A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, and variations there upon, I am so sorry for the almost 3 month wait for this chapter. I admit, I had writers block, then I started uni again and got caught up in all of that. I know this chapter isn't much, and I'm sorry.
I let out a sigh as I leaned against the console, a mug of tea in my hand. The Doctor's version of going out for dinner actually ended up with us almost being dinner. Amy and I both ended up having to tear our dresses up at the bottom, so that we could actually run. I wasn't happy at the fact that I had just destroyed one of the most gorgeous dresses that I had actually bothered to wear.
"Where should we take them today then?" The Doctor asked me, resting himself against the console beside where I was leaning.
I shrugged my shoulders at him as I took a large gulp of my tea. "Somewhere where we are not going to be running from monsters would be nice." I told him, still a little grumpy.
The Doctor pouted at me a little. "Oh, come on. You love the monsters, and the running, just as much as I do. And you know it." He told me, snaking his arm around my waist.
"Not when we were meant to be having a nice dinner with Amy and Rory." I mumbled to him, letting him pull me closer to him. "Where are the Ponds anyway?"
He turned me around, and I saw them standing on the other side of the console, mugs in their hands as well. "They've been there since you handed them their tea." The Doctor said, frowning at me a little. "Is everything okay?"
I nodded at him, but as I did, I heard a whispering in my head. It was so faint, so far away, but it was definitely there. "Please save me from the monsters?" I whispered, my eyes closed tightly.
"Star, what is it?" The Doctor asked me, before letting out a little yelp as he reached into his tweed jacket pocket and pulled out his black leather wallet. "Please save me from the monsters." He said, making my eyes snap open.
I grabbed the psychic paper out of his hand and looked at it. "I guess we know what we're going to be doing today then?" I asked, handing it back to the Doctor. "One day without monsters, just one day." I moaned, as he started to dart around the console. "Is that really too much to ask?"
"Haven't done this in a while." He called, finally getting the attention of Amy and Rory.
"Haven't done what? What are you doing?" Amy asked, looking over at the pair of us, her eyes darting between us, waiting to see which one of us was going to answer her.
I looked over at my red haired friend while the Doctor continued to run around like the mad man that he is. "Making a house call." I told her, as the Doctor set everything up to trace the message that we had both received.
A few moments later, and we were hurtling through the time vortex, everyone hanging on tightly as the turbulence hit us. "Where are we going?" Amy shouted over the console as a few sparks decided to fly up.
"The TARDIS is taking us there. I haven't quite worked out where yet." He admitted, his hands grasping onto the console.
"Nope, but I have." I sang over to him, a big grin on my face. I did like it when I was able to work things out before him.
Suddenly everything stopped, and we landed with a thump. Rory was the first one out of the door, followed swiftly by Amy, since I dragged them to the door and literally shoved them out. I shut the door and turned to face the Doctor. "Promise me that after this we can go somewhere that does not involve monsters?"
He chuckled as he came over to me. "I promise, somewhere without monsters next time."
A smile formed on my face. "Good. Now come on, we need to save someone from the monsters." I told him, lacing my fingers through his and dragging him over to the door.
"No offence, Doctor…" Rory started, looking around at the housing estate we were on.
"Meaning the opposite." The Doctor said, standing at the door to the TARDIS still, with his arm around my waist after having pulled it out of my hand.
"But we could get a bus somewhere like this." Rory finished.
"The exact opposite." He said, leaning against the door of the TARDIS still while I tried to wriggle out of his grip.
"Well, I suppose it can't all be planets and history and stuff, Rory." Amy told her husband as she took in the area that we had arrived in. I had to admit, I was getting a very bad feeling about where we were and what was going to happen.
"Yes, it can. Course it can." The Doctor told Amy, dragging me with him as he walked past her and Rory. "Planets and history and stuff. That's what we do."
"But not today." I told the pair, as the Doctor finally let me go so that he could get his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket. "Today, we're answering a cry for help."
