Disclaimer: Please, I barely own the DVDs of Doctor Who.

Ch. 36:

The Doctor walked out of the TARDIS and into a busy market.

"Venice!" he said, throwing his arms wide. "Venezia! La Serenissima!"

"I see this regeneration still has an unnatural obsession with the Italian language." Lily said, leaning on the TARDIS door after she shut it as Amy and Rory looked around in amazement. She was dressed in black slacks, a black t-shirt, and a long black coat, and her hair was pulled up in a severe pony tail.

"Hush." The Doctor said before continuing. "Impossible city. Preposterous city! Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun."

"I still owe him money." Lily interjected.

"It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the marsh, but became one of the most powerful cities in the world." The Doctor continued as he led them off. "Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding…constantly…Just beautiful! Oh, you gotta love Venice. And so many people did. Byron, Napoleon, Casanova. Oooh, that reminds me."

"Calm down." Lily said as he checked his watch. "It's 1580. You still have 145 years. I'll never understood why you took that bet. Where did you think you were going to get a chicken from?"

"You owe Casanova a chicken?" Rory asked.

"Long story." The Doctor said.

"He bet Casanova that he could get more favors from woman in ten minutes." Lily told the two humans. "Casanova got thirty, the Doctor got two. One from me and one from a fifty year old spinster."

"You just have to tell that story?" the Doctor complained.

"You left me for six months." Lily shot back. "If you don't think I'm going to trot out ever embarrassing story I can, you are sadly mistaken."

"Fair enough." The Doctor said as a man dressed in black stepped out in front of him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" the man said. "Papers, if you please. Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection."

"There you go, fella." The Doctor said, holding up the psychic paper. "All to your satisfaction, I think you'll find."

The man took the paper and almost dropped it.

"I'm so sorry, your Royal Highness." He said, bowing deeply to Lily. "I didn't realize.

"It's no trouble." Lily replied. "Do you mind?"

She motioned to the paper and the man handed it to her.

"Really?" she asked the Doctor. "I know you're trying to suck up, but don't you think Princess is going a bit far?"

"First thing that popped into my head." He told her, grinning. "So, now, it's no trouble, my good man, you were just doing your job. Sorry, what exactly is your job?"

"Checking for aliens, visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them." The man replied.

"Oh, that's nice." Amy muttered. "See where you bring me?" She slapped the Doctor's arm. "The plague!"

"Don 't worry, Viscountess." The man told her, bowing. "No, we're under quarantine here, no-one comes in, no-one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri."

He pointed to the crest on the box he was carrying.

"That's interesting." Lily said, looking at the crest closely. "I heard the plague died out years ago."

"Not out there." The man replied. "No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. Streets are piled high with bodies, she said."

"Did she, now?" the Doctor murmured.

As the man moved off, Rory reached for the psychic paper.

"According to this, I am your eunuch!" he sputtered as The Doctor and Lily moved off.

"Oh, yeah, I'll explain later." Amy told him.

Lily reached up and slapped the Doctor across the head.

The Doctor and Lily led Amy and Rory through the seat and stopped at a spot where they could see a group of girls, dressed in white with parasols, were emerging from a house. As they watched, a man ran into the procession.

"What do you want?" one of the women leading the girls demanded.

"Where's my Isabella?" the man demanded, ripping the veils off girls as he went.

"What are you doing?" the woman demanded. "Get away from there!"

"Isabella!" the man called, continuing his search. "Isabella!"

He found the girl he was looking for, but she back away.

"It's me!" he told her.

One of the other girls came forward and hissed at him, revealing two rows of fangs. The man fell to the ground.

"Girls, come along!" the woman called.

The girls continued their procession and a booted foot landed on the man's chest, keeping him on the ground.

"She's gone." The man attached the boot said before leaving with a swirl of his cloak.

"Isabella!" the man called. "It's me!"

Two guards lifted him from the ground.

"What was that about?" Amy asked.

The Doctor left and Lily was already a head of him.

"Isabella…" the man called.

Amy looked around to find Lily and the Doctor gone.

"I hate it when he does that!" she complained.

The Doctor and Lily made their way through the streets in silence. Finally, the Doctor couldn't take it anymore.

"This fun, right?" he asked, stopping. "You and me, running? This is what it's supposed to be."

Lily stopped and turned to look at him.

"Do you really think this is going to fix what's wrong?" she demanded.

"Well, I-" the Doctor said.

