My Ghosts Come Back

by AuthorA97

Donna Blipping Noble. She can feel something coming. Bigger than any of them. The Doctor is more worried about the Time Lady than ever. There's River Song, and Jenny, and so many other people that when Rose shows up Terra isn't even surprised. (Part 5 of Fallen Star Series!)

16. Midnight

It was coming soon. Terra could feel it in her bones. Her hearts, oh they cried something fierce. Every beat repelled the thought with all it had. Her bones sang out in relieved joy. Terra herself sang every step she took. Everything was gonna be okay.

It's not okay. None of it was.

Three weeks went by without protest. Okay, that was a fib. Three weeks came by with a lot of protest. They kept on running. Planet saving. Terra saved and helped more than expected. That boosted her spirits. The protests did not come from her.

The Doctor fought to keep Terra by his side. Not because Terra wandered off or anything. No, not at all. The fault lied in Donna. Donna usually dragged the teenager off with her. Kept insisting that Terra needed to expand her horizons, to experience things that didn't involve whatever the Doctor was doing. Terra tried to say no, to stay with him like she usually did. It hurt his feelings.

(She would leave him. She should spend the remaining time as close to him as possible.)

Donna reminded Terra. Every time. The Doctor's feelings weren't control commands for Terra.

She kept reminding Terra.

A lot.

Like, all the time, a lot.

Terra appreciated it.

She used it. Sometimes. Donna was a human, and as such needed sleep. (Hypothetically, would the more Time Lord Donna require less sleep? Terra never wanted to find out). Usually, the Doctor and Terra did small scale adventures when the companion slept.

The first time came, as it often did, with Rose. After the Ninth Doctor found out Terra was a Time Lady, after they both realized how little sleep they got. A small adventure, barely worthy of note to Rose. A one-off. A one-off that became weekly. Then he regenerated, and the adventures became more common.

Rose left. The adventures never stopped. If anything, they did more. Terra barely slept until Martha arrived. The adventures slowed, yes, but slowly came back as Terra wanted to show Rebel around the stars. The Doctor picked them back up just before they became human.

Terra regenerated. The adventures became trips around the Haven.

The Master returned.

There hadn't been many adventures. Not until Donna came, and brought with her a normal human sleep routine. That meant their usual Time Lord only missions were back on the market.

But Terra remembered the things Donna said. That the Doctor's feelings should not control Terra. That Terra was completely free to make her own choices, outside of the 'Doctor-Time Lord-yes' input.

She found herself...asking not to. She asked to stay in the TARDIS, for a little while.

Terra rambled excuses at him constantly. The TARDIS library probably had some improvements made since last time. That pool! Terra missed that pool- she could go for a few laps, if the Doctor wanted to join. Oh! Oh! What about the kitchen? Terra would like to cook in the kitchen again. The TARDIS could even have new good (really bad) movies to watch (make fun of)!

The Doctor stopped her every time.

Always with a 'yes'.

Every. Time.

Yeah it was weird. Terra did not like weird.

No wait. She loved weird. What she didn't like was 'people being nice instead of mean' weird. Terra hated that weird with a burning passion.

The Doctor loved their little adventures. He rarely gave it up. Those rare circumstances being if he needed to sleep or thought Terra needed it. Once? Maybe. Consistently? Weird.

If they were already on an adventure, most of the time they would sleep in a hotel. This resulted in waking up Donna. Alarms for an apocalypse tended to do that.

But any other time, Terra asked to stay. The Doctor said yes. They stayed.

She hated it.

She wanted to go to her room. Let her hide. Let her work, finish her Plan for her and Darcy's next adventure. The Doctor gave her no time. Terra scribbled notes on notecards as they watched a movie. While reading, Terra pretended to read while actually comparing notes, only for the Doctor to start a heated debate over a book. The kitchen? Terra kept the Doctor from upgrading the oven.

It...was fine. Terra could...excuse it. The Plans were...fine. They were fine. They'd do in a pinch. Darcy would still like it.

(It made her skin crawl)

Terra could swallow it down.

There should be time today for it. Terra was certain. With the bright light of Xtonic sunlight, Terra believed she could do anything. Within 4 hours, anyway.

==MGCB==

"Are you sure?" Donna asked.

"Very sure." I replied. Donna wanted to visit the spa. Though I loved spending time with her and the Doctor, sometimes I was made to choose. Those times I ended up choosing the Doctor.

I shouldn't, really.

But I really wanted to meet Jethro. He looked cool.

I held up my phone so the Doctor could hear her too. "I don't like spas like you do."

"You like the mud baths." Donna reminded me.

"Only if my pig is there, which she isn't." I countered. The Doctor grinned. "Are you sure you don't want to come? It's a sapphire waterfall. It sounds exciting!"

"Is the Doctor there? Can he hear me?"

"Yeah?"

"Then you tell him I've not changed my mind." Donna stated.

I glanced up at him. "Doc Brown, Donna said-"

"I heard." The Doctor nodded. "But Donna-" He leaned forward so he could speak into the receiver. "-it's a waterfall made of sapphires. This enormous jewel, the size of a glacier reaches the Cliffs of Oblivion, and then shatters into sapphires at the edge. They fall a hundred thousand feet into a crystal ravine."

"I bet you say that to all the girls." Donna teased.

"He has!" I giggled.

A small ding went off. Looking back, we saw people boarding the ship.

"They're boarding right now!" I told Donna. "Come on! Don't make us ride it alone for four whole hours!"

"Oi." The Doctor bumped my arm. I giggled again.

"No, that's four hours there and four hours back. That's like a school trip. If you're really so miserable, come sunbathing with me." Donna argued.

"You be careful, that's Xtonic sunlight." The Doctor reminded her.

"Oh, I'm safe. It says in the brochure this glass is fifteen feet thick." Donna told him. "Terra?"

"I want to-"

"Well, we give up. We'll be back for dinner." The Doctor spoke fast, talking over me. We'll try that anti-gravity restaurant. With bibs."

"That's a date." Donna replied. "Well, not a date. Oh, you know what I mean. Oh, get off."

"Dinner with the mates." I giggled. Donna verbally rolled her eyes. "Toodleloo, Donna!"

"Oi, and you be careful, all right?" Donna asked me.

"With the Frizz on the magic school bus? No way!" I joked.

"Yeah, we're only taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight." The Doctor shrugged. "What could possibly go wrong?"

I ended the call. "Ready?"

The Doctor grinned. "You know it."

We walked on board.

Into battle we go.

==MGCB==

The Doctor and I got seats close to the front. I'd wanted the seats one row back, so I could put my feet up. Given how the rest of the ride would go, I figured it would be fine to go along with the Doctor.

Besides, Hobbes and DeeDee came in to take those seats. I couldn't rob them of it.

I knelt up on the seat, watching as new people walked in. The Doctor sat, smiling to himself.

The Hostess rolled up to us with her cart. She started handing us pairs of little baggies. "Those are the headphones for channels one to thirty six. Modem links for 3D vidgames. Complimentary earplugs. Complimentary slippers. Complimentary juice packs and complimentary peanuts."

The Doctor took the items. I kept watching people come aboard.

"I must warn you some products may contain nuts."

"That'll be the peanuts." The Doctor joked.

"Don't mind him. He thinks he's funny."

The Hostess smiled politely. "Enjoy your trip."

"Oh, we can't wait. Allons-y." The Doctor cheered.

The Hostess paused. "I'm sorry?"

The Doctor started handing items over to me, slipping them into my skirt pocket. "It's French, for let's go."

"Fascinating." The Hostess moved to Hobbes and DeeDee.

"Toodleloo!" I waved my hand at her.

'Terra, sit down. It's rude.'

'Since when have you ever known what's rude?'

'Donna whacked it in my head well enough.'

'And you listened? Who are you, and where is the Doctor?'

'Well if you put it like that.' The Doctor knelt on his seat too, turning back to see our fellow passengers.

The Hostess held out the items to DeeDee. Hobbes just settled in his seat, getting himself situated. "Headphones for channels one to thirty six."

"Oh no, thank you, not for us." Hobbes said.

"Earplugs, please." DeeDee asked.

The Hostess passed them over. "There you go."

"They call it the Sapphire Waterfall, but it's no such thing." Hobbes explained to DeeDee. "Sapphire's an aluminium oxide, but the glacier is just compound silica with iron pigmentation."

'That's not as good a name.' I thought.

'It's really not.' The Doctor agreed.

The Hostess moved ahead to the family. "Complimentary juice pack and complimentary peanuts."

The mother nodded. "Thank you."

"Have you got that pillow for my neck?" Hobbes asked DeeDee.

"Yes, sir."

"And the pills?"

"Yes, all measured out for you. There you go."

"I like the name. Sapphire Waterfall." I spoke up. Hobbes and DeeDee looked up at us. "It's pretty!"

Hobbes held up his hand. The Doctor shook it. I reached out for DeeDee. "Hobbes. Professor Winfold Hobbes."

"I'm the Doctor. Hello." The Doctor introduced.

"Where's Calvin?" I asked, as I reached to shake his hand. DeeDee shook the Doctor's.

"I'm sorry, who?" Hobbes asked.

"It- It's nothing." The Doctor replied. "That's Terra, my friend."

I waved.

"It's my fourteenth time." Hobbes explained.

"Oh. Our first." The Doctor cheered.

"And you?" I asked her.

"And I'm Dee Dee, Dee Dee Blasco." DeeDee nodded her head, polite. "I've not been yet-"

"Don't bother the nice people. Where's my water bottle?" Hobbes chided.

DeeDee reached for her bag. I frowned.

The Hostess handed out the last few items to the family. As she walked off, the mother looked over at her son. The teenager sat on the other side of the aisle from them.

"Don't be silly. Come and sit with us." Val scolded. "Look, we get slippers."

"Jethro. Do what your mother says." Biff ordered.

I slipped down in my seat, unwilling to look any longer. It hurt my hearts to watch it.

"I'm sitting here." Jethro insisted.

Biff scoffed. "Oh, he's ashamed of us, but he doesn't mind us paying, does he?"

"Oh, don't you two start." Val scolded him. I relaxed against my seat, reaching in my pocket for the headphones. "Should I save the juice pack or have it now? Look, peach and clementine."

The Hostess took her place at the front of the car. I watched her walk.

The Doctor held up his bag of peanuts. 'Did you want these?'

'No, peanuts taste funny.'

'Yeah, don't you like that? Foods that taste funny?'

'They're not the kind of funny I like.'

'Oh. What kind of funny is that?'

'I like spicy funny. Peanuts are..Shh she's talking.'

"Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon, welcome on board the Crusader Fifty. If you would fasten your seatbelts, we'll be leaving any moment."

I clicked my seatbelt in place.

"Doors." The Hostess prompted, on cue as the doors slid shut. "Shields down." The window covers slid down too.

'Awww.'

'That's still extonic sunlight.'

'Yeah but awww.'

"I'm afraid the view is shielded until we reach the Waterfall Palace." I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest. The Doctor chuckled. "Also, a reminder. Midnight has no air, so please don't touch the exterior door seals. Fire exit at the rear, and should we need to use it, you first."

'Does the fire exit have an escape pod? Otherwise that warning is completely useless.'

'It's a harmless inflight joke.'

'What, like you saying you failed your driver's test?'

'You've never even taken it.'