"From the scariest place in the universe." The Doctor added, the four of us walking away from the TARDIS and towards a block of flats. "A child's bedroom."
I had to refrain from letting out a groan. "And where is the best place to find monsters? A child's bedroom. Everything is a monster in a child's bedroom. Every noise, every shadow, every movement from under the door." I muttered. All I had asked for was one day without monsters, but clearly there was going to be no chance of that, especially in a child's bedroom.
The Doctor tugged at my arm a little, getting my attention. "Someone seems to be in a little bit of a mood today." He called to me, giving me a slightly concerned look as we continued to walk through the estate and towards a certain block of flats.
"Well, we both know what kind of monsters like to live in a child's bedroom, don't we? Plus, I really could do with not having to do loads of running for my life. I don't think my head can take it." I told him honestly. It was then that I noticed the frown that had formed on his face. "It's been a little stressful recently. My regeneration may have gone pretty smoothly, but then with everything else that happened, I actually do need some rest."
"And by rest, you mean…?" I had to refrain from rolling my eyes at him.
"I mean I just want to cuddle up in bed and not have to do anything. I just want to lie there and not have to worry about saving someone or defeating some kind of threat. All I want is to just spend some time with you." I told him, giving his hand a slight squeeze as I tried to keep myself together. I really did want to just spend some time with him, with my Doctor, just the pair of us. But I already knew that it wasn't going to happen any time soon.
"And we will." I raised my eyebrows at him, knowing full well that there was not going to be much time for us to relax any time soon. "I mean it, we will. I promise." He told me, before giving me a quick peck on the lips.
We had just stopped outside of the lift for the block of flats. The place was poorly lit and pretty dirty, it reminded me of the little flat I used to live in. "Please save me from the monsters? Who sent that?" Rory asked, bringing me back out of my own little world.
"That, Rory, is what we are here to find out." I told him, looking at the steel doors in front of me as we continued to wait.
"Sounds like something a kid would say." Amy said, standing on my other side.
"Exactly. A scared kid. A very scared kid." The Doctor told her. "So scared that somehow its cry for help got through to us in the TARDIS."
I cleared my throat a little to get the Doctor's attention. "Yeah, and into my head." I noticed the strange looks that Amy and Rory were giving me and I let out a sigh. "While the Doctor received a message on the psychic paper, I got whispers in my mind. All part of the fun of being me. Got a feeling the child isn't exactly human."
The Doctor frowned at me. "What makes you say that, Star?"
"I'm not sure, just something that I'm feeling. You know me and my feelings, all over the place these days." I said, meaning it as a joke. Pretty sure the look on the Doctor's face meant that he didn't see it as a joke. "Doctor, there was Demons Run, three months without you, regenerating, the bond trying to kill me, and then some how managing to make it out alive. I am a mess, get used to it."
"Oh, Star. You're doing fine. I know a lot has happened but we've gotten through worse." The Doctor told me as we all waited for the lift. "Right, we need to split up and find this child." He announced to Amy and Rory. "We'll each take a floor."
"Wait, what exactly do you expect us to do?" Amy asked him, clearly not understanding what the Doctor was asking them to do.
"Well, you go and knock on the door, and make it up as you go along. We're looking for a scared child, it really can't be that hard." I told her, gripping the Doctor's hand just a little bit tighter. I couldn't explain why I was so nervous, but something was telling me that it was not going to be the most best of days.
"Right. Knock on doors and look for the kid. Okay." Amy said, nodding a little.
It didn't take long for the four of us to split up. Amy and Rory were both off searching a floor each, while I ended up being dragged along with the Doctor. "So, uh, why am I tagging along with you instead of searching a floor on my own like Amy and Rory are?" I asked him as we walked towards the next door.
He looked over at me and smiled. "Because I wanted you to be with me." He said, kissing my head quickly before knocking on the door.
"Hello!" The pair of us called as an elderly lady pulled the door open and the Doctor flashed her the psychic paper.