"I'm mad at you, do you get that?" she said angrily. "I'm hurt and I'm confused and I'm mad! You left me alone and I didn't know if you were alive or dead, and it hurt! It hurt so bad that some days, I just wanted to curl up and not move again until I woke up from the nightmare."

"I said I was sorry." He told her.

"You just don't get it." Lily said, shaking her head. "Sorry doesn't fix this. It doesn't make it alright. It doesn't change the fact that when I look at you, all I can see is my own anger."

"Then tell me how to fix it." The Doctor said, taking her hand, but she pulled away. "Tell me what to do, what to say, and I'll do it, I'll say it. Tell me what to do to make this right again."

"I'm not sure there's anything you can do." Lily whispered, looking away.

She walked away and stood with her back to him.

"Then where does that leave us?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't know." Lily replied.

She sighed and shoved her hands in her pockets before turning and glancing at him.

"Come on." She said softly. "Let's go see what that guy was up to."

The Doctor nodded and they walked in silence again.

The man walked along the alleys until the Doctor crossed behind him and leapt onto the bottom step of a stair way. Lily went and leaned against the wall of the stair.

"Who were those girls?" the Doctor asked the man.

"I thought everyone knew about the Calvierri school." The man said, staring at them.

"We're new here." Lily told the man, walking towards him as the Doctor stepped down. "You know, parents do all sorts of things to get their children into good schools. They move house, they change religion, hell, my adoptive parents built a new wing for my school. So, why are you trying to get her out?"

"Something happens in there." The man told them. "Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn't recognize me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face…like an animal."

The Doctor wrapped his arm around the man's shoulder.

"I think it's time I met this Signora Calvierri." He said.

"You're daughter's name is Isabella, right?" Lily asked gently as the Doctor led them off. "So what's yours?"

"Guido." The man replied.

"Nice to meet you, Guido." Lily said, smiling. "I'm the Phoenix and this is the Doctor. We're going to help you get your daughter back."

"Why?" the man asked.

Lily smiled sadly.

"Because no one should be separated from their children." She replied.

Amy and Rory walked through a narrow passage.

"And what have you been doing?" Rory asked.

"Well…running." Amy replied. "And fighting. I've been scared. More scared than I thought was…"

"Did you miss me?" he asked.

"I…I knew I'd be coming back." Amy answered unconvincingly.

"He was right." Rory said, stopping. "It blots out everything else."

"Rory…this our date." Amy said, linking her arm through his. "Let's not do this, not now."

There was a fluttering sound and Rory looked up.

"Ha!" he exclaimed. "We are in Venice and it's 1580!"

"I know!" Amy said, laughing.

They both laughed as they walked off, arm in arm, pass a stairway, not noticing the man underneath.

Amy stopped and posed in front of a doorway and Rory kneeled to take a picture with his phone. There was a scream and Amy took off running.

"What was that?" Rory called, running after her.

They arrived to find the man that had held the father down with his boot hunched over a girl. He lifted his head and they saw blood on her neck. The man opened his mouth, revealing fangs, before running past them, holding his cape in front of his face.

Rory ran to the girl.

"She'll be okay." He said. "Where are you…Amy! Come back!"

Amy had taken off after the man. She chased him all the way to the canal, but when she reached the dead end, he was gone.

Guido approached the guards of the school.

"You have my daughter." He called. "Isabella!"

"You're not coming in, stop there!" the guard said. "We've told you…"

While Guido distracted the guards, Lily and the Doctor sneaked along the side of the building.

"You have my daughter!" Guido repeated. "Isabella! I demand you let me see my daughter!"

The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver, but Lily already had hers out and smirked at him as she opened the gate.

"Isabella!" Guido yelled. "It's me! It's your father!"

"I'll arrest you…" the guard threatened.

"Isabella!" Guido shouted.

Finally, when he saw that they were through, Guido left.

The Doctor and Lily made their way down a set of stone stairs into a chamber. On one wall there was a mirror and the Doctor turned to face it while Lily stood behind him.

He studied her in the mirror.

"You look different." He said.

"It's been six months." Lily shot back.

"We're Time Lords." He replied. "It wouldn't matter if it had been six month or six centuries."

"Yeah, well, the last six months have been hard." Lily said.

"I really am sorry." He told her, looking at her in the mirror. "I don't know what else to say."

Lily studied him.

"If Amy hadn't kissed you." She said. "If River hadn't told you to, would you still have come back?"

The Doctor hesitated.

"Yes." He said softly. "I would have."