'I would do a better job than you.'

'See? You're great at in-flight jokes.'

"Now I will hand you over to Driver Joe." The Hostess motioned to a large view screen.

A map of the terrain popped up. Our truck lit up in orange. Orange dashes marked our path, along with a second path marked in red. It should be marked mauve, but whatever.

"Driver Joe at the wheel. There's been a diamondfall at the Winter Witch Canyon, so we'll be taking a slight detour, as you'll see on the map. The journey covers five hundred kliks to the Multifaceted Coast. Duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for traveling with us, and as they used to say in the olden days, wagons roll."

"For your entertainment, we have the Music Channel playing retrovids of Earth classics." The Hostess switched on music players.

The loud, loud music began to play. I wonder, curling my legs up in my seat.

"Also, the latest artistic installation from Ludovico Klein." The Hostess pressed another button.

The entire truck lot up in color. A displayed swirling of primary colors and abstract shapes.

I grabbed my sonic.

"Plus, for the youngsters, a rare treat. The Animation Archives." A screen dropped down behind the Hostess. Black and white cartoons of Betty Boob began to play, complete with sound effects. "Four hours of fun time. Enjoy."

The Hostess walked back down the aisle. The Doctor had time to turn back to me, then my sonic went off.

It all turned off. Cartoons, art, music, all of it. Gone. Away. Defunct. Will not ever work again. Not if I had a thing to say about it.

I relaxed against my seat.

'Nice job.' The Doctor praised.

"Well, that's a mercy." Hobbes commented.

"Huzzah!" I clapped my hands.

The Hostess rushed up. She held up a remote, clicking various buttons. "I do apologize, ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We seem to had a failure of the Entertainment System."

"Awww." I frowned, making a show to make it big and dramatic. The Doctor hid his giggle behind his hand.

"But what do we do?" Val asked.

"We've got four hours of this?" Biff complained. "Four hours of just sitting here?"

The Doctor knelt on his chair. He turned to the group. "Tell you what. We'll have to talk to each other instead."

==MGCB==

98 kliks later

"So Biff said, I'm going swimming." Val told the story, already giggling.

"Oh, I was all ready. Trunks and everything. Nose plug." Biff explained.

The Doctor nodded along.

"He had this little nose plug. You should have seen him."

"And I went marching up to the lifeguard. And he was a Shamboni. You know, those big foreheads?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Great big forehead." Val added.

"And I said, where's the pool?" Biff mined holding his nose. "And he said-"

"The pool is abstract!" The couple laughed.

The Doctor laughed.

"It wasn't a real pool."

"It was a concept."

"And you were wearing a nose plug." The Doctor laughed.

Biff nodded. He held his nose again, pretending to look around in confusion. "I was like this. Ooo, where's the pool?"

He heard no laughter in a while. The Doctor looked over. Terra sat beside Val and Biff's son. The headphones were split between them, bobbing their heads along to music.

The Doctor hid a grimace. He'd wanted Terra to stick by his side. It's what she told Donna- that she wanted to go with him. Why was she so far away?

'Terra?' He reached out, hoping for a response.

She gave none. Her mind was locked to him. He could, though, hear a faint song playing in her head. One of those alternative rock songs, the kind she'd been listening to lately.

==MGCB==

150 kliks later

The Doctor looked for Terra. Instead, he found her in a conversation with DeeDee Blasco.

Terra was sitting in a back seat, a notebook in front of her covered in notes in her secret coded language.

"Are you a student too?" DeeDee asked.

"No, just working on a project." Terra replied. The Doctor instantly disliked it. The only 'project' that could be on her mind was the Haven, or something to do with her leaving. "What about you?"

"I'm just a second-year student, but I wrote a paper on the Lost Moon of Poosh." DeeDee explained.

Terra nodded. She sipped at the complimentary juice box.

The Doctor sat back, only watching.

"Professor Hobbes read it, liked it, took me on as a researcher, just for the holidays." DeeDee flustered, looking down at her drink. "Well, I say researcher. Most of the time he's got me fetching and carrying. But it's all good experience."

"Oh I get that." Terra sipped again at her drink. "Gotta get that stuff under your belt. Did they ever find it?"

"My belt?"

"No, the Lost Moon of Poosh." Terra replied.

DeeDee chuckled. "Oh, no. Not yet."

"I'll bet you can find it." Terra held up her juice box. "One day, exactly where you lost it. That's how it tends to be. It'll be the best discovery anyone's ever made. Well, second best."

"Second best?" DeeDee asked.

The Doctor frowned. That wasn't like Terra. She never said those sorts of things.

"When Hobbes found you." DeeDee blushed, flustered by the praise. Terra held up her juice box. "To Poosh."

"Poosh." DeeDee bumped her juice box with Terra's.

That made him grin. Oh, now, wasn't that just Terra through and through. The Doctor beamed at her. His only regret being that she said nothing like that to him today.

==MGCB==

209 kliks later

The Doctor sat himself beside a lonely young woman. She sat in the front aisle, on the other side of the Doctor. They chatted over their inflight meals.

Terra sat behind with Jethro. Again. She kept going back to the boy, chatting it up with him and listening to music.

It made the Doctor worried. Did she really need to get so close to him? She'd been with him for this journey, agreed to it. Why did she constantly sit so far apart from him?

More importantly, with a boy? Just- just look at him! He's- he's like that!

"Is it just the two of you?" The woman, Sky, asked him.

"No, no, we're with this friend of ours, Donna." The Doctor replied. "She stayed behind in the Leisure Palace."

'Terra, are you eating?'

'Huh?' Terra poked her head up.

'You know. Eating. The act of consumption. The process of eating?'

'Oh! No, I'm not hungry.'

'You forgot to eat breakfast.'

'No I didn't.'

'A single cookie doesn't count.'

Terra rolled her eyes. She pulled off her headphone bud, passing it to Jethro. Jethro raised an eyebrow. Terra nodded towards the Doctor. Jethro checked, making eye contact with the Doctor. He nodded at Terra, pushing the headphone into his other ear.

A silent conversation, no telepathy needed. That did nothing to settle the Doctor's nerves. It'd only been two hours! Why was she so close to him already?

Had he mentioned it was a boy?

Terra sat back in her seat. Two seats away from the Doctor, Sky between them.

"I was just telling her about Donna." The Doctor explained.

Terra ignored him. She pulled out the complimentary headphones, plugging them into her phone. "She's sun tanning."

"Yeah." The Doctor glanced back at Sky. "You?"

Sky shook her head. She peeled the film off her meal packet. "No, it's just me."

The Doctor looked over to Terra. She was on her phone again. He opened his own meal. "Oh, I've done plenty of that. Traveling on my own."

"The good old days." Terra remarked. The Doctor watched her fond beaming. "It's so good. Go where you want, when you want. It's weirdly relaxing."

The Doctor could remember those times when he'd been alone. Long ago, back when he had great big ears. Nothing ever felt so devastating- thinking he would be alone forever. Meeting Terra cured him of that loneliness.

Now she was going to return him to it. Would he even get any warning? Or would she just pack up and leave, not leaving as much as a note? The Doctor feared that the most. It's what he did, way back when with the TARDIS.

"You?"

The Doctor blinked.

Ah, Terra asked that.

Sky shook her head. "No, I'm still getting used to it. I've found myself single rather recently, not by choice."

The Doctor could understand that. "What happened?"

"Oh, the usual. She needed her own space, as they say. A different galaxy, in fact. I reckon that's enough space, don't you?" Sky asked. Pain and early heartbreak in her eyes. She frowned, unable to even lie with a smile.

More than enough space. Too much space. The Doctor glanced at Terra. She'd been glancing at him. Both of them looked away.

Is that how much space you want, Terra?

You want to run and hide in your own home, dancing between time and space, staying as far from me as you can?

How far away will you be?

"Yeah. We had a friend who went to a different universe." The Doctor remarked. He watched her reaction.

Terra stared up at the blank screens.

Sky looked down at her fork. "Oh, what's this, chicken or beef?"

The Doctor lifted up a piece. "I think it's both."

'I get why you won't eat this.'

'It smells bad.'

'Like the peanuts?'

'No, peanuts taste bad. This smells bad.'

'Taste and smell are very closely linked, but not always.'

'Vanilla extract smells delicious.' Terra countered. She went back to her phone, typing away on it. 'And I told you before, I'm not hungry.'

The Doctor wanted to push. He really, really wanted to push. He wanted to be sure that Terra was taking care of herself. If he proved he cared, that he thought about her needs, maybe that would change her mind. But he knew pushing would just push her away. He'd been warned as much.

Instead, he sent out feelings of assurance and apologies.

Terra shifted in her seat. She popped her headphones back in.

The Doctor could hear only the faint sounds of My Chemical Romance, from her mind and from the headphones. Loud enough to tune out even the humans. She brought out her notebook, scribbling away.

==MGCB==

251 kliks away

Hobbes gestured to the slide. "So, this is Midnight, do you see, bombarded by the sun. Xtonic rays, raw galvanic radiation. Dee Dee, next slide."

DeeDee moved to the next slide.

Hobbes managed to convince everyone to watch his presentation on Midnight. Bellies full from lunch, they agreed. They spent some time connecting his slides to the virtual projector, working again with a wave of the sonic.

Val and Biff sat in their usual spots. DeeDee helped run the slides, working as his assistant in this too. Jethro sat in his row, eyeing the presentation like it was a reminder of awful school. The Doctor sat in the second row. Terra sat in the front, stretching her legs out over the seats. Many of her notebook pages were covered in her special writing.

The TARDIS still refused to translate.

Not that the Doctor ever asked. That would be a violation of Terra's privacy. The Doctor wouldn't do that...again.

He might've asked. Once. Back with the Beast- with the darker version of Terra's psyche, her writing all over the wall and the artifacts. He'd wanted to know. Terra refused to tell him, so he wanted the TARDIS to do it.

The TARDIS refused.

Loudly.

Repeatedly.

Until the Doctor listened.

He wouldn't ask the TARDIS to translate again.

So Terra could write her secret notes to herself. No blueprints for the Haven, or designs for anything alike. The Doctor could trick himself into thinking she was just journaling.

That would be nice for her.

"It's my pet project." Hobbes admitted. "Actually, I'm the first person to research this. Because, you see, the history is fascinating. Because there is no history. There's no life in this entire system. There couldn't be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no one had come here in all eternity. No living thing."

Terra raised her hand, not looking up from her notebook.

"Yes?"

"What if life evolved?"

"Pardon?" Hobbes replied.

Terra closed her notebook, tucking it away. "Well life evolves, doesn't it? Wouldn't it have evolved to prosper in this environment?" She sat up in her seat, curiously staring up at him.

Hobbes blinked. "Uh, well-"

"Yeah, how do you know? I mean, if none of us can go outside." Jethro added.

"Yeah! So it could be out there, and nobody knows cause we can't go outside!" Terra cheered. She beamed, like she and Jethro came up with a clever idea together.

The Doctor wasn't excited about it.

Val rolled her eyes. "Oh, his imagination. Here we go."

"Hey, he's got a point." Terra replied. "And so have I. How do we know, for a fact, that there is no life out there? Old Earth historians used to believe no life existed beyond their moon. Look how that turned out."

"You do have a point, but not in the way that you think." Hobbes began. "We look upon this world through glass, safe inside our metal box. Even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit. And here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it."

