Title: Mind Games
Rated: PG
Warnings: darkish themes, language, sexual overtones.
Summary: D9, Jack, and Rose have to track down a being with strong telepathic powers to solve a murder.


Chapter Three - The Nightmare Begins
Last she remembered, The Doctor had not made the TARDIS travel. But, they had stepped out the door within an hour of Jack's disappearance and found themselves standing in the middle of a vast city. Most of the buildings were rather dilapidated except for one that towered over them all. The tall building gleamed like a silver tower above the failing skeletons of the older buildings.

"It's almost like a nightmare, Doctor," Rose said quietly. "How did we get here?"

"He can control time and existence remember?" The Doctor reminded. Rose jumped slightly when The Doctor took her hand. "Stay close. If I feel cold, don't believe a word I say." All she could do was nod mutely as The Doctor led her through the abandoned streets. "He wants us to find him. It's my bet he's in that building." The Doctor looked up at the topmost floors of the building where every light glowed in the windows. "And I'll take further bets that Jack is somewhere in those top two floors."

A faint wind blew, rustling the exposed interior of the old buildings. Rose huddled herself closer to The Doctor. She could have sworn she had seen people with the strangest of markings and appearances. They had looked like creatures she had dreams of long before she had ever met The Doctor. She kept her hand clutched to the warmth of The Doctor's hand as he purposely strode through the empty streets. He looked neither left nor right, only straight ahead.

Finally, they were able to see the entrance into the towering building. The sign outside the building was made of several stone letters that spelled out two words: BAD WOLF. Rose looked at the building where the words "Bad Wolf Corporation" were perched over the doors in gleaming silver letters.

"I don't like this place Doctor," Rose commented.

"We need to get Jack back though Rose," The Doctor said solemnly. He looked down at her and smiled smugly. "Or I could go in and you could just stay out here?"

Rose looked around and saw some of the menacing figures beginning to creep out of their hiding places. She looked back up at The Doctor quickly. "I think I'll go with you to find Jack." She wasted no time and ran to the entrance, pushing the doors open. Her heart fell as she looked around what she supposed to be the lobby of the building. The Doctor jogged up behind her.

"No lift," The Doctor pointed out. "No stairs. No way out other than the way we came in."

"This can't be right," Rose said, walking into the dust covered lobby. Old cobwebs dangled from archways in the middle of blank wall. She turned as she heard the entrance doors close. "Doctor!" she pointed at the doors, which no longer existed.

The Doctor turned to look at where the door once was. "Correction, now we have no way out." He sighed heavily and explored the span of the lobby. Finally he returned to a tattered and dusty chair. "You know what this means, right Rose?"

Rose turned to look at the Doctor as he plopped down in the plush chair, sending dust and God knows what else flying into the air. "What does it mean Doctor?" she asked shakily.

"It means we make ourselves comfortable and wait for him to give us a way up or a way out," he Doctor propped an ankle on his knee and bobbed his foot playfully. "I'm pretty sure he's just testing us. Just remember to stay close. Last thing we probably want to do is get separated."

Rose scurried over and took a seat next to The Doctor, on the floor. She looped an arm around the leg that was propping the other one up. Though she knew it would most likely drive her mad, Rose set herself on the mindset of not once letting go of The Doctor while in the building.

888

They both jerked themselves awake at the sound of lift echoing through the hallow building. Rose wiped her mouth from where she had been drooling in her sleep. The Doctor haphazardly brushed at the wet spot her drooling had formed on the side of his trouser leg. She looked up at him and smiled apologetically.

Out of nowhere, as if it were a long lost relative of the TARDIS, a set of silver doors slowly appeared in the middle of one of the cobweb laced arches. The Doctor and Rose pulled themselves to their feet as the doors finished materializing and the clanking of the lift stopped. The doors gave a loud, eerie thump and began to slowly open.

A familiar form was standing in the lift. He had a cut over his eye, mouth bleeding, several articles of his clothing torn and covered with evidence of a fight. But, he looked ready to faint out.

"Jack!" Rose called, rushing to catch Jack before he fell. The Doctor reached him the same time she had and helped her hold him up. "Let's hurry and get back to the TARDIS, Doctor."

Before they could turn and start walking out of the lift with Jack, the doors snapped shut. The Doctor studied Jack's slacked face. The young man's skin was moderately cool, but that was to be expected in such circumstances wasn't it? Especially when there was no telling what he had been put through to get him in such a weakened state.

Rose adjusted herself uncomfortably until Jack was perched on her back, primed for being dragged about. "There's twenty-nine floors, Doctor. Perhaps we should start at the top most floor? That would be the obvious location wouldn't it?" She shifted her weight again, trying to keep Jack in a good position on her back.