She looked at us, the expression she was wearing showed that she wasn't sure she trusted us. "Is it about the bins?" The woman finally asked us, causing the Doctor and I to look at her blankly.
"Sorry, Mrs…?" I said, trying to wrap my head around what she had just said. There couldn't be a monster in the bins, could there?
"Mrs Rossiter. And the bins. I can't be expected to get down all them stairs." She told us. "I need new knees." Her words made me smile and let out a breath of relief. At least she wasn't talking about there being a monster in the bins. "I've already got a new hip. I'll be able to manage when I get the knees. Up and down them stairs like Sherpa Tensing."
"Mrs Rossiter, have you noticed anything strange or odd going on around here recently?" I asked her, trying to get back to the real reason why we were there. I doubted there was a child living with her, she was a widowed old lady, clearly living alone.
"What do you mean, strange? What are you talking about?" She said, giving me a look that told me she thought I was crazy.
"Any problems? Anything out of the ordinary? Any of your neighbours acting strangely at all?" I rattled, wishing that I would just shut my mouth and let the Doctor do all the talking. I was pretty sure that I never used to talk as much as I was now.
The next thing either of us knew, the door was being slammed closed in our faces. "Well, that went slightly better." The Doctor said to me, giving my hand a little squeeze. "Come on, let's keep moving."
I let out a sigh and let the Doctor drag me along with him. So far, we had not had much luck at all. Either no one wanted to talk to us, or they just wanted to complain about something because they thought we were from the council. It was getting a little tiring and I just hoped that Amy and Rory had been having more luck than we had.
After a few more tries, and utter fails as well, the Doctor and I were ready to give up, until something caught my eye. The floor that Amy and Rory were walking along, there was a young boy, peeking out from his curtains, watching them.
"I think I've found him." I whispered to the man beside me, tugging at his arm a little and keeping my eyes fixed on the boy who was a floor down from us. Neither of the Pond's had noticed the boy, they had walked right past him. "Come on, let's meet up with our favourite Ponds." I said, dragging him around for once instead.
"Hey, any luck?" Amy asked, the moment that she spotted us.
"Three old ladies." The Doctor told her.
"A traffic warden from Croatia." I added.
"And a man with ten cats." The Doctor finished, leaving Amy and Rory to look at us strangely. "What?" He asked, noticing the look as well.
Amy just shook her head, a little smile on her face. "What are we actually looking for?" Rory asked, still not entirely sure what the hell we were meant to be doing.
I let out a sigh, and glanced over to where the Doctor and I had both seen that little boy. "Scared kid, remember?" I said, hardly even bothering to look at Amy or Rory.
"I found scary kids. Does that count?" Amy asked. I knew that there were plenty of children living in the block, that much was clear, but it was just making sure we found the right child. Amy had seen other children but clearly not one that was scared of the monsters.
The Doctor gave me a worried look as I phased out. "Er, try the next floor down. Catch you later." I heard him say, before he was tugging at my arm and dragging me along the corridor with him. "Star, are you sure you're okay? I keep losing you, you keep drifting off." He said to me quietly.
I could see from the look on his face that he was worried. "Of course I'm okay. I'm more worried about this child." I admitted to him. "We both know what monsters live in a child's bedroom, and if this child can send a message through time and space to both of us, he must be absolutely terrified."
He pulled me closer towards him and placed a light kiss on my temple as he carried on leading me forward. "Come on, we have a pretty good idea of where the child is. Soon this will all be sorted and we can go back to the TARDIS and do what ever you want." I could feel that something was wrong, there was a strange energy coming from all around me, and I didn't like it.
I looked over and him and smiled. He always knew the right things to say to ease my mind and calm me down, every single time. "Well then, we better go and save this scared child from the monsters."
A few short minutes later, we were standing outside of the flat where we had both seen the little boy that was peeking out of the window. The Doctor was quick to knock on the door and flash the psychic paper to the man who answered.