The ship shook. The lights of the ship flickered. The Doctor glanced around, curious. The ship came to a stop.

"We've stopped." Val realized. "Have we stopped?"

"Are we there?" Biff asked.

DeeDee shook her head. "We can't be, it's too soon."

"They don't stop. Crusader vehicles never stop." Hobbes explained. His eyes were wide, concerned and cautious.

The Hostess walked through the aisle. "If you could just return to your seats. It's just a small delay." She walked to the back.

The Doctor could see the concern from her too. So not even the employees were aware. That meant it was sudden and serious.

Biff shrugged. "Maybe just a pit stop." He and Val sat back down.

"There's no pit to stop in. I've been on this expedition fourteen times." Hobbes argued. "They never stop."

"Well, evidently we have stopped, so there's no point in denying it." Sky snapped.

Hobbes held up his hands. He went back to his seat, sinking down.

The Doctor started walking back to their seats. Terra knelt on the seat, looking back on the group. He smiled at her.

'Notice anything?'

'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both.' Terra replied.

The Doctor hummed. Right, yes. Driver Joe made a comment about it. That they'd taken a different path today. Perhaps their car was the first to take this path, which led to an issue nobody else spotted.

"We've broken down." Jethro pointed.

"Thanks, Jethro." Val huffed.

"In the middle of nowhere." Bethel taunted.

"That's enough. Now stop it." Biff scolded.

"Where no one can hear us scream." Terra teased.

Jethro and Terra chuckled.

The Doctor grinned, hoping it encouraged her. He never wanted her to stop smiling.

The Hostess came back up. "Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We're just experiencing a short delay. The driver needs to stabilize the engine feeds. It's perfectly routine, so if you could just stay in your seats."

The Doctor stood up. Terra started to join him, before stopping herself. She stayed sitting down.

"No, I'm sorry, sir, I- Could you please?" The Hostess struggled.

The Doctor brought out the psychic paper. "There you go. Engine expert. Two ticks." He opened the door.

"I'm sorry, sir. if you could just sit down. You're not supposed to be in there!" The Hostess shouted.

Terra stood up then. The Doctor shut the door behind him, too late to hold it open for her.

==MGCB==

'I'll apologize for your rudeness. Again.'

'Good. Get on that.' The Doctor stepped closer to the drivers.

One man sat up. "Sorry. If you could return to your seat, sir."

The Doctor held up the psychic paper. "Company insurance. Let's see if we can get an early assessment. So, what's the problem, Driver Joe?"

"We're stabilizing the engine feeds. Won't take long." Joe replied easily.

"Er, no, because that's the engine feed, that line there, and it's fine." The Doctor pointed at the computer screen. He pointed at the other levels and lines beside it. "And it's a micropetrol engine, so stabilizing doesn't really make sense, does it? Sorry. I'm the Doctor, I'm very clever. So, what's wrong?"

The other man sighed. He twisted and turned various dials. Nothing happened. "We just stopped. Look, all systems fine, everything's working, but we're not moving."

The Doctor pulled out his sonic. He scanned it. No faults. "Yeah, you're right. No faults. And who are you?"

"Claude. I'm the mechanic." He replied. "Trainee."

"Nice to meet you." The Doctor shook his hand.

"I've sent a distress signal." Driver Joe explained. "They should dispatch a rescue truck, top speed."

"How long till they get here?"

"About an hour." Joe replied.

"Well, since we're waiting, shall we take a look outside?" The Doctor asked. The driver and mechanic stiffened. "Just lift the screens a bit?"

"It's a hundred percent Xtonic out there. We'd be vaporized." Driver Joe reminded him.

"Nah. Those windows are Finitoglass. They'd give you a couple of minutes." The Doctor countered. "Go on, live a little."

Joe looked at Claude. Claude shrugged. "Well." He pressed a button.

The screen rose.

The Doctor watched, eyes wide.

'Terra, you should be seeing this.'

'I'm making polite conversation.' Terra argued.

'Well take a look! Come on.'

'Fine! Show me. But I'm gonna have to split my attention!'

"Wow." Joe gawked.

"Oh, that is beautiful." The Doctor exhaled.

"Look at all those diamonds. Poisoned by the sun. No-one can ever touch them." Claude commented.

The Doctor leaned down, still staring at the beautiful expanse. "Joe, you said we took a detour?"

"Just about forty kliks to the west." Joe replied.

"Is that a recognized path?" The Doctor asked.

"No, it's a new one. The computer worked it out on automatic." Joe explained.

"So we're the first." 'Terra, are you looking?'

'Yeah, it's fine.'

'Fine?!' This piece of ground, no one's ever been here before. Not in the whole of recorded history! And you call it 'fine.''

'Cause it is! Pretty blue diamonds, reflecting pretty bright sunlight. It's pretty.'

'You don't feel very excited. It's a wonder!'

Terra closed off her mind.

Claude sat up. "Did you just-?" He slumped back down. "No, sorry, it's nothing."

"What did you see?" The Doctor scanned the bright horizon.

"Just there. That ridge." Claude pointed at it. The Doctor tried, unable to spot it. "Like, like a shadow. Just, just for a second."

"What sort of shadow?" The Doctor asked.

The computer alarms started going off.

Joe pressed buttons. The shield began to fall. "Xtonic rising. Shields down."

Claude shot up, pointing again. He pointed so hard he nearly touched the glass. "Look, look. There it is, there it is. Look, there."

"Where? What was it?" The Doctor squinted again at the skyline.

Before he could make anything out, the shield closed. No sign of shadows. The Doctor doubted shadows even existed around here.

"Like just something shifting. Something sort of dark, like it was running." Claude admitted.

"Running which way?" The Doctor asked.

Claude hesitated before revealing "Towards us."

"Right, Doctor, back to your seat." Joe ordered. "And, er, not a word. Rescue's on its way. If you could close the door. Thank you."

The Doctor stepped back.

==MGCB==

The door swung open. The Doctor stepped out. I was grateful for the return. Corralling these people was a pain. He took the psychic paper so I couldn't even lie convincely to them all.

I smiled at the Hostess. "See? Told you he'd be back."

The Hostess only gave me a tight rehearsed smile. She went to the door.

The Doctor sat himself back down. I'd moved my legs to make room for him. Better to do that without starting a conversation.

"What did they say?" Sky asked the Doctor. "Did they tell you? What is it? What's wrong?"

"Oh, just stabilizing. Happens all the time." The Doctor replied.

"I don't need this." Sky snapped. "I'm on a schedule. This is completely unnecessary."

"Back to your seats, thank you." The Hostess instructed. She stepped into the cockpit.

The Doctor sat back in his seat. "Are you going to talk to me again?"

"You were distracting me from calming them down." I replied.

The Doctor hummed. "You've not cut me off that rudely for a while."

"You've not been that rude for a while."

"Excuse me, Doctor?" DeeDee poked her head around the seat aisle. The Doctor and I looked at her. "But they're micropetrol engines, aren't they?"

"Now, don't bother the man." Hobbes scolded.

"My father was a mechanic." DeeDee reminded Hobbes. She turned to us. "Micropetrol doesn't stabilize. What does 'stabilize' mean?"

"Well. Bit of flim-flam. Don't worry, they're sorting it out." The Doctor assured her.

"So it's not the engines?" Hobbes asked, becoming panicked.

"We've just made a stop." I knelt up on the chair again. "It's a detour, like I said. They're making sure it's still safe to keep going."

"How much air have we got?" Hobbes asked.

That got the attention of Val and Biff.

"What did he say?" Val fretted.

"Nothing." The Doctor assured her.

"Are we running out of air?"

"No, we're not." I tried to be heard over the rising chaos.

The Hostess came back inside. The rest of the car shouted questions and fears at her, startling the poor woman.

"I was just speculating." Hobbes excused.

"Is that right, miss? Are we running out of air?" Biff panicked.

Val reached over, holding her husband's hand. "Is that what the Captain said?"

The Hostess held up her hands, trying to placate the crowd. "If you could all just remain calm."

"How much air have we got?" Val pressed.

"Mum, just stop it."

"I assure you, everything is under control."

"Well, doesn't look like it to me."

"Well, he said it."

"It's fine. The air is on a circular filter."

"He started it-"

The noise level increased. The Doctor stood back up. I pressed my palms against my ears, blocking out the sound.

These last few hours, I genuinely tried to relax. Listening to music with Jethro, bonding with him over annoyance of the adults. He liked the My Chemical Romance songs, to the surprise of no one. That was a fun hour, though. To connect with somebody my age-ish.

Talking to DeeDee was an accident. I'd gotten an idea during one jam session with Jethro. It needed to be written down! How was I supposed to know DeeDee would take that as an invitation to talk? The conversation was already happening by the time I recognized the lines!

After that I went back to music with Jethro. He showed me music from his time. I really liked it. No matter the century, angsty teens will create the best music.

Then the Doctor told me to come over. Gave me very little say in the matter too. It was an embarrassing reminder that I was still in this universe, working alongside him as a companion. Worse yet, he wanted me to eat.

Eat some chicken/beef garbage? With what happens today? He expects me to eat with these conditions?! What a bastard. So yes, I ignored him then too.

His emotions are not my remote control.

Donna would be proud of me.

Of course, the ship inevitably came to a stop.

After spending the last few hours actually relaxing, I'd barely suppressed my stress. The Doctor went off into the cockpit.

He'd wanted to show me the diamonds.

Diamonds.

The sky was made of diamonds-

I'd lasted an embarrassingly short time in that conversation. The moment hit me so strong, I could barely hear the Hostess tell me her name.

My stress skyrocketed with all the noise. Worst yet was the reminder that the monster was outside, waiting to crawl in here.

It would try to possess the Doctor.

I wanted to stop it. For the love of the Author, I wanted to stop it. But it was getting harder and harder to try. The idea of the consequences behind it made me paralyzed with fear. Because after trying to stop the Master before, that left no shortage of punishments I would get for stopping this creature.

Or, any of the more likely punishments would hurt me more than they'd ever hurt the Doctor.

If I kept it from the Doctor, the creature wouldn't be satisfied. It would need to enter another being. Sky was close to it's needs, but not enough. That thing wanted freedom. The Doctor, in the show, gave it that freedom. But why would it take all of this universe's time and space, when I promised that and all realities beyond?

It would get in my mind. It would. It would break me apart, forcing itself inside my brain to take me over. My body would be drained by it. It would do what it wanted to me without protest from the humans.

I'd be defenseless all over again.

I'd die all over again.

Cause why would any of them stop it? They'd fight back the Doctor. In fighting the Doctor, there would be nothing stopping the creature from doing the work itself. It would throw me into the sunlight.

Funny. Twice now, I'm scared of dying in the sunlight.

"Everyone! Quiet!"

The Doctor shouted. It helped in dragging me out of my own head. I sat up in my seat, panting as I tried to calm myself down.

I wasn't gonna die. That's not happening today. The Doctor worked hard to keep me safe. I trusted him to do that.

The humans quieted as well.

"Thank you." The Doctor nodded his head at them. "Now, if you'd care to listen to my good friend, Dee Dee." He gestured for them to focus on her.

DeeDee flustered under the attention. Still, she spoke up. "Oh. Er, it's just that, well, the air's on a circular filter, so we could stay breathing for ten years."

