Chapter 2
"Rachel I'm home!" Aaron yelled into her apartment. It was beautiful, and huge. The kitchen, dining room, living room, and what looked like a computer room were all hocked together, separated by non-see through plastic.
"Aaron!" A voice resonated throughout the apartment. A teenager, around the same age as Aaron, came running in. "Look what the cat dragged in."
"Nice to see you too," Aaron rolled her eyes and gave her best friend a hug.
"Who are you friends?"
"Right! Rachel, I would like you to meet my brother Theta, Rose, and Jack." Aaron said and went down the line.
"Nice to meet ya'll. Your just in time! I was about to make supper! Go make your self at home, and you," She pointed to Aaron, "have some explaining to do."
After getting the other three settled, (Theta and Jack were arguing about some Sci-Fi movie she had popped in, and Rose had fallen asleep on one of the couches), Aaron went to go help Rachel.
"What happened Air? You look worse then last time."
"I feel worse Rachel. I nearly died out there. And finding those three and protecting Rose and the tot, my job just got a whole lot worse."
Rachel bent down and gave her friend a hug. "You'll get through it Air, I know it. You have me, and now those three by your side. There's nothing you can't do."
"Thanks Rachel."
"No prob. Now come on, lets finish supper before the boys start complaining."
After supper, they all gathered around and talked about random parts of their lives. They were all surprised (besides Aaron) that Rachel new so much about time travel and time lords themselves, but that was all cleared up when Aaron said that they both time traveled before Aaron found them Around eleven, Rose was starting to get tired so Aaron led her to one of the many bedrooms. Theta soon followed. Jack watched the rest of the movie and headed off to another one of the unoccupied bedrooms. Rachel and Aaron were the last ones left.
"What happened while I was gone?"
"Same old same old. Are you going back to work tomorrow?"
"No, not until i get my leg fixed."
"Right, forgot."
Aaron laughed, "It's alright. I'm tired so I'm going to go to bed. Night Rach!"
"Night Air!"
A sheen of sweat could be seen on the man's face as he kneeled in front of the girl, his hands tight and shaking on her small shoulders. The sounds of screaming and crying resounded outside the flimsy shelter walls. The noise of the flying crafts shrieked their presence.
"Listen to me, child—there is little time. STAY HERE AND DO NOT MOVE. Understand, little one? Don't leave the hearth no matter what."
"Father? What's happening?" asked the child tearfully, staring up at her father's wild eyes.
"Stay here," he only commanded, bending his head forward to touch his forehead with her tiny one. "I will return for you—I promise."
And with that, he rushed out of the tent, leaving the stunned child. She stared uncomprehendingly at the way her father had left. Where was he going? Why did she have to stay? Shaken and heart hammering in her throat, the girl crouched underneath a root-rack, her still-damp brown hair covering her eyesight. The noises of peoples' screams were lesser now; fewer and fewer people cried out with fear and panic. Even the buzzing of the ships were less and less.
She was afraid to move, almost afraid to breath. She lay perfectly still, eyes wide open, seeing nothing. Where was her father? Why didn't he come to comfort her?
After what seemed to be longest eternity, the screaming stopped. Simply . . . stopped, as if there was no one there to voice their terror. Even the buzzing had ceased. Was it safe to come out now? Just as the girl was beginning to unfold herself from the small space, low hisses and rumbling voices alerted her that all was not abandoned.
Something or someone was out there. Hardly daring to breathe, the girl waited in the lean-to, her heart beating rapidly. There were the sounds of someone removing layers of some sort of cart away. Another moment of silence before the sound of a man's strangled begging and triumphant hissing filled the air. Peeking her head a little the girl saw the silhouette of a figure holding another figure by its throat. That man . . . it sounded like her father! Father!
The oppression of the situation was almost too great to bear. As the figure of her father dangled, the other figure slammed something on her father. The screams before was nothing compared to this! The crescendo of agony that ripped from the man's lips was nothing the girl had every heard.
"Nooo! Father! Father!"
"Aaron! Aaron!"
Who's calling!
"Aaron, wake up!"
Her eyes flew open at once. She was obviously breathing really hard and sweating all over. Her body felt cold and she was shivering while her face looked pale and her eyes showed that of fear. It was a matter of time before she finally realized that she was in somebody's arms. "J--Jack?" She stammered. Still in shock, she looked up and saw a pair of gray eyes (A/N i think) looking down at her with concern. Jack pulled a smile on his face, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "It's me, you don't have to be scared. Take a deep breath. You're gonna be okay..." He assured her in his usual soft yet caring tone. As he finished his words, the walls that she'd been guarding crumbled and she broke down to cry in his arms. Jack held her close and caressed her hair.
She began to relax and felt everything was back to normal. Jack was still holding her, though; and she thanked God for that. "Are you feeling better?" He asked, softly. She simply nodded and pulled away a little.
"Nightmare?"
She nodded feebly. He smiled at that. "Want to tell me about it? Maybe, it would make you feel much better."
'Tell him what? The dreadful nightmare?' Her practical side asked inwardly. Should she tell him about it? Would it make her feel better? Or..Would it make her feel worse?
Sensing her hesitation, Jack stated, "You know, dreams sometimes tell us what we least expect. We can choose either to make it come true or make it disappear. People say if you tell others about your dream or nightmare, it would never come true." She looked at his concerned face for a while and then sighed. She told herself to relax. ' Okay, Aaron. Here goes...' She told him all about the nightmare.
When she was done, Jack pulled her into a hug, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know." When she didn't respond, he looked down and noticed her asleep. He smiled and laid her back down and put the blankets back over her. When he went to move away, he was stopped, "Stay." Jack smiled and laid down beside her. She curled up to him and he instinctively pulled her to his chest.
After a while, Aaron's breath evened out, she was in a deep sleep. "Night Aaron." Jack said and placed a kiss on her head and soon fell asleep.