"Oh, right, that was quick." The man said, taking both the Doctor and I by surprise. Clearly he had been expecting someone, but that someone really wasn't us.
"Was it?" The Doctor asked, while I took the psychic paper and had a glance at it.
"Claire said she'd phone someone. Social services." The man told us. It all made a little more sense then, that was who he thought we were, from social services. "It's not easy, you know. Admitting your kid's got a problem."
The Doctor just smiled at him as he took his psychic paper back and shoved it back into his pocket. "You've got a problem. We've got a problem. I bet they're connected. I'm the Doctor. Call me Doctor. And this is Star." He said, giving my hand a slight squeeze. "What can we call you?"
"Alex."
I smiled at the man. "Hello, Alex. Would it be okay to come in?" I asked, just before the Doctor decided that he wasn't going to wait for an answer and just waltzed right in, leaving Alex standing there as I had been dragged along inside as well.
"So, tell us about George." The Doctor said, having noticed the nameplate on the door that we had both seen. But that was when I felt it, a strong surge of energy, making me feel slightly sick once more.
The man led us into the living room, while the Doctor grabbed some of the photo albums and started to just nose through them without even asking Alex. I wanted to roll my eyes at him, and scold him for it, but I wanted to have a nose through those pictures as well.
It took a few minutes and some encouraging smiles to get Alex to finally start talking. "Ever since he was born he's been a funny kid."
"Funny's good. We like funny, don't we?" The Doctor said, looking over at George's father and then to me. All I could do was give him a soft smile, because he was my Doctor, and he sure was funny some times.
"He never cries." Alex told us nervously. "Bottles it all up, I suppose. Tell him off, he just looks at you." I really did feel sorry for the man, he had no idea what to do and the way he was acting, at least it showed that he did care about his son.
"And how old is George?" I asked the man softly as the Doctor carried on flipping through the album.
"He was eight in January." Alex replied, while the Doctor focused on the page of George from when he was born. There were pictures of his mother, Claire, holding him and smiling away. "I mean, he should be growing out of stuff like this, shouldn't he?"
"Maybe." The Doctor said, closing the photo album and putting it down on the coffee table that was in front of us. "It's got worse though lately?"
The man nodded at the pair of us. "Yeah. We talked about getting help. You know, maybe sending him somewhere." Straight away I felt a shift in the atmosphere, as if what Alex had said was making me feel uncomfortable. "He started getting these nervous tics. You know, funny little cough, blinking all the time. But now it's got completely out of hand. I mean, he's scared to death of everything."
"Pantaphobia." I looked at the Doctor just as Alex did. Clearly I wasn't the only one confused with the lone word that had come from the Doctor's mouth. "That's what it's called. Pantaphobia. Not a fear of pants though, if that's what you're thinking. It's a fear of everything. Including pants, I suppose, in that care. Sorry. Carry on."
"He hates clowns." Alex said, before I elbowed the Doctor just as he was about to make a comment. I knew he wasn't a big fan of clowns, he never had been. Makes it a little difficult to go and visit the circus when he has a thing about the clowns. "Old toys. He things the old lady across the way is a witch. He hates having a bath in case there's something under the water. The lift sounds like someone breathing." He said, before letting out a sigh. "Look, I don't know. I'm not the expert. Maybe you two can get through to him."
The Doctor and I both looked at the man and smiled as best we could. "We'll do our best." The Doctor told him, giving my hand a squeeze.
After a little more talking, there was a loud thumping noise coming from George's bedroom. The three of us were quick to get up and head towards the boys bedroom, the Doctor and I prepared to help in any way we could. "George? You okay?" His father asked him, opening the door to the room and stepping inside. "What's the matter?" The young boy on the bed just looked at him while Alex picked up the blue lamp that had been knocked over. "Oh, never mind. Were you having a nightmare, son?"
"Wasn't a nightmare. I wasn't asleep." George replied, before spotting the Doctor and I standing over by the open door. "Who are you?"