"There you go." The Doctor glanced at each human, making sure they stayed quiet and calm. "And I've spoken to the Captain. I can guarantee you everything's fine."

Knock, knock

'You needed to say that, didn't you?' I sighed.

'I was confident in it.'

'Too confident.' I rolled my eyes.

"What was that?" Val squeaked.

"It must be the metal. We're cooling down. It's just settling." Hobbes dismissed.

"Rocks. It could be rocks falling." DeeDee dismissed.

Biff glared at the Hostess. "What I want to know is, how long do we have to sit here?"

Two more bangs on the side. I flinched from them. The whole group turned to spot, eyes wide.

"What is that?" Sky yelped.

"There's someone out there." Muttered Val.

Hobbes scoffed. "Now, don't be ridiculous."

"Like I said, it could be rocks." DeeDee reminded us.

"We're out in the open. Nothing could fall against the sides." The Hostess smiled. An assurance, or a fearful realization?

Two more knocks.

"Knock, knock." The Doctor mumbled.

"Who's there?" Jethro replied.

"Interrupting cow!" I answered, excited. Nobody helped me finish my joke. That's rather rude, if you ask me.

"Is there something out there?" Sky asked. Nobody answered her either. That's double rude! "Well? Anyone?"

Two more knocks.

"What the hell is making that noise?" Sky nervously started fidgeting,

"I'm sorry, but the light out there is Xtonic. That means it would destroy any living thing in a split second." Hobbes reminded them. I ignored the chill down my spine. "It is impossible for someone to be outside."

Knock, knock

"Who's there?" I called out. It's rude that nobody is finishing this joke!

The Doctor brought out the stethoscope. He walked over towards the back of the car.

"Sir, you really should get back to your seat." The Hostess insisted.

He ignored her. I walked up to her side, holding her shoulder. She tensed at the touch. I pulled my hand back.

The Doctor held the stethoscope to the side. "Hello?"

Knock-knock

The knocks came from the emergency door this time.

"It moved." I stepped closer towards the exit.

The Doctor held up his arm. "No, stay back."

I glared at him.

The emergency door began to shake. Again, confirming my theory that the emergency exit on this thing was just another path to death.

"It's trying the door." Val whimpered.

"There is no it. There's nothing out there. Can't be." Hobbes insisted, with much less confidence than before.

The emergency door rattled and clanked. The Doctor took another step closer. Pity for him that it jumped onto the top. Then, as if knowing that was a terrible place to knock, hit the door to my immediate right.

"That's the entrance. Can it get in?" Val asked.

"Doubt it." I stepped closer to the door. "This kind of door is on 200 weight hydrolics. Nothing human could get through that."

"Terra. Back away from it." The Doctor instructed.

I glared at him. With all the attitude of Nemo, I stepped closer to the door.

"Terra! Better not."

Looking him in the eyes, I knocked on the door with Shave and a Haircut.

The creature knocked back five times.

The crowd flinched back.

I knocked twice.

It did too.

"Well. That's better." I cheered, delighted at the resolution.

The Doctor reached over for me. "What we're you thinking?!"

He pulled me back. I stumbled on my steps to follow him. "It didn't finish the song-"

"Seven times. Did you hear that?" Val asked the group. "It did it seven times."

Jethro gawked at me. "It answered."

"It did it seven times!" Val held her husband. Biff returned the hold.

The Doctor squeezed tight on my arm. He pushed me behind him, careful watching the door and the people. An assurance, or a fearful realization? I'd come too close of a brush with death. He never liked those moments. "All right, all right, all right. Everyone calm down."

It assured me, at least. The Doctor kept me safe from the monster.

He knocked on my mind. He wanted to chat again. I was too worried for a scolding, so I avoided it.

"No, but it answered. It answered. Don't tell me that thing's not alive." Sky argued. "It answered her."

Seven more knocks, all to the beat of Shave and a Haircut.

"I really must insist you get back to your seats." The Hostess snapped.

Nobody listened to her.

"No, don't just stand there telling us the rules. You're the hostess. You're supposed to do something." Sky argued.

The Doctor started to let go of my arm.

Without thought, I reached up. My hand grabbed his hand to keep it in place. The Doctor held still. He looked back at me, eyes wide. Whatever he saw in my carefully blank expression made him stay.

Seven more knocks, to the same beat.

Sky backed from the door, stumbling back towards her seat. "What is it? What the hell's making that noise? She said she'd get me. Stop it. Make it stop. Somebody make it stop!"

The rest of us stopped to watch her. The Hostess went back to a phone on the side, the intercom for the front.

"Don't just stand there looking at me." Sky snapped. "It's not my fault. They started it with their stories-" She waved her arm at Jethro and me.

"Calm down!" DeeDee called out.

"-and they made it worse!"

"Ma'am, please, just take a second-" I tried.

"Why didn't you leave it alone?" Sky snapped at me. "Stop staring at me. Just tell me what the hell it is."

"You stop it!" I scolded.

The creature jumped again. From the door, to the roof. The heavy thumps made a steady line towards Sky.

She found her seat, but kept backing away. Her blue eyes wide with terror. "It's coming for me. Oh, it's coming for me. It's coming for me. It's coming for me. It's coming for me."

I reached over.

The Doctor put himself between us. "Get out of there!"

The ship veered the side.

Sparks began to fly.

The lights went out.

The Master smiled at me.

==MGCB==

Arms were wrapped around me.

I panicked.

A voice began to shush me, gentle and soft. He guided me into a gentle rocking motion.

"There we go." That voice wasn't Harry Saxon. It could never be Harry Saxon. "You're alright. I've got you. I've got you."

He's got me

There are no monsters

I exhaled.

"Thatta girl." The Doctor squeezed his arms, tightening the hug. "There we go." He started to pull back. I latched tighter. "Wow-Kay. Terra, Terra come on. I need you to see if I'm okay."

He's not okay?

He's not okay?!

That got me to yank myself away. I started checking the various spots on the Doctor. The cabin was still dark. I could see him just fine all the same.

"Arms, legs, neck, head, nose." The Doctor listed. "Yeah?" I nodded. "What about you? Are you okay?" I nodded without even checking. "Everything working?" I nodded again. "There we go. We're fine."

Fine.

Code for 'not fine at all.'

It checks.

"Everyone else?" The Doctor called out. He stood up, holding my arm to help me to my feet. I adjusted my beret back into place, and my bowtie. "How are we?"

I glanced over his shoulder, straightening out my bowtie.

Rose

Rose appeared on the screen. She shouted for the Doctor and Terra.

I ignored it.

If it was coming, then Donna was losing time. I never wanted to think about a life without Donna.

"How are we? Everyone alright?" The Doctor asked again when no one answered.

"Earthquake. Must be." Hobbes dismissed as he got to his feet.

"But that's impossible. The ground is fixed. It's solid." DeeDee replied.

"We've got torches." The Hostess informed, her voice coming clipped and stern. "Everyone take a torch. They're in the back of the seats."

I reached in my Bag. A flashlight came to my hand. Glittery, and covered in rhinestones, and even painted on the constellation of Virgo.

I shined it on Sky. A quick look back had me locking eyes with Jethro. He was already shining his light on Sky. We nodded at each other.

Carefully, we advanced.

"Oh, Jethro. Sweetheart, come here." Val reached out for her son.

"Never mind me. Terra, what's wrong with her?" Jethro asked.

I stepped closer. Every step came with a thousand of my heart beats, punching at my chest.

Sky sat in her seat, yes. Hunched over, her hands clasped to her skull in what looked like a painful grip. Worse yet was that all the seats around her were torn apart, exposing the metal beneath.

"What happened to the seats?" Val asked.

"Who did that?" Biff asked.

"They've been ripped up."

"Maybe let me-" The Doctor stepped forward.

"I'm not stopping you from helping." I reminded him. As I walked, the Doctor huffed. "Ma'am? You can relax now. Nothing's broken. It-" I paused, glancing at the walls.

It's over. We're still alive. Look, the walls still intact. Do you see?" The Doctor told the creature.

The Hostess tugged on the intercom again. "Joe? Claude?" She murmured.

"We're safe." The Doctor promised, without even checking.

"Driver Joe, can you hear me? I'm not getting any response. The intercom must be down." The Hostess walked past us towards the cockpit.

I flinched away before the door even opened. It was too dark for anyone to see.

Or it was, until she opened the door. Then bright, mind-numbing light.

Alarms went off.

Loud.

Loud all around.

Owowowow-

The door slammed shut again.

Val gasped as we all recovered. "What happened? What was that?"

"Is it the driver? Have we lost the driver?" Biff asked.

"The cabin's gone." The Hostess gawked.

Hobbes scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. It can't be gone. How can it be gone?"

I stared at Sky, kneeling down by the seats. She made no movement. Checking my mental shields, they remained closed tight. No signs of the creature knocking. Or the Doctor.

The Doctor was too busy walking past me. He knelt down to a panel just by the door. He brought out his sonic.

"Well, well, you saw it." DeeDee pointed out.

"There was nothing there, like it was ripped away." The Hostess mumbled.

"What are you doing?" Biff snapped. He shined his light over me, casting it on the Doctor.

"Ah, that's better. Little bit of light." He scanned the sonic over the panel. "Thank you. Molto bene. Terra, nothing stopped you helping."

"Doing something else."

She hasn't even moved to breathe

"Do you know what you're doing?" Val asked.

"The cabin's gone. You'd better leave that wall alone." Biff warned.

"The cabin can't be gone." Hobbes dismissed.

"Not completely gone. Or else we'd be dead." I replied.

"That's you. Always the brightside." The Doctor teased. I managed a small uptick. It could be called a smile. "Any rupture would automatically seal itself."

The panel broke off. The Doctor stared at it. I kept vigil over Sky.

"But something sliced it off." The Doctor looked between the broken panel in his hand, and the wall. "You're right, the cabin's gone."

"But if it gets separated?" The Hostess asked.

"It loses integrity. I'm sorry, they've been reduced to dust. The driver and the mechanic." The Doctor revealed.

The Hostess inhaled sharply. She braced herself on a chair, squeezing it for assurance. A companion would take this time to comfort her. I watched a dead woman to see if she moved.

"But they sent a distress signal. Help is on its way. They saved our lives." The Doctor assured, promising and promising without ever being sure. It's his trademark thing. I would almost miss it. "We are going to get out of here, I promise. We're still alive, and they are going to find us."

"Jethro, am I the only one noticing?" I asked him.

"No, no I see it too." Jethro told me.

That made me sigh. "Oh Huzzah. I hoped it was a hallucination."

"What was?" The Doctor asked.

"She's not moved." I replied.

The Doctor looked at her. "At all?"

"Everyone flinched from the light except for her." I nodded my flashlight at Sky. "I need bandaids."

"Right. Yes. Sorry." The Doctor turned to the crowd of humans. "Have we got a medical kit?"

"Why won't she turn around?" Jethro asked.

"I don't think she can." I admitted.

"What do you mean?" Jethro asked.

"Come on. You're clever. You noticed it too." I reminded him. "Who's there?"

"What's her name?" The Doctor asked the Hostess.

"Silvestry. Mrs Sky Silvestry." She answered.

"Sky?" The Doctor knelt at my side. Gently, he guided me back and himself forward. "Can you hear me? Are you alright? Can you move, Sky? Just look at me."

"She's right."

