a few minutes passed before everyone was on their feet, hurling insults to and fro and causing general uproar.
The Doctor took this as his opportunity to take centre stage. He moved forward, lifting up his hands. "Alright now," he told the rampaging people, "Quiet down."
No one, of course, was listening.
"Just—can everyone be quiet for a moment," he called again, to no avail, "Can everyone please—if you'll please just—just listen for one moment—alright—SHUT UP!"
His final words rang with authority through the room, causing a miraculous silence to befall every single person in his field of vision. Within the course of a few moments, the riot had stopped completely, everyone eyeing the newcomer with wary expectancy.
Felix raised his eyebrows. "Well done," he told the Doctor, "First time I've seen someone manage something like that with them. Should have you around for town meetings more often."
The Doctor looked out over the people solemnly, seeing the terror that was so plainly etched into each individual's features.
"I'm the Doctor," he told them, "Some of you met me the other night." He held their gazes steadily. "I know that you're scared. You've every right to be. This demon, he's been hitting you all where it hurts. Not only has he made you afraid of the dark, afraid to even move around in your own town freely, he's also threatened and taken the people you love. I know how that feels."
He allowed his thoughts to drift to Rose, hurt and violated because of the Count. The rage that the thoughts filled him with only served to fuel the fires of his determination as he spoke again: "But hear this: They have a name for me out there. They call me the Oncoming Storm. They call me that, because if I say something stops, it stops."
His voice rose in volume and power, and when he said his final words, it was directly to the old vampire watching from his castle. "It's coming for you, Dracula. The consequences of everything that you've done over the years, everyone you've manipulated—they're catching up with you. Not long now," he looked into the crowd's eyes intently, "Your move, Count."
…
Sitting comfortably in a chair in his study, the Count looked on as the infuriated Time Lord gave his speech, so sure that it would shake the age-old vampire. So sure that he had the upper hand…
He smiled at that.