"I'm the Doctor, and this is Star." He told the child, while I gave him a little wave with a soft smile on my face. It was easy for me to see that he was absolutely terrified, even if no one else could see it.
"A doctor? Have you come to take me away?" George asked, a slight hint of panic buried under his tone. That was worrying, that the thought of a doctor made him lead to the conclusion he was going to be taken away.
"No, no one is here to take you away, George." I told him, taking a step closer towards him. "We just want to talk to you, is that okay?"
He looked at me, his eyes boring into me as if he was trying to work out if I was telling him the truth or not. It was slightly unnerving, but I knew he was scared. "What about?"
"About the monsters." The Doctor spoke, getting his attention and eyes off me. There was some recognition and relief in George's expression, especially when the Doctor mentioned the monsters. I let out a long breath, glad that we had found the child who had been calling for our help.
The Doctor sat himself down at the end of George's bed, picking up the Rubik cube that he had seen and focusing on that. I sat closer to George, giving him a reassuring smile, which I actually received back. There was something about him, something different, and I could just sense it, but not quite work it out.
"Maybe it was things on the telly, you know?" Alex suggested, pacing around the room a little, trying to find his own explanation for what was wrong with his son. "Scary stuff, getting under his skin, frightening him." The Doctor was still too busy playing with the damn cube, and still no closer to solving it. "We stopped letting him watch."
That grasped the Doctor's attention a little. "Oh, you don't want to do that." He said, giving George a little smile.
"And Claire thought it might be something he was reading."
"great. Reading's great." The Doctor called, getting a little excited. "You like stories, George?" The little boy just nodded back. "Yeah? Me too, and Star. When we were your age, about, ooh, a thousand years ago…" I whacked him on the arm a little, trying to get him to shut up. Not only was I not as old as him, but we didn't need to child to freak out because we weren't human.
"This one here loves a good bedtime story." I told George, nodding towards the Doctor.
"The Three Little Sontarans. The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes. Snow White and The Seven Keys To Doomsday, eh? All the classics." The Doctor told him, making me roll my eyes and want to whack him again. Suddenly the Rubik cube came flying at me. "Rubbish. Must be broken. I hate those things." He said, making me grin a little. He always got grumpy when he couldn't do something.
"I love them. What about you George? Do you like puzzles like this?" I asked him, getting a nod once more. I found it a little strange that he was keeping so quiet, that he wasn't saying very much. But I could understand it since he was rather scared. "You know, there's a simply little trick to this. You watching?" I asked, before making several twists of the cube with a smile on my face. A few seconds later, I held out the cube, perfectly completed.
George smiled at me, while the Doctor snatched it out of my hand. "How did you do that?" He demanded, turning it over in his hand as he looked at it. "I started it off for you. I done most of it." He said, before tossing it to the floor, earning himself a glare from me and a frown from Alex. "Better tidy it away." The Doctor said, getting up from the bed and picking it up. "How about in here?" The Doctor asked, looking towards the wardrobe.
My head snapped to look at George when I heard him gasping, and a terrified look took over his face. "No, definitely not in there." I said, glancing over at the Doctor and Alex before turning back to George. "Why not in there, George?"
Before he had a chance to answer me, Alex had jumped in and was explaining it. "It's at… thing. Thing we got him doing ages back. Anything that frightens him, we put it in the cupboard. Creepy toys, scary pictures, that sort of thing."
"And is that where the monsters go?" I asked, still sitting on the bed with the boy. He didn't say anything, he didn't even move, but the slight shaking of his body told me everything. "Yeah."
"There's nothing to be scared of, George." The Doctor assured him. "It's just a cupboard." He said, stepping towards the wardrobe and getting ready to turn the key to open it.
He stopped when there was a loud banging, making all four of us jump and George pull the covers up over his head. "Front door." Alex told us, before walking out of the room and going to see who was there.
"Doctor, something is so totally wrong here." I called to him, keeping an eye on George out of the corner of my eye.