The Doctor muttered to himself under his breath, "Yes, yes… That would be the most likely choice…" The Doctor smiled with pride. "But! He would be expecting us to know that was the most likely place would be… So! That means…" The Doctor dropped his tone and looked at Rose in an almost psychotic manner. "He is, of course, on the twenty-eighth floor. You are bloody fantastic Rose." A thoughtful look crossed his features. "Unless of course he thought that we would think we would think he was on the twenty-ninth floor and we would think to look on the twenty-eighth floor…"

"Doctor, you're not making any sense, as usual," Rose commented.

"I'm making perfect sense, Rose," The Doctor grinned. "It's all one big mind game and I am loving it!" The Doctor was quiet for a moment then jabbed the button for the twenty-eighth floor. "Just remember, we need to stay together… All three of us. We'll do better together instead of apart."

The lift moved slowly up the shaft. Occasionally, The Doctor would see Rose look up at him expectantly, he would give her an encouraging smile.

Third floor? It had taken nearly five minutes just to get to the third floor from the first. The Doctor couldn't help but know that this was indeed going to be a very taxing lift ride.

"Doctor," Rose said in a hushed voice. "Were you anywhere near my room before Jack started crying out for help?"

"I had stopped in a few minutes before to see if you were sleeping," The Doctor replied, burying his hands in his pockets. "You were, so I went back to my room to read. Did you get up and go to mine at any time?"

"No, why? Did you see me in your room? He made you see me in there didn't he? Just like he made me see you," Rose said with a panicked tone. "What did you see?"

The Doctor looked down at Rose with a half smile. "Nothing really. You?"

Rose looked straight ahead and tried to adjust Jack again. "The same. Nothing to out of sorts." She glanced at The Doctor slightly then went back to looking at the lift doors.

The Doctor followed Rose's lead and simply looked straight ahead, only with an annoying smirk on his lips. "Liar."

"Takes one to know one," Rose retorted. She was quiet a long moment -- eighth floor -- then sighed heavily as if annoyed. "Come on, tell me what you saw Doctor? I know it involved me in some form otherwise you wouldn't have asked if I had been in your room."

The Doctor tried to choose his words carefully, then figured it would be best to turn her words around on her. "I guess I could say the same to you Rose. So, more accurately, what did you see me doing?" He looked over at Rose. Her gaze was fixed firmly on the lift doors, though her cheeks were gently flushed.

Rose bit her bottom lip. "It wasn't just you, you know. Jack was there too." She looked up at him and away again. It was a small habit she had when she was lying, looking at him then looking away. "The two of you were trying to get me to go on some sort of adventure."

The Doctor leaned back against the back of the lift and gave a slight laugh. Rose lowered Jack to the floor and turned to face The Doctor.

"What's so funny Doctor? You don't believe me?"

"Let us pretend for a moment I do," The Doctor teased. "Was it you or me in the middle? Or was it me or Jack acting as the voyeur?"

Rose's jaw dropped in shock. "Doctor! What makes you think that I was ---"

"You're a fully human girl with a ravenous sexual appetite," The Doctor interrupted. "And if there's anything I know it's what human girls think when given the chance to let their minds wander to the forbidden. I've seen it too many times."

"Well," Rose huffed. "In that case, what was I doing in your room?"

"Just being yourself," The Doctor replied smartly.

"Bullocks," Rose coughed. "Like you knowing how human girls' mind work, I know how a man's mind work."

"But I'm the first alien you've met so how can you say that?"

"Well, you're half human. So I half way know what you're thinking," Rose insisted.

"Who says I'm half?"

Rose opened her mouth to say something and then stopped with a confused expression on her face. She rubbed her temples as if she were getting a bad headache. "A voice," she murmured. "It knows you and what you are." She squeezed her eyes shut tightly. "Doctor… Make him stop."

The Doctor grasped Rose' shoulders. "Concentrate on something else Rose… Push him out of your mind. Tell him he's lying about whatever he's making you see."

Rose released a heavy exhale and looked up at The Doctor. "It seemed so real," she whispered. "But cold… so cold." Rose looked up at him, there was an intense emptiness in her eyes. The Doctor shook his head to clear it then reopened his eyes.

Rose was still standing beside him, supporting Jack against her shoulders. She sighed heavily and looked up at his stunned expression.

"What?" she asked, looking at him oddly. "Are you okay Doctor?"

The Doctor looked at the floor counter. It read that they were on the twenty-fifth floor. The lift seemed to be moving much faster than it had previously been moving. "What was the last thing I said to you?"

"That we needed to stay together… Then you looked off with that daft expression of contentment you always get when on a dangerous mission."

The lift came to a smooth stop and the doors slid open. Rose dragged Jack from the lift. The Doctor moved to follow but something seemed to be holding him in place. Rose turned sharply, panic crossed her features.

"Doctor!"

"Stay here with Jack, Rose! If you loose him we may not find him again," the doctor called as the lift doors slammed shut. As soon as they were firmly shut, The Doctor was able to move. The suddenness of the ability made him fall forward against the cold metal doors.

It could have only meant one thing… The man they were after was, in fact, on the twenty-ninth floor. He just hoped Rose would not get the bright idea to follow him upwards.