"Who's right, Jethro?" Val asked.

Jethro shined his light on the massive dents on the inside of the cabin. "That noise from outside. It's stopped."

Jethro is so clever

If he's not completely paranoid after this, I wanna keep him around.

Val huffed. "Well, thank God for that."

"But what if it's not outside anymore? What if it's inside?" Jethro pointed out.

The crowd tensed again.

The Doctor reached one hand back. He squeezed my arm. I squeezed his hand.

"Inside? Where?" Val squeaked.

"Not where. Who's there?" I nodded towards Sky.

The crowd looked over at the still Sky Silvestry.

"Sky? It's alright, Sky." The Doctor told her. "I just want you to turn around, face me."

She just needed a few minutes to adjust. To understand a human mind, of what it was. Probably to feel the new colors and senses.

Or to work the controls.

It turned around, slow as a clock tick. She stared into the Doctor's flashlight.

The Doctor tilted his head.

Sky tilted her head.

"Sky?" The Doctor asked.

"Sky?" She repeated, like she'd only just learned how to speak at all.

"Are you alright?" The Doctor checked up on her.

"Are you alright?"

The Doctor squinted. "Are you hurt?"

"Are you hurt?"

The Doctor tilted his head. "You don't have to talk."

"You don't have to talk."

"I'm trying to help." He told her.

"I'm trying to help."

"My name's the Doctor."

"My name's the Doctor."

"Okay, can you stop?"

"Okay, can you stop?"

"I'd like you to stop."

"I'd like you to stop."

"Knock knock. Who's there?" I asked.

Sky snapped her head around to me. Her blue eyes bored into mine, unwavering as they stared at me. Into me. "Knock knock. Who's there?" Sky repeated.

The Doctor leaned back. His mind tapped against mine. The familiar feeling of him reaching out without disturbing me. I shook my head. The last thing this bunch needed was our preferred way of conversation.

"Why's she doing that?" Hobbes asked.

Sky turned her head to him. "Why's she doing that?"

"She's gone mad." Biff dismissed.

"She's gone mad."

"Stop it." Val pleaded.

"Stop it."

"I said stop it." Val snapped.

"I said stop it."

DeeDee shook her head. "I don't think she can."

"I don't think she can."

"All right now, stop it. This isn't funny." Hobbes scolded.

Sky turned to each person as they spoke, staring at their face before quickly moving to the next. "Alright now, stop it. This isn't funny."

"Shhh." I held a finger to my lips. "Quiet time now."

"Shhh. Quiet time now."

"My name's Jethro." Jethro tried.

"My name's Jethro."

"Jethro, leave it. Just shut up." The Doctor scolded.

"Jethro, leave it. Just shut up."

"He's only trying it out himself. Let him have a turn." I excused it.

"He's only trying it out himself. Let him have a turn." Sky not only copied the words, but the tone. She lowered the pitch slightly for the men, and raised the pitch for the women. Not enough to be obvious, but it was definitely there.

It wanted to learn all the differences. Pick a preference? Not only the most clever, but which voice was best? It would eventually steal the Doctor's words. Maybe copying the tone played some part of it?

The Doctor leaned closer to it. "Why are you repeating?"

"Why are you repeating?"

The Doctor squinted. "What is that, learning?"

"What is that, learning?"

"Copying?"

"Copying?"

"Absorbing?" He tried.

"Absorbing?"

"Mimicking." I stated, sure of it.

"Mimicking."

"You think?" The Doctor asked. He looked back at me.

"You think?"

I nodded.

The Doctor glanced at Sky, then me again. As he spoke again, Sky copied him without a missing beat or number. "The square root of pi is 1.772453850905516027298167483341. Wow."

"The square root of pi is 1.772453850905516027298167483341. Wow."

==MGCB==

Well needless to say...and I'll say it anyway...shit hit the fan after that.

"But that's impossible." Hobbes dismissed, as he was one to do. A poor trait in a professor like himself.

Sky once again bounced from head to head, lowering and raising her pitch on command. "But that's impossible."

"She couldn't repeat all that." DeeDee murmured.

"She couldn't repeat all that."

"Tell her to stop." Val ordered.

"Tell her to stop."

"She's driving me mad."

"She's driving me mad."

"Just make her stop!"

"Just make her stop!"

One by one, humans began speaking in a cacophony. A myriad of words and threats and tones. Sky copied them, with only some failure. I watched and took note of her every word and action.

Sometimes, two or even three of the humans spoke at once. I threw my own voice in the mix a few times to test a small theory.

Sky copied, yes. But when presented with a challenge of you two copy first, Sky often copied whoever spoke loudest. The most sternly, the most authoritative, the most dominant.

Is that how you picked them?

Because of what, that's what your species perceives as good?

You don't take over a body, not exactly. No, you move that curse of your's onto them.

You narrow down who ever is the strongest- mentally. More specifically- and then force them into weakness. That gives you strength.

And this noise actually helps you do it. Because the leader would be quickest to be most heard by the herd. They make themselves a target, shining a great big spotlight on them to help you out.

The lights switched on. I kept my eyes on Sky. She stared at Val, the last one to speak. Everyone went silent as the lights went up.

It's not all the way correct but I think there's something to it. To the hunting process. I want to learn it so I can avoid giving it my head.

"That's the backup system." The Hostess exhaled, relaxing. The humans did too on not hearing her talk.

Biff huffed. "Well, that's a bit better."

I never stopped watching Sky.

She continued to copy. The humans weren't noticing. She overlapped so perfectly with them.

"What about the rescue? How long's it going to take?" Val asked.

"About sixty minutes, that's all." The Hostess assured them.

The Doctor noticed too. He held my arm, guiding me to my feet. He kept me behind him, blocking me from Sky. It did little to help.

I looked at Jethro. As we switched off our flashlights, Jethro asked silent questions of me. In reply, I shook my head. Jethro frowned.

"Then I suggest we all calm down. This panic isn't helping." Hobbes insisted. "That poor woman is evidently in a state of self induced hysteria. We should leave her alone."

Sky turned to him before the boy even spoke.

"Terra. Doctor." Jethro warned.

The Doctor stared at the creature possessing Sky Silvestry. "We know."

"Doctor, young lady, now step back. I think you should leave her-" Hobbes stopped himself. He looked at Sky. The creature stared back at him, an almost smile to her lips. "Alone. What's she doing?"

"How can she do that? She's talking with you." Val reeled back, horrified. "And with me. Oh, my God. Biff, what's she doing?"

"She's repeating, at exactly the same time." Jethro said, more to himself than to his mother.

"That's impossible." DeeDee shook her head.

"No hesitation, no mumbling." I added. "She's copying our speed and-" I paused. Sky did too. "-our pauses. Oh that's...that's..."

"Weird. That is weird." Jethro supplied.

"That too."

Sky narrowed her eyes on us.

The Doctor squeezed my arm. "I think you should all be very, very quiet. Have you got that?"

"How's she doing it?" Val asked.

The Doctor held out his hand, keeping an assuring hood on me and a calming hand out to Val. "Mrs Cane, please be quiet."

"How can she do that? She's got my voice! She's got my words!" Val shrieked.

"Come on, be quiet." Biff assured his wife. Sky stared at him, impassively copying him. "Hush, now. Hush. She's doing it to me."

Sky snapped her head to the Doctor. I'm probably the only one that noticed.

Another stage. She not only knows what you will say, but who is speaking next. Probably learning it right as they do. She turns to them to better understand. Assess? Mimic them? Corrupt them?

So she would even notice if you were already looking at her. Or if you kept track of her eye movements with the others. Maybe even you akk on so knee who spoke next, and followed Sky's eyesight to see if she knew too. Yeah, I bet Sky would pick up on that.

Fuck.

"Just stop it, all of you. Stop it, please." The Doctor held my arm, looking in my eyes. "Give me a minute. Just one minute, alright?"

"Alright." I nodded, ignoring Sky's stare.

The Doctor nodded back. He let my arm go. I wrapped my arms around myself. The Doctor turned to Sky, staring her down. He stepped up until he was in front of her.

"Now then, Sky. Are you Sky? Is Sky still in there? Mrs Silvestry? You know exactly what I'm going to say. How are you doing that? Roast beef. Bananas. The Medusa Cascade. Bang! Terra Johnson. Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, TARDIS. Shamble bobble dibble dooble. Oh, Doctor, you're so handsome. Yes, I am, thank you."

A proper companion would smack him.

I'm taking notes on a creature that will take me over when it realizes I'm smart enough to be taking notes.

Putting myself in danger seems like proper companion behavior as well.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O." The Doctor paused. He stood up, not looking away from her. "First she repeats, then she catches up. What's the next stage?"

"Before, during, after." I stated.

Her eyes were colder this time.

The cold.

And the dark.

The Doctor scrunched up his eyebrows. "Yes, what's after this stage."

I'm practically spoon feeding you

"Next stage of what?" DeeDee asked.

"That's not her, is it? That's not Mrs Silvestry any more." Jethro stated, to the horror of his parents.

Oh yes, now Sky's got their son's words. What a horror.

The eyes were on me again. A new feeling began to come over me, slinking and sticky. It would get a single star review from me. "Definitely not. Not for a long while. Doctor. She's getting faster."

The Doctor looked at Sky. Sky was already looking back. "Yep. The more we talk, the more she learns. Now, I'm all for education, but in this case, maybe not. Let's just move back." He started to usher everyone to the back."

I would speak too, better help them move. Instead I reached out for Jethro, holding his arm to drag him. The boy stumbled only slightly before joining me.

"Come on. Come with us. Everyone, get back. All of you, as far as you can. Thank you, Terra." The Doctor instructed.

"Doctor, make her stop." Val pleaded.

Sky followed us with her eyes.

She'd never risen up from the floor.

"Val, come with me. Come to the back. Stop looking at her." The Doctor ordered.

By then, most of us were at the back of the cabin. The Doctor keeping himself between all of us and Sky. Sky stared at his neck. Could he feel it too? That sticky, slimy feeling? Did it make him want to have a shower, like it is for me?

"Fifty minutes, that's all we need. Fifty minutes till the rescue arrives." The Doctor reminded us. "And she's not exactly strong. Look at her. All she's got is our voices."

Gag the feeling is back. I didn't know I was gonna speak yet. Oh fuck. Oh shit. Oh fuck.

"So if we play the quiet game for fifty minutes, it's all good?" I suggested. Her echo made me wanna vomit out the juice box. "That's a good plan. Kinda biased, but I think my plan is the best plan."

"Quiet hand. Yep, best plan of your life." The Doctor nodded. "Let's all play. Right now."

Val shook her head. "I can't, I can't look at her. It's those eyes."

"We must not look at goblin men." DeeDee mumbled.

Biff glared at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's a poem. Christina Rossetti." The Doctor explained, probably meaning to shut it all up.

"You are all terrible at the quiet game." I noted.

"We must not look at goblin men. We must not buy their fruits. Who knows upon what soil they fed Their hungry, thirsty roots?" DeeDee recited.

The Doctor grimaced. "Actually, I don't think that's helping."

"Trust me. I'm the one that sings in bad situations. Or tells awful jokes. Creepy poems? Never as good a sign as you think." I told DeeDee.

"She's not a goblin, or a monster. She's just a very sick woman." Hobbes scolded us both.

The Doctor tensed. I saw his jaw clench, but not a look from Sky.

