Demons! Fluffy demons with pink tails!

When I was pulled out of my sleep later without any idea how long I had been sleeping by some of the most annoying birds I had ever heard, my head felt like someone had been beating it with a brick or two. I groaned and threw the nearest thing to hand which turned out to be a shoe in the direction of the noise. It sailed right out the window and into the tree the birds were roosting in, from the aggravated squawking.

My mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton, so I spat out my pillow, but the feeling of deep thirst didn't abate. I pushed the blankets a little way off my head, and then pulled them straight back up again, light searing my eyes.

There was a rattle as the curtains drew themselves but I couldn't face the thought of getting up anymore, I would just have to live with the thirst for a little while. The door creaked as it opened, sending a fresh stab of pain through my head. Footsteps that I recognised crossed the room, one almost silent and bare and one clicking slightly as it hit the ground, Ed. He folded the blankets on my head back.

"I heard you move and saw the shoe; you're awake now and you need to drink something." He whispered I made a noise that might have been bordering on coherent speech and levered myself slowly upright without opening my eyes.

Ed found my hand and brought it up, pressing a glass into it. I drained the glass and cracked open my eyes. I was facing the window, but Ed was standing between the little crack in the curtains and me, holding another glass of water.

He handed this to me, exchanging it for the now empty one which he set on a nearby table.

"Sip that slowly." He said a little louder now, but my head wasn't throbbing so much.

"What time is it?" I croaked, sipping my water, Ed shrugged.

"Not a clue, I got up a couple of hours ago. There aren't too many coherent people around the Minions are trying to work though. I keep telling them to go home but they won't listen." He sighed, lying on the bed next to me, I smiled warmly at the Minions and cast my mind around for them, Go home and rest, we'll clean up. If there are any Minions who weren't here last night who are interested in helping they can come to, but everyone who was here last night needs to go home and stay there for a while, at least two weeks.

"Those guys…" I said, they trickled out of the castle slowly, leaving it pretty much empty. I dragged myself out of the bed and headed for the door, "They have all gone now, and I am having a shower."

"Wait a second." Ed said, slipping out the door and coming back a few minutes later, "I closed as many curtains as I could," he explained, "I doubt the light'd help the headache." I walked through the mercifully dark corridors into the dim bathroom that nevertheless sent a small spike of pain through my head.

Half an hour of steaming hot water worked wonders on my headache, and woke me up to no end. I found some new clothes and brushed my hair, and braved the sunlit lower levels of the castle.

It was practically blinding at first but became bearable as I walked into the kitchen. It too was empty of Minions, even Claire wasn't here, so Ed was cooking, something he had discovered he possessed yet more natural talent for. He made a great stew, which he turned out to be cooking at that moment.

I looked out the window and saw the sun sinking lower towards the cloud edge. I must have been asleep for most of the day, I deduced, or a whole day and most of the next one, like I had when I was cursed and turned Evil. After we ate dinner, or breakfast for me, the clean up began.

I was feeling almost wholly revived so I was running around at top speed carrying things and fetching paint remover and bins. All the same the lack of Minions or even Al and Oryx, who were likely still resting, made the cleaning take quite a while. But in the end we got the hall and surrounding castle looking almost exactly the same as it had before the party, though the chocolate stains on the ceiling took some time to shift.

"I'm so tired after that I think I need a nap." I declared, stretching and yawning widely. Ed shrugged and went to get a book from the library, apparently Al had asked him if he could borrow his notes on it.

I walked into the bedroom and stopped, finally realising what was different about the bed, first of all there was only one. Ed and I had been mostly ignoring my bed and sleeping in his as it was under the window, and now a Minion had apparently decided to remove it and replace it with a desk.

The bed we had been sleeping in was slightly closer to the middle of the room and twice as big as it had been. I shrugged this development of and crawled back into the new bed, curling up into a little ball and dozing off.

Half asleep I remembered the little box Ail had given me and jumped out of bed again, and found it on the desk where my bed used to be. I sat back on the bed with my feet under me to open it, untying the creamy white ribbon and letting it flow through my fingers onto the bedspread. Inside the little box was an antique looking pocket watch with an ornate silver outer casing and hands. I noticed a note under the watch and picked it up,

'Frog, I found this watch in a lovely little market in the centre of Tibet, it's apparently more than a hundred years old and made out of metal from a falling star. Because it comes from the heavens it always tells the correct time, but also because of its origins it mayn't be the time where you are.' I flipped open the watch, half past eight, sounded about right.