He took a deep breath before continuing.

"I really thought I was doing the right thing." He told her. "I thought I would keeping you safe. I thought that if I wasn't around, then you wouldn't get hurt. I couldn't hurt you anymore."

"All your leaving did was hurt me." She told him.

"I know." He replied. "And it hurt me to leave you. But I thought it would be better. But then it became apparent, I don't function as well without you. I miss things that you would've seen. I need you. I need you, so much."

The Doctor turned around to face her and froze.

"Well at least I'm not the only one who missed this." He said, nodding behind her.

Lily spun around and found a group of girls, dressed in white, standing behind them.

"Who are you?" the girls asked in unison.

The Doctor turned to look at the mirror, which only showed him and Lily, and then back to the girls. He kept looking back and forth as Lily back up to him.

"How are you doing that?" the Doctor demanded. "I…am…loving it! You're like Houdini, only five scary girls, only he was shorter. WILL BE shorter. I'm rambling."

"Yes, you are." Lily agreed.

"I'll ask you again, signor, signora." The girls said in unison. "Who are you?"

"Why don't you check THIS out?" the Doctor said, brandishing a wallet.

Lily looked at it and covered her face with her hand. The Doctor pulled it back to see a picture of his first incarnation.

"Library card." He said as he put it away. "Of course, it's with…He's…I need the spare."

"What you need is a brain." Lily muttered.

"Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen in…" the Doctor said, glancing back at the mirror. "Am I thinking what I think I'm thinking?"

"You can't be thinking what I'm thinking." Lily said. "Because if you're thinking what I'm thinking, then I'm thinking we're both insane."

"But the city." The Doctor continued. "Why shut down the city? Unless…."

"Leave now, signor, or we shall call for the steward…if you are lucky." The girls said, smirking.

"Ooh!" the Doctor said.

"Now see here." Lily said. "You better not be thinking of doing what I think you're thinking of doing!"

"Lily?" the Doctor asked.

"What?" she demanded.

"Stop talking." He replied.

"Right." She said.

The girls hissed and bared their fangs as they advanced on the couple. They both turn and ran to the doorway, but the Doctor stopped and turned back to face them.

"Tell me the whole plan!" he ordered.

They just kept coming.

"One day, that'll work." He muttered.

"I wouldn't hold your breath." Lily told him.

"Listen, I would love to stay here." the Doctor said, Lily grabbing his hand and pulling him up the stairs. "This whole thing…I'm thrilled. Oh, this is Christmas!"

Lily tugged on his hand and they both ran up the stairs as the girls hissed after them.

Lily and the Doctor met Amy ask she ran along the canal across from the school.

"Doctor!" Amy yelled.

"We just met some vampires!" The Doctor exclaimed. "And creepy girls and everything!"

"We just saw a vampire!" Amy said at the same moment. "Vampires!"

They jumped up and down together as Lily stared at them and Rory joined them.

"We think we just saw a vampire." He said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." The Doctor said. "Amy was just telling me."

"Oh." Rory said. "Right. Well…"

"You alright, Rory?" Lily asked, smiling slightly.

"I'm fine." The man said.

"Okay, so…" the Doctor said, slapping his hands on Rory's cheeks, "first we need to get back in there somehow."

"What?" Rory demanded.

"How do we do that?" Amy asked.

"You want to go back?" Lily exclaimed.

"Come and meet our new friend." The Doctor told Amy and Rory.

Guido brought out a map of Venice and the Doctor and Amy stood with him, looking at it, while Rory sat on some barrels behind them. Lily came over and sat next to him.

"You sure you're okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I mean, it's just…it's vampires. In Venice." He said.

She chuckled.

"I know." Lily said. "Believe it or not, I once felt just like you."

"But you're like him." Rory said, nodding to the Doctor. "A Time Lord."

"Yeah, but I also spent some time as a human, with my memories locked away." Lily told him. "When I first began to travel with the Doctor, it felt like my whole world had exploded. Like suddenly, nothing I knew was real."

"How long have you been traveling with the Doctor?" Rory asked.

"This Doctor?" Lily replied. "About four years."

"What do you mean, this Doctor?" Rory asked.

Lily sighed.

"How much do you know about parallel universes?" she asked him.

"I know that there are an infinite amount of universe, both similar and dissimilar to our own, existing right next to our own." He replied.

Lily smiled and nodded.

"That's very good." She told him. "I'm impressed. Well, I was born in one of those universes."

"Then how did you get here?" he asked.