"Maybe that's why it went for her." Jethro mused.

"There is no it."

Think about it though. That knocking went all the way round the bus until it found her. And she was the most scared out of all of us." Jethro pointed out. "Maybe that's what it needed. That's how it got in."

"Not only that, there's the- hmm."

"There's what?" The Hostess asked.

I winced. "Well- there's no hole in the bottom of the sea."

Jethro glanced at the walls, more specially the massive dents. "There's not."

"What? Jethro, what are you saying?" Val asked him.

"It didn't break the walls." I clarified. "We would've been killed by the light by now if it had. Whatever it is, it's phased or maybe teleported through them. It-" I looked back at her then immediately looked away. "-It's probably left behind its original body outside to be ash."

"For the last time. Nothing can live on the surface of Midnight." Hobbes insisted.

"Professor, I'm glad you've got an absolute definition of life in the universe, but perhaps the universe has got ideas of its own, hmm?" The Doctor snapped.

Hobbes grumbled silently.

"Now trust us, we've got previous." The Doctor looked back at Sky. It was starting to grin now. An ugly look on a previously nice face. "I think there might well be some consciousness inside Mrs Silvestry, but maybe she's still in there. And it's our job to help her."

Biff shook his head. "Well, you can help her. I'm not going near."

"Nobody asked." I grumbled.

Jethro quirked a smile.

"No, we've got to stay back, because if she's copying us, then maybe the final stage is becoming us." The Doctor explained. "Before, during, after. I don't want her becoming me, or Terra, or things could get a whole lot worse."

Val rolled her eyes. "Oh, like you two're so special."

The Doctor sharpened his expression. "As it happens, yes, we are."

"Well-"

"So that's decided. We stay back, and we wait. When the rescue ship comes, we can get her to hospital." The Doctor stated, leaving no room for leeway or argument. He glared at me.

I shrugged. Between us, he was more important. If he thought otherwise, that proved his betterness. That I thought similar proved I was selfish.

Because though I knew the Doctor was better, it didn't change my mind. He needed to get controlled by it. Not me. Please Author never me.

"We should throw her out."

"Ooo." I smiled.

Hobbes gawked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Can we do that?" Val asked.

"Don't be ridiculous." The Doctor scolded. "You know better!"

"It killed Sky!" I excused myself. The best way to keep it from hurting either of us is to kill it now. "And Driver Joe with his mechanic. That's 3. That's a pattern, and that's a sign it'll kill again."

The Doctor shook his head, aghast. "She can't even move."

"Well we've not been moving much, have we? Maybe it's not learned how yet." I reasoned.

"Look at her eyes!" The Hostess added. "She killed Joe, and she killed Claude, and we're next."

"She's still doing it." Biff pushed me aside, stomping over to Sky.

The Doctor reached for me. He kept me from falling. I got my footing. The Doctor did not let me go.

"Just stop it. Stop talking. Stop it!"

"Biff, don't, sweetheart." Val pleaded.

"But she won't stop. We can't throw her out, though. We can't even open the doors." Biff snapped.

The Doctor glared at me, then turned that ferocity up to a billion to glare at Biff. "No one is getting thrown out."

The man instantly cowered. He went to join his wife. The Doctor pulled me close, letting Biff pass.

"Terra?"

"I heard, I heard." I pouted. "Let me go."

He squeezed still for just a second. A small, tiny second. He did let go, though.

It's to save you.

Please let me, just this once.

"Yes, we can." DeeDee spoke up.

My hero

"Because there's an air pressure seal." DeeDee turned to the Hostess. The Doctor watched in horror. Like when you opened the cabin door, you weren't pulled out. You had a couple of seconds, because it takes the pressure wall about six seconds to collapse. Well, six seconds exactly. That's enough time to throw someone out."

"Thanks, Dee Dee. Just what we needed." He scolded.

"Would it kill her outside?" Val asked.

"I don't know. But she's got a body now. It would certainly kill the physical form." DeeDee guessed.

"No one is killing anyone." The Doctor stated firmly.

"I wouldn't risk the cabin door twice, but we've got that one." The Hostess nodded at the emergency exit. "All we need to do is grab hold of her and throw her out."

The Doctor and Sky "Now, listen, all of you. For all we know that's a brand new life form over there."

"Or it was trapped in the Diamond, and the Diamondfall this morning let it out." I suggested. "So now it's loose and probably looking for a new body."

"Well we don't know that for sure." The Doctor dismissed with a stern glare. "But we do know it's come inside to discover us, and what's it found? This little bunch of humans. What do you amount to, murder? Because this is where you decide. You decide who you are. Could you actually murder her? Any of you? Really? Or are you better than that?"

A pause.

"I could." I held up my hand.

To protect you?

There's never been any question about that.

"I'm with her." The Hostess added.

"So am I." Biff nodded.

"And me." Val held Biff's hand.

"I think we should." DeeDee noted.

The Doctor gawked at the humans, then at me. "What?"

"She's already dead! Maybe she can't move cause rigor mortis is setting in!" I argued.

"We don't know for sure!" The Doctor snapped.

"Have you seen her breathe?!" I asked him. "If you have, I'll join team No-Murder. But right now, we've got a dead woman possessed by a creature that is getting better and better at Copy Cat."

"I want her out." DeeDee agreed. The Doctor stared at her. "You said it yourself, Doctor. She is growing in strength."

"That's not what I said." The Doctor argued.

"I want to go home. I'm sorry. I want to be safe." DeeDee replied.

"You'll be safe any minute now. The rescue truck is on its way." The Doctor reminded her.

"In 45 minutes."

"Not helping." The Doctor whispered with a hiss.

"You haven't proved she's breathing."

"But what happens then, Doctor? If it takes that thing back to the Leisure Palace, if that thing reaches civilization. What if it spreads?" The Hostess asked him.

"No, because when we get back to the base, I'll be there to contain it." The Doctor said.

Val scoffed. Sky even copied the sound. "You haven't done much so far."

"You're just standing in the back with the rest of us." Biff added.

"She's dangerous. It's my job to see that this vessel is safe, and we should get rid of her." The Hostess told the Doctor.

"Now, hang on. I think perhaps we're all going a little bit too far." Hobbes told the group.

The Doctor sighed in relief. "At last. Thank you."

"Three people are dead." I reminded him.

"We don't know that for sure." The Doctor countered.

"Two people are definitely dead, and Sky is mostly dead. There, happy?"

The Doctor looked at the youngest member of the whole group. "Jethro, what do you say?"

Jethro shook his head. "I'm not killing anyone."

The Doctor nodded. "Thank you."

"He's just a boy." Val dismissed.

"What, so I don't get a vote? She's my age and she got to vote!" Jethro argued.

"There isn't a vote. It's not happening. Ever." The Doctor warned them, ordered them. "If you try to throw her out that door, you'll have to get past me first."

"Okay."

Biff nodded, agreeing with the Hostess. "Fine by me."

"Nope. If you go at him, you fight me." I challenged them. That made Biff pause.

The Hostess shrugged. "Still okay with it."

"We can murder the thing, but I'm not letting the Doctor get hurt." I shook my head.

I wanted to pause, to never speak again. The creature's reach began to get- author how to describe it? It was getting- not exactly stronger. Solid? The slimy feeling over me was getting thick? Like- like it used to feel like syrup, and now is starting to feel like hardening sugar candy.

Every time I spoke, the candy got firmer. A few minutes ago, it felt like a fresh wad of Laffy Taffy. Now it's starting to feel like jolly ranchers.

It's claws were digging in deeper. The humans no doubt couldn't feel it. The Doctor most definitely could, only not as strongly as I felt it.

"You're being stupid, which isn't like you." The Doctor scolded me. "You're not getting hurt either."

I wanted to argue more. When looking at Sky, I saw her eyes still on the Doctor.

"And you lot, just think about it. Could you actually take hold of someone and throw them out of that door?" The Doctor asked.

Biff puffed up his chest. "Calling me a coward?"

"Who put you in charge, anyway?" Val questioned.

"I'm sorry, but you're a Doctor of what, exactly?" Hobbes asked.

I shook my head.

"He wasn't even booked in. Neither of them were." The Hostess revealed. "The rest of you, tickets in advance. He just turned up out of the blue for himself and his plus one."

"Where from?" Val asked us.

"Space." I winced.

Stronger again.

"We're just traveling. We're travelers, that's all." The Doctor explained.

"Like immigrants?" Val asked.

"Who were you talking to?" The Hostess asked. "Before you got on board, you were talking to someone. Who was that?"

"Just Donna. Just our friend." The Doctor answered.

Again, the creature reached out over me before I even spoke. Before the Doctor even finished speaking. Stronger, and faster. "She's sun tanning. She thought this would be like a boring trip. Donna likes spas, and relaxing. Not sitting around for eight hours. We don't like it either but-"

"And what were you saying to her?" Biff asked.

"That this would be fun!" I answered. "And- yeah. I should've maybe gone sun tanning."

"He hasn't even told us his name." Val reminded them.

"The thing is though, Doctor, Terra, you've been loving this." Jethro commented.

"Jethro, Jethro." I warned. "No. Don't start that."

"No, but ever since all the trouble started, you've been loving it." Jethro pointed out.

"It has to be said, you do seem to have a certain glee." Hobbes narrowed his eyes on us.

I shook my head. "No excitement here. I am- okay I tell a lie. I am excited but that's because I really wanna kill her."

"Which isn't happening." The Doctor told me. I rolled my eyes. "Alright, yes, I'm interested. Yes, I can't help it. Because whatever's inside her, it's brand new, and that's fascinating."

"What, you wanted this to happen?" Val asked, horrified.

"No."

"And you were talking to her, all on your own, before all the trouble." Biff recalled. "Right at the front, you were talking to that Sky woman, the two of you together. I saw you."

"We all did." Val realized.

"We talked to you too!" I countered. "We all talked to each other! Hobbes gave a whole presentation on the planet!"

"And the Doctor went into the cabin." The Hostess reminded the others.

"What were you saying to her?" Biff asked the Doctor, getting closer in his face to loudly yell

"We were just talking." The Doctor answered.

"Saying what?"

"You called us humans like you're not one of us." Jethro realized. He stared at me. I could only give a helpless gawk.

Val pointed at us, her fingers shaking with her growing nerves. "He did. That's what he said."

"And the wiring. He went into that panel and opened up the wiring." DeeDee recalled.

The Doctor turned to her, giving DeeDee a stern look. "That was after."

"But how did you know what to do?" Biff countered.

"Because I'm clever!" The Doctor snapped.

Hobbes laughed, scoffing too. "I see. Well, that makes things clear."

"And what are we, then? Idiots?" Biff asked.

"He's just like that!" I apologized for him. "He insults people when he's stressed."

"Yes. Right. I do that." The Doctor nodded. "Often."

"If he's clever, then what are we?" DeeDee asked me.

"Also clever! His clever doesn't cancel out your clever!" I assured.

Firm.

It felt firm now. Less like malleable candy, more like- like crystals.

Like diamonds.

"The two of you've been looking down on us from the moment we walked in." Val argued.

"Even if he goes, he's practically volunteered." The Hostess scoffed. "We can fight off the girl."

"Don't. You. Dare." I scolded. "I'm not joking. That's not a joke. There will be no killing of the Doctor. What happened to killing that thing? I'm on board for that."