"What's that?" Ed sat next to me on the bed and I passed the watch to him,

"From my friend Ail, we'll be able to tell the right time again!" I clapped my hands excitedly. Ed smiled gently and leant over and kissed me, letting the pocket watch slide through his fingers. His tongue wandered around my mouth and I explored his.

A shiver went up my spine as his cold Automail fingers traced pattern on my back under my shirt and reaching for his, undoing the front and running my hands over the soft skin.

I started to trail my mouth down his neck, a cough by the door interrupted me, however. Having my back to the door, I leant my forehead on Ed's chest and didn't turn around. He set his head on top of mine.

"Uh… Did you finish that book on transitory matter…?" Al's voice said from the doorway, Ed reached over the side of the bed and tossed a book in his direction, I heard Al catch the book shuffle around for a minute and leave the room closing the door behind him.

I giggled then tittered and unable to hold my laughter in anymore had to lean against Ed to stop myself falling over, though I did anyway taking him down with me. We lay there laughing for a few minutes and then just lay in silence, I ran my fingers through Ed's loose hair.

"Do you ever think…?" He started then trailed off,

"Nope I make it a point not to think. Ever." I replied, "Seriously now what were you saying?" He shook his head, "Do I ever think…? What…? That the barn's on fire? No, we don't have a barn. At least I don't think we do I mean the last time I looked…" I trailed away this time; Ed was looking at me with an actually serious look in his eyes.

"Do you ever think about that first week I was here?"

"Occasionally, we ate some jelly, had a party, wandered around The Dark Forest, Oryx named her castle Stephanie. Why are you bringing it up?"

"Because that whole time I never once questioned what I was doing here. Al had his body he was happy and I was happy."

"You got stabbed by a unicorn that week didn't you? Or was that the next week? How is that happy inducing? Unless you're really weird…" Ed rolled his eyes.

"Well yeah I admit that wasn't exactly a cause for joy but all that same I was, and am still happy here. You completely changed my life with your crazy, undeniable, and completely unique weirdness!" He chuckled. "Even with all the bruises, headaches, questions, confusion, and yes the stab wounds too. I wouldn't have my life any other way."

Ed brought his hands up cupped them under my chin, and pulled my face towards his. Our lips met and I felt a spark travel from my middle finger on my right hand to the rest of my body. Howl's ring. I pulled away from Ed and looked down at the ring sitting on my finger, it was lit up from the inside shining with its own fiery intensity. Ed's ring had lit up too casting a faint light over his hand.

An idea came to me and I grabbed his hand and pulled it up, touching the stones set into the rings to each other. The light flared green and brighter than ever before.

I kissed him and the hand holding mine slid up my arm to the side of my face, his other hand, cold and metal slid up my back. I nibbled on his bottom lip and he responded by moving his mouth to my neck, running his hot wet tongue over it, a quiet strangled noise escaped me and I started a trail of kisses down his neck and chest. He sent another shiver down my spine trailing butterfly kisses and his tongue along my collarbone.

I jumped a foot and could've sworn my life flashed in front of my eyes when Ed's phone started ringing. He pulled it out and flicked it open.

"Yeah? Sure, I'll tell her. We'll be down in a minute." He flicked the phone shut and slipped it into his pocket. "Frog get up, that was Doctor Number Ten, there is apparently a large spaceship full of aliens hovering over London again, and he is going to deal with it and he wondered if we wanted to come." I threw Ed his shirt and pulled my own over my head.

"Did he forget to leave last night or something?" A shrug it was The Doctor after all, "Who else is coming?"

"Peanut maybe." Ed pulled his socks on and I threw him his shoes, shoving my feet inside mine, I grabbed my phone and called Oryx.

"Yo! Froggy! You know I was just talking to Al and he said-!"

"Oryx can I cut in? Thanks, Doctor number ten called he's going on an adventure you interested?"

"Oh I would, but you see I just found this huge sea snake the length of Japan at least in the Pacific, gonna go take pictures. Do have fun though." I flipped the phone shut.

"Speaking of which, how did The Doctor get your number anyway?" I asked Ed as we headed downstairs.

"Not a clue we should ask." He said, as we arrived in the Entrance Hall. I grabbed my coat, shrank my Elemental Staff and slid it into the holster on my back and I ran to the large blue box parked in the middle of the room. I rapped smartly on the door with my knuckles and it was flung open by a tall skinny man in a blue suit with gravity-defying brown hair.

"Doctor! It's been ages! Well a month at most, but still, it feels like ages!" I said hugging him. "Didn't see you much at the party, saw you arrive thought I heard you leave, though it might have been Nine." He laughed, beckoning us inside the TARDIS, I greeted the ship silently inside my head.