He nodded at me a little as he stood by the wardrobe still. "I know. I can feel it."
"No, it's more than that. Doctor, there is something else going on as well. More than just the monsters. I'm getting the strangest feeling… like there is this… I don't know, other form of energy at work around here." I said, before frowning a little. "Does that even make any sense?"
"To me, yes. You've always been able to sense and feel more, because that's just who you are. So what do you feel?" He asked, coming and sitting down on the bed next to me, looking over at the locked wardrobe still.
"Uh, well, it's powerful energy." I told him, trying to think of the best way to explain it all. "And it is definitely not human either. I could feel it when we were walking around, but it feels stronger here." I said, letting my eyes lock on to the wardrobe once more.
The Doctor nodded at me, and whipped out his sonic screwdriver and turned it on. "Is that a torch?" George asked him, no longer paying attention to the conversation his father was having with who I could only assume was the landlord.
"Screwdriver." The Doctor told him, a smile on his face as he turned it off for a moment. "A sonic one." He added, plopping himself down on the bed with George and myself.
I couldn't help but grin a little. "And other stuff." I said, giving the Doctor a nudge, and sending a huge smile at George.
"Please may I see the other stuff?" George asked us politely. I couldn't help but think that he seemed such a nice young boy. The way his father spoke about him, he made it sound like he was different, strange, but he was just like any other child, and he was afraid of the monsters.
"You may." The Doctor told him, before pointing his screwdriver at all the toys that were spread across the floor od the bedroom. They all came to life, blinking and making noise and moving around, leaving George sitting there stunned.
"Pretty cool, eh, George?" I said, keeping an eye on him out of the corner of my eye. We had no idea if any of those toys would set him of, scare him. Instead, a huge smile spread across his face as the Doctor scanned some more of the toys. "That's more like it." I couldn't help but smile more as George smiled as well.
"No tears from George, that's what I've heard." The Doctor said, unable to stop himself from smiling as well. "Go no, give us a smile. There's a brave little soldier."
All of a sudden I noticed the sad look that had taken over the Doctor's face. "What's the matter?" I asked him, full of worry. His expression didn't change that quickly for no reason at all.
"Children. Not exactly my forte. More yours." The Doctor told me. I could tell he was trying to be delicate, because it was still a topic that was hard, for both of us.
"Well, I think you're going just fine." I told him in reassurance. I could understand how difficult it was for him, he had never had much experience with children whereas I had. It didn't matter that mine always ended in disaster and heartache, I always loved the children that I came across. "So, are we going to open the cupboard?"
He nodded at me before pushing himself up off the bed. "Let's open this cupboard, eh? There is nothing to be…" The Doctor trailed off as he scanned the wooden wardrobe. The pitch of his screwdriver just kept getting higher and higher, making me just a tad nervous. "Off the scale. How?" He whispered to me, sitting back down on the bed, seemingly a little shocked.
A moment later, George's father came back into the bedroom. "Right. Sorry about that. So, have we got this thing open yet?" Alex asked, heading straight to go and open the cupboard.
The Doctor was quickly on his feet, stopping him from doing anything. "No! No, no, no, no, no. You don't want to do that." He told him. Blocking anyone from getting to the doors to open them.
"Why?" Alex asked, a little bemused.
"Because George's monsters are real." I told them, wrapping an arm around the child, sensing his fear levels rising. "That's why it's off the scale, because they are real, and they are all in that cupboard. What does he do with the things he's afraid of?" I reminded the Doctor. It was clear that this wasn't going to be as simple as we first thought.
A/N: Once again, I am so sorry for such a long wait for this chapter. Life really did get in the way once more. Only two more weeks left at uni and then we break for the holidays, so plenty of time to catch up and write.
Thank you to everyone who has stuck by this story, all my followers, you are totally awesome. And a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed, you make me smile and encourage me to get my head down and actually write.
I'm going to shut up now, I need to finish the next chapter for you all so that you don't have to wait another 3 months.
Pippa.