"Do you mean we throw him out as well?" Biff asked the Hostess.

She nodded. "If we have to."

"Don't even try!" I snapped at them. "You kill him, I kill you."

Biff laughed. "You? You're a little girl."

"Excuse me-?!"

The Doctor grabbed my shoulders, pulling me back. "Look, just. Right, sorry, yes, hold on, just. I know you're scared, and so are we. Look at us, we are. But we have all got to calm down and cool off and think."

"Perhaps you could tell us your name." Hobbes challenged.

"It's the Doctor. His parents set him up with a high bar." I lied.

"Don't be stupid." Val hissed at me. "That's not a real name!"

The Doctor held me tighter. "What does it matter?"

"Then tell us." The Hostess challenged.

"John Smith."

They all scoffed.

"Your real name." Hobbes insisted.

"He's lying. Look at his face." Biff snapped.

"His eyes are the same as hers." Val snapped.

"That's not even a little bit true!" I snapped. "You take that back. She's staring like she wants to eat your soul. He's looking like he's judging your soul. Two different things!"

"Why won't you tell us?" Jethro asked, looking between us both.

"It's a simple enough question." DeeDee said.

Val shook her head, glaring at us. "He's been lying to us right from the start."

"What's your name? Is your name even Terra?" The Hostess asked.

"Oh come on! Do any of these people even know your name?" I countered.

"No one's called John Smith. Come off it." Biff yelled in his face.

"Now listen to me!" The Doctor snapped, projecting his voice over theirs. "Listen to me right now, because you need us, all of you. If we are going to get out of this, then you need us."

"So you keep saying. You've been repeating yourself more than her." Hobbes snapped.

Cold settled in my gut.

No

No Author please no

Please- please stop. Please. Let her copy the humans again. Please!

"If anyone's in charge, it should be the Professor. He's the expert." Val suggested.

Jethro noticed. A beat later than me, but he noticed. "Mum, stop. Just look."

"You keep out of this, Jethro." Biff scolded.

"Look at her!" Jethro threw his arm out to Sky.

I did not. If I looked at her, she would look at me.

"She's stopped." DeeDee realized.

The Doctor turned. "When did she-?" He stopped. Sky still echoed him. "No, she hasn't. She's still doing it."

Stop. Stop please stop.

"She looks the same to me. No, she's stopped." Val breathed out in relief. "Look, I'm talking, and she's not."

"What about me, is she?" Biff laughed, relieved. He hugged his wife. "Look. Look at that. She's not doing me. She's let me go."

"Mrs Silvestry?" The Hostess exhaled, laughing in relief. "Nor me. Nothing."

"Terra?" Jethro tried.

I shook my head. Please don't make me.

The Doctor eyed me. The other humans did too. "Is she copying you?"

I shook my head. My arms held my Bag to my stomach, gripping it tight.

Now the Doctor was concerned. No, not that, worried. The Doctor never did well with 'worried'.

"Terra."

"Please."

Sky spoke with me again.

I winced.

The diamond harshened. Not hardened, no, that shit felt solid. A solid wall of diamond around my mind. A whole wall of diamond surrounding my brain, trapping my brain, waiting for me to do anything. One move, the diamond would attack me. Spikes and daggers of the creature stabbing into my brain, connecting us completely so it could transfer the curse to me.

It was winning.

I'd tried so hard, and it was winning. What happened? I'd gone into this not wanting to be attacked. Why was I being targeted? Did I let things slip? I actively took part in a plan to murder it. Why does it think I would give in? Like fucking hell.

The Doctor's face harshened. He turned to glare at Sky. "Sky, what are you doing?"

"Doctor, stop it." I asked. The diamond tightened. It's starting to give me a hug "Please just. Stop. It's too close."

"She's still doing them." DeeDee pointed at us.

"Doctor, Terra, it's you. She's only copying the two of you." Hobbes told us.

"Thanks for that. No shut up." I snarked.

The Doctor started to walk towards her. I grabbed his arm, keeping him there. "Let me go."

"Don't be stupid. Do you know how upset Donna will be if you're stupid without her?"

"I'll be careful. I promise." The Doctor lied. I squeezed tighter to his arm. "Trust me?"

Fuck you.

I let his arm go.

Fuck you, I hate this. I don't want it to be you but I don't want it to be me either.

I'm so fucking selfish.

I came here to help you

I'm letting you down.

The Doctor went over to Sky. He knelt in front of her again. I turned away from him, facing the humans. I blocked their path to him. They'd try to rush me to kill him. Well I'm here to kick all of their asses. "Why us? Why are you doing this?"

"She won't leave them alone." Dee whispered to them.

Val lowered her voice. Stupid people- thinking that I couldn't hear them. I'm literally standing as close to you as DeeDee is. "Do you see? I said so. She's with them."

Biff sneered at me. I sneered back. "They're all together."

"How do you explain it, Doctor, if you're so clever?" Hobbes asked him.

"I don't know. Sky, stop it. I said stop it. Just stop it. Let her go." The Doctor ordered.

"Let us both go." I ordered over my shoulder. "This is your one shot. He's giving you a chance. Take it."

Harder.

Tighter.

Squeezing me...was it always this hard to think?

"Look at the three of them." Val muttered, disgusted.

"Mrs Silvestry, I'm trying to understand." The Doctor warned her. "You've captured our speech. What for? What do you need? You need our voices in particular. The cleverest voices in the room. Why? Because we're the only ones who can help? Oh, I'd love that to be true, but your eyes, they're saying something else."

If it's so tight on my mind...ugh...how is it for him? Like a fucking boa constrictor. I'm losing oxygen and I don't know how I can think let alone talk.

"Doctor. Whatever you're thinking-" I tried.

"Listen to me. Whatever you want, if it's life, or form, or consciousness, or voice, you don't have to steal it. Not from Terra." The Doctor warned.

"Don't you dare! If you do, I'll leave and never come back!" I promised him.

That made the Doctor pause.

Then Sky looked at him.

I knew it was a lost cause.

"You can find it without hurting anyone- without hurting Terra. And I'll help you. That's a promise." The Doctor asked. So, what do you think?"

I stood, gripping the nearby seat. I looked up at Jethro. Did he see the heartache in my eyes? The pain of knowing what the Doctor had just done? This hurt. I'd asked him not to. I wanted to save him from this.

I suppose it's fair.

I'm going to leave anyway.

My head- oh my head-

==MGCB==

"Do we have a deal?" Sky asked.

The Doctor paused. He'd felt it. The pressure, a heavy pressure building up between his eyes. It hurt. Every thought or word brought some intense pain. The Doctor knew whatever it did to him, Terra suffered the same.

That made the Doctor determined. No matter her words on it, the Doctor wouldn't let anything happen to her. He would give himself up a thousand times if it meant Terra would walk away. He pushed through the pain.

"If you do, I'll leave and never come back!"

There it was. Quill had been right, and the Doctor pushed her away. He pushed everyone away eventually. Without Terra, Donna would leave too. That was fine. That meant the Doctor kept them safe. The TARDIS would be able to take them back home. Terra could escape to the Haven, finish it like she'd always wanted.

He'd saved the Time Lords this time. He made sure of it.

But the pain he expected, it was gone.

"Do we have a deal?"

The Doctor's eyes widened. He turned back, seeing a sight that made his hearts stop cold.

Terra, hunched in the aisle. Her hands gripped the seats, the only thing holding her upright. Her legs were buckling

The thing took Terra instead.

Why? Why did Terra look the more clever of the two?

Whatever was inside Sky, it had made a horrible decision.

The Doctor turned round to glare at Sky. "What have you done?"

Sky smiled, looking towards Terra.

The Doctor rushed away from her, going to Terra. "Terra? Terra!"

DeeDee gasped. "Hold on, did she-?"

"She spoke first." Jethro confirmed.

"She can't have." Val said.

"She did." Hobbes said.

"She spoke first." Jethro confirmed again.

The Doctor reached Terra. He held her arm, turning her around. Terra collapsed against his chest. He moved to an aisle, sitting her down. He knelt in front of her, taking hold of her hand. Terra slouched against the seat. Her amber eyes vacant. Her mind was completely quiet. Not even in the sense of feeling another mind there- it was completely quiet to him.

"How are you doing that?" The Doctor asked. He held Terra's head, trying to feel inside. If he couldn't feel her heartbeat beneath his hand, he would doubt that she was even alive. "You weren't supposed to go in her head. The deal was mine."

Terra couldn't even meet his look of concern. She stared off, unresponsive. His blood boiled.

"Oh, look at that. I'm ahead of you." Sky spoke.

"Oh, look at that. I'm ahead of you." Terra repeated, blankly.

The Doctor gripped his hand. Not the one on her wrist, feeling the slow beats of her heart.

The Doctor seethed. This expression, these behaviors, they reminded him of before. Of Terra, during her time with the Master. The Master showed him all of the movies. Even the ones the Master hated. Terra, always so clear and blank without emotion on her face. Her whole body seemed to be shut down. The Master used that to show how broken and pathetic his companions had become.

At least then, the Doctor saw some of herself there. A small tilt of a smile. The glint of mischief in her eyes. The slack in her shoulders, tense with barely restrained laughter. The tapping of her boots to a song in her head

Terra's pulse barely beat beneath his hand. Other than that, she was as expressive as a puppet.

"Did you see? She spoke before she did. Definitely." Hobbes spoke.

"She's copying her." Jethro said.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Hobbes asked.

"No more warnings. Let go of her." The Doctor ordered. "Right now."

Sky only tilted her head. She blinked at the Doctor, a sly smile on her face. "Doctor, I think it's moved."

"I think it's moved." Terra repeated.

"I think it's letting me go." Sky explained.

"I think it's letting me go."

"No. That was not our deal. You leave her, right now!" The Doctor ordered.

Sky blinked, dazed.

Terra wasn't even taking in air.

She was right. This effect- whatever it was- stopped it breathing too. Terra couldn't breathe.

"Doctor, what does it mean?" DeeDee asked. "Let her go from what?"

The Doctor stared at Terra. She hadn't moved, not as much as a twitch.

"But she's repeating now. She's the one doing it. It's her." Biff told the Doctor.

Jethro "They're separating." Jethro told the Doctor. "What's that mean? What's wrong?"

"I gave it my mind. Terra snatched it away, at the very last second." The Doctor explained. It wasn't the first time she ever did it.

"And with the plasmavore I thought- gah I thought- I thought it would be enough, you know?" Terra stared down at the cookie crumbs over her hands, her tears dripping down onto them.

The Doctor refused to believe it. She wasn't dying today, he wouldn't allow it. Quill wasn't even here. How-

The Doctor turned around, glaring at Sky. "Sky, is that you?"

Sky smiled sweetly, too sweetly. "Yes. Yes, it's me."

"Yes. Yes, it's me."

The face looked completely wrong. Quill had been young, and new. But as this creature proved, it could move into someone new. Maybe it wasn't Quill's body, but a lot of today had Quill all over it.

She'd been good at creepy stares, without ever even taking off her sunglasses.

It could be real. It could be right now.

"That's not your name. What's your real name?" The Doctor asked.

"I-"

"I-"

"Who are you, really?" The Doctor snapped. "Terra kept trying to guess what you were."

The creature kept smiling with Sky's lips. It tightened, though.