"The Doctor I traveled with there, sent me to this universe to save my life." Lily replied bitterly. "Hasn't turned out quite like I'd hoped."

"Are you in love with the Doctor?" Rory asked.

"Are you in love with Amy?" Lily shot back.

"Yes." Rory replied. "I'm just not sure she's in love with me. Your turn."

"Yes." Lily sighed. "I am in love with him. And it sucks."

"Welcome to the club." Rory told her, shaking her hand.

Lily laughed.

"We could have jackets." She joked.

"Are you two paying attention?" the Doctor called.

"No." Lily replied. "Does it matter?"

"I could use your advice." He told her.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have left me on Earth." She shot back.

"Can you just…please?" he asked quietly.

She sighed and went to stand next to him.

"As you say, there's no clear way in." Guido told them. "The House of Calvierri is like a fortress. But there's a tunnel underneath it, with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor."

"You need someone on the inside." Amy said.

"No." The Doctor answered immediately.

"You don't even know what I was going to say!" Amy protested.

"We pretend you're an applicant for the school to get you inside and tonight you come down and open the trapdoor to let us in." the Doctor said.

"Oh." Amy replied. "So you know what I was going to say!"

"Are you insane?" Rory demanded.

"We don't have another option." Amy said.

"He said no, Amy." Her fiancé told her. "Listen to him."

"There is another option." Guido said, pointing in Rory's direction. "I work at the Arsenal. We build the warships for the navy."

The Doctor walked over and sniffed the barrels.

"Gunpowder." He said, putting a hand on Rory's shoulder. "Most people just nick stationery from where they work."

Rory slid off the barrel slowly and walked away quickly.

"Look, I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosives." The Doctor said.

"What do you suggest, then?" the man demanded. "We wait until they turn her into an animal?"

He turned away and poked at the fire.

"I'll be there three, four hours tops." Amy said.

"No, no, no, no, no, no." the Doctor said, sitting on the bed in the room.

"Send me with her." Lily spoke up.

The Doctor stared at her.

"How is that any better?" he demanded.

"They can only focus on one of us at a time." She told him. "I'll make sure it's me and Amy will go and let you in. They can't hurt me. It's perfect."

"And what if they realize you're Time Lord, huh?" he asked. "What happens then?"

Lily threw out her hand and there was a roar as the barrels exploded inside a gold bubble. Everyone jumped except for the Doctor, who's eyes stayed locked on Lily's. Suddenly, she twisted her hand and the explosion reversed itself, leaving all the barrels intact.

"You done?" the Doctor asked.

"I can protect myself." She told him coldly. "A lot's changed in the last six months. I'm a lot stronger than I used to be."

"Fine." He relented. "We'll go together. I'll say you're my daughters."

"We look the same age." Lily shot back. "You're our brother."

"Too weird." Amy said, glaring at her. "He can be your brother, my fiancé."

"I'm not having him run around telling people he's your fiancé." Rory protested.

"Especially since he's my mate!" Lily added.

"No." Amy relented. "No, you're right."

"Thank you." Rory said.

"I mean, they've already seen the Doctor and the Phoenix." Amy said. "It should be just me and you can get me in."

"Me?" Rory asked.

"Yeah!" Amy said. "You can be my brother."

She rubbed his head playfully.

"Why is him being your brother weird, but with me, it's okay?" Rory demanded.

"Actually, I thought you were her fiancé." Guido told the Doctor.

"Yeah, that's not helping." The Doctor said as Lily growled.

"You're not going without me." Lily said. "I'm not sending a weak human into there alone."

"And what are you going to do if they recognize you?" Amy demanded, bristling at the weak comment.

"They won't." Lily replied.

She reached up and pulled down her hair. She shook it out and as she shook it, it changed from blonde with black tips to a red a few shades darker than Amy's.

"When did you put nanites in your hair?" the Doctor asked.

"During that trip to Venus before…." She trailed off. "While we were running. It was easier than dyeing it all the time."

"Ah." The Doctor said.

"This whole thing is mental!" Rory exclaimed. "They're Vampires, for God's sake."

"We hope." The Doctor said.

"So if they're not vampires…?" Amy asked.

"Makes you wonder," Lily said, sitting next to the Doctor, "what could be so bad it doesn't actually mind us thinking it's a vampire?"

A/N: Second chapter of Vampires in Venice. Let me know what you think. I would also like to take a moment to thank all of you who review. You guys totally make my day! Why do you think I update so much?

Abbey