"How did you do that anyway, people can't cross their own timeline." He asked, flicking switches and pushing buttons on the console.

"Well, do you remember going to a party when you were number Nine?"

"No… Good point, why is that?"

"I don't know, some people remember, some people don't, some people half remember, some people half forget, there is a difference." I grabbed at the railing and held tightly as the TARDIS jerked rather wildly.

"Hmm, I suppose, but the next me was there too, wonder how that'll happen, I really hope it's not just a brick or something, incident with a sandwich toaster you know."

You know what happens. His mind voice almost accused,

I didn't the first time, but… yeah. You don't want to know.

"You're right I don't." He said out loud, Ed looked at my with an eyebrow raised, I stuck my tongue out at him and ran over to the console.

"What happens when I push this button?"

"The universe explodes." I yanked my finger away from the little green thing. "Well that or it makes some tea, I can't remember and I've never thought it worth the risk to try." The Doctor continued I laughed.

"Can I?"

"No." Ed said,

"Please!"

"No!" Ed and The Doctor said together.

"Okay, how about this one then?" I said, The Doctor shrugged.

"You know, I don't know what that one does, it just appeared one day I haven't pressed it yet." I jumped up and down a little, stuck out my finger and pushed the little orange button. The TARDIS rocked wildly, and then became perfectly still.

"Okay…" I said, picking myself up off the floor where I had fallen,

"We've landed." The Doctor said, running to the door and stuck his head out, "We're in a forest, nice day."

"Weren't we heading to London?" Ed asked as we trooped out the door after The Doctor.

"It is a Time Machine you know." The Doctor reminded us,

"Oh yes and it's so reliable, it always gets you exactly when you want to go." I said sarcastically, The TARDIS poked my mind. No offence meant my friend, I blame his driving. I said to her.

"Just a quick look around, I don't recognise this at all, it's interesting." The Doctor said, heading down a walking trail into the forest, Ed shrugged at me and walked after him.

I jogged a little to catch up with Ed, tripped on a stone and went skidding. Laughing, I got up and brushed the dirt off myself and caught up with the other two. We walked through the vegetation seeing a squirrel or two and a dragonfly, this was as exiting as it got and it was quickly boring.

"I'm bored have we walked enough yet, for all we know this is just some random forest in England or something, or a park, maybe it's a park, have you considered the possibility that this could be a-."

"Shush." Ed said, stopping suddenly, I stopped speaking, and walking, and peered around his shoulder, we had just walked into a clearing housing several large wolves, all of them looked skinny and undernourished.

The three of us backed away slowly as a wolf with a scar across its muzzle leapt up and started towards us growling.

"Now, now my friend, no need to get hasty," I said shakily pulling my Elemental Staff out of its holster as I did so, lengthening it to its normal height, just a little taller than myself.

"Don't stare don't move quickly don't speak loudly don't challenge it in any way." The Doctor said quietly, the scarred wolf bunched its hindquarters and lunged at Ed, I swung my staff and threw the animal back with a blast of air.

"That was a challenge!" The Doctor yelled as the rest of the pack stood up and started towards us, I lit a wall of fire across the ground directly in front of the advancing wolves and they shrank away from the flames, I grabbed Ed's hand and managed to touch The Doctor's shoulder cutting off the flame as I Ported us a kilometre or so away.

"Well then, where are we now?" I said, looking around.

"You don't know?" Ed asked,

"Well I was a little preoccupied what with the angry wolves and all." I replied while beginning to cast my mind around for the TARDIS to use as a landmark. The Doctor pre-empted me by sticking his finger in the air and heading off into the trees.

"This way!" he called over his shoulder, I shrugged at Ed this time and followed him. We walked for about fifteen minutes stopped to drink some water, and continued into the trees.

"Ooh Ed look, daffodils!" I said, picking one of the flowers and tying the stem into some string around my wrist. The forest was really quite beautiful once you got into it, I decided and we continued in a happy little bubble. The Doctor stopped us in front of a truly enormous tree; if the three of us were to join hands we wouldn't have made it half way around the circumference of the thing.

"Wow, that's incredible." I said, "It's got to be hundreds of years old."

"Thousands," said The Doctor, I stood staring up at the majesty of the thing, and a hand clamped over my mouth. I struggled and tried to shout, a blindfold was tied roughly over my eyes and someone picked my up and I was moving quickly through the air.

Next time on CCC: What's this; a kidnapping!