The Doctor grinned. "Oh. That's why you picked her. Nothing to do with cleverness. A different kind of cleverness. Terra was learning about you as much as you did about you. That's why you took her. You couldn't risk her exposing your secrets."

"But I don't like to make it quick. I like to make it slow- to let it simmer, boil." Quill explained. The Doctor couldn't see her eyes but heard the malevolent joy in her voice. "I want you to watch helplessly as she gets closer and closer to me."

"No, I'm coming back. Listen-"

"No, I'm coming back-"

"I want you to stay up at night terrified, by what's in store for your friend. I want you to watch, as every little action you do to stop it brings it closer. I wanted to get to the point where you can't even tell which of us kills her."

"It's me." The creature insisted.

"Listen. It's me."

"And I want you to know- above all else- that I enjoyed it."

"She's not dying today, by your hand or any other!" The Doctor shouted.

Terra slumped more in the seat, unable to support her weight.

"You picked the wrong person. In all of creation, you could have chosen anyone. Instead, you picked her." The Doctor wouldn't lose her. Not like this, never ever.

"I'm going to kill Terra Johnson and it's going to be fun."

The Doctor ran to the seat again.

"Fight it." The Doctor instructed. Terra gave no sign she heard him. "Terra, fight it. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but you've got to fight it. You fought off the Master for two years. You can fight this now."

Terra blinked again.

"Doctor, has it passed on to her?" Jethro asked. "From Mrs Silvestry?"

"That's not Mrs Silvestry." The Doctor snapped. "It's taking control of her mind. I can't reach her. It's not giving her up."

If it really is Quill, then Terra wouldn't have allowed it.

She would have fought it off. I can't believe I blamed her.

"But look at her." Val argued.

"Look at me, I can move." The creature said.

The Doctor looked. Sure enough, she was moving her hands.

"Look at me."

She smiled, beaming. "I can feel again."

"I can move. I can feel again."

"I'm coming back to life." It told them.

"I'm coming back to life."

The creature grinned at Terra.

That smile, the Doctor remembered. That was a gleeful, smug smile. That was all Quill.

"And look at her. She can't move." The creature taunted.

"And look at her. She can't move."

"I've told you to LEAVE HER!" The Doctor shouted.

The creature frowned. Her joy robbed from her. She looked at the humans. "Help me."

"Help me."

I'm trying!

"Professor?" She pleaded.

"Professor?"

The Doctor shook his head at him. "Professor Hobbes, don't listen to her. She's lying."

Hobbes looked back and forth between them. "And you've been so honest with us?"

"Get me away from them." The creature pleaded.

"Get me away from them."

"Please." She begged. Her voice was getting more emotive. She was beginning to copy not only words, but copy feelings.

No wonder Quill was such a sociopath.

"Please."

Hobbes stepped forward.

The Doctor blocked his path. "I can't let you do that."

"But it's in her!" Biff snapped. "They separated! It's over!" He turned to his fellow humans. "It's in her now! I said it was her, all the time!"

"She's free. She's been saved." Val told the Doctor.

"She's not. That's not Sky, not anymore." The Doctor argued. "It can't be."

"Oh, it was so cold." The creature pleased still.

"Oh, it was so cold."

"I couldn't breathe."

"I couldn't breathe."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

She stared at the humans. "I must have scared you so much."

"I must have scared you so much."

Val sniffled. "Doctor, move, please! She needs help!"

"It's not safe!" The Doctor argued.

"No, no he's right. I wouldn't touch her." DeeDee replied.

"But it's gone. She's clean. It passed into her." Biff scolded.

DeeDee shook her head. "That's not what happened."

"Thank you for your opinion, DeeDee, but clearly Mrs Silvestry has been released." Hobbes tried to step forward again. "Doctor, let me pass."

"No."

"Just leave her alone. She's safe, isn't she?" Val turned to her son. "Jethro, it's let her go, hasn't it?"

Jethro turned to Terra, staring at her. "I think- I think it-" He couldn't get the words out. "Doctor? Are you sure?"

"Yes." The Doctor nodded. "Completely. Whatever is in her, it's killing her. I don't know how long she's got."

"I'd say, from observation, Terra can't move. And when she was possessed, she couldn't move, so-" Hobbes reasoned.

Biff hummed. "Well, there we are then. Now the only problem we've got is the Doctor and Terra."

"Don't you dare." The Doctor warned.

"It's inside her head." The creature reminded them.

"It's inside her head."

"It killed the driver." She looked at the Hostess as she spoke.

"It killed the driver."

"And the mechanic."

"And the mechanic."

"And now it wants us."

"And now it wants us."

Biff pushed the Doctor.

"No, stop it!" The Doctor pushed back.

Biff pushed him into a seat row. Across from Terra, leaving Terra unguarded.

"No! No!" The Doctor wanted Terra safe, but he couldn't hurt the humans either. "Terra! Fight it!"

"Professor! Get her!" Biff shouted.

Hobbes startled.

"She's waited so long." The creature spoke.

"She's waited so long."

"In the dark."

"In the dark."

"And the cold."

"And the cold."

"And the diamonds."

"And the diamonds."

The Doctor pushed at Biff.

Biff punched the Doctor in the face.

"Until you came."

"Until you came."

"Bodies so hot."

"Bodies so hot."

"With blood."

"With blood."

"And pain."

"And pain."

"Stop!" Val shrieked. "Oh, my God, make her stop. Someone make her stop."

"But she's saying it." DeeDee pointed out.

"And you can shut up." Val snapped.

"Mum! Stop it!" Jethro scolded. "It's not Terra saying it, she's only repeating her!"

"But that's what the thing does, it repeats." Hobbes argued. "Blimey, she's heavy."

"Put her down!" The Doctor kicked at Biff.

Biff punched the Doctor again. It knocked him on the wall. A great big dent bonked the Doctor on his head.

It ached something awful. He needed a moment, just a moment.

"Just let her talk."

"What do you know? Fat lot of good you've been."

"Just let her explain."

"I think. I mean, from what I've seen, it repeats, then it synchronises, then it goes on to the next stage and that's exactly what the Doctor said would happen."

"What, and you're on his side?"

"No."

"The voice is the thing."

"And she's the voice. She stole it. Look at her. It's not possessing her, it's draining her."

"She's got her voice." The Hostess- yes. That's who that was.

"But that's not true, because it can't. Because I saw it pass into her." Val insisted. "I saw it with my own eyes."

Biff nodded. "So did I."

"You didn't." DeeDee dismissed.

Val "It went from her, to her. You saw it, didn't you?" Val asked.

The Doctor propped himself on a chair. The ache in his head made him groan with the movement. Every movement hurt him.

He saw Terra in her seat.

Her face was no longer a blank expression. Desperation showed on her face. Tears streamed down her cheeks, making her eyes red. A Time Lady could hold their breath for much longer than a human. Even for a Time Lady, her lungs were strained.

"I don't know."

"Oh, don't be stupid, Jethro. Of course you did." Val insisted.

"No, Mum, I don't know." Jethro replied. "I think- I think Terra is really hurt."

"Everyone saw it. Everyone." Biff argued. "Don't you lie, son!"

"You didn't. You're just making it up. I know what I saw, and I saw her stealing her voice." DeeDee explained.

Hold on, Terra, please.

The Doctor pushed himself up. He lifted his head, hopeful to get a human's attention.

He did. But only one.

"Please." He begged.

He could only hope she'd listen.

"She's as bad as her. Someone shut her up." Val huffed.

"I think you should be quiet, Dee." Hobbes ordered.

"Well, I'm only saying-"

"And that's an order!" Hobbes shouted. "You're making a fool of yourself, pretending you're an expert in mechanics and hydraulics, when I can tell you, you are nothing more than average at best. Now shut up."

"That's how she does it." The creature taunted.

"That's how she does it." Terra sounded worse. She sounded so much worse.

The more it speaks, the more air Terra loses.

"She makes you fight."

"She makes you fight."

"Stop it." The Doctor squinted against the light.

"Creeps into your head." She lied, spewing more of that hate. It fed their paranoia like starving rats.

"Creeps into your head."

"And whispers."

"And whispers."

"Listen."

"Listen."

"Just listen."

"Just listen."

"Don't listen!" The Doctor hissed. "That's not Terra- it's not!"

Even if it was, she would be calling out for help. Not harm.

When she projects her fear, I feel it. I feel nothing from her now.

"That's her."

"That's her."

"Inside."

"Inside."

"Throw her out." Biff ordered.

"Get her out of my head." Val screamed.

Biff nodded. "Yeah, we should throw her out."

"Don't just talk about it, just. You're useless. Do something!" Val ordered.

"I will. You watch me. I'm going to throw her out." Biff went up to Terra.

The Doctor lurched. He got blocked by Hobbes.

"Sorry Doctor. It's for the best." Hobbes assured him.

"Yes." The creature hissed, giggling with glee.

Biff lifted Terra out of the seat. Not a single sound of protest from Terra. "Yes."

One person, though, stepped aside as Biff walked by. Freeing up aisle space

"Throw her out."

"Throw her out."

"Get rid of her."

"Get rid of her."

"Now."

"Now."

"Don't!" DeeDee begged.

"It'll be you next." Val warned.

"Mum! Come on. Dad, stop it!" Jethro asked.

The Hostess shook her head. "Don't think we should do this."

"It was her idea. She'd agree with me!" Biff argued.

"Throw her out." Val insisted. "Get her out."

"Cast her out." She giggled.

"Cast her out."

"Into the sun."

"Into the sun."

"I want her out." Val pleaded.

Biff pulled Terra along.

Jethro stepped between his dad and the emergency exit.

"Get out of the way, Jethro!"

"No, Dad! It's- it's not right! You've got to stop! Look ag whag you're doing!"

"It's in our heads!" Biff argued.

"And the night."

"And the night."

"Jethro, move!" Val tried pulling Jethro back.

The Doctor tried to reach for her. Hobbes held his arm, keeping the Doctor back. "Let go of me! You're just going to help him kill her?!"

"I'm not- I'm not." Hobbes shook his head.

"If you stand there, yes you are!"

"Do it." The creature sounded euphoric now.

"Do it."

"Do it now."

"Do it now."

"Faster."

"Faster."

"That's the way."

"That's the way."

"You can do it."

"You can do it."

"Huzzah."

The Doctor grit his teeth. That was her word! "That's her. That was her!"

Val dragged her son away. The two flushed and shoved, trying to clear it. Biff elbowed his son, moving past. DeeDee watched, horrified.

"Throw her out." Val ordered.

"Huzzah."

The creature waved her hand at Terra. "Toodleloo."

Terra stared, eyes shimmering. "Toodleloo."

The Hostess gawked. "That's her voice."

"The starlight waits."

"She's taken her voice."

"Yes!" The Doctor pleaded. "So let me pass!" He pushed at Hobbes.

"No! I won't!" Hobbes pushed back.

"The starlight waits."

"The emptiness."

"The emptiness."

"Get her out!"

"The Midnight sky."

"The Midnight sky."

The Doctor stepped back. Hobbes relaxed. It gave him an opening. The Doctor punched Hobbes. The Professor fell to the floor. The Doctor leapt over him.

He heard the Hostess cry out.

"She's taken her voice!"

Bright light flooded the cabin. The humans screamed.

The Doctor only heard Terra.

The Time Lady hit the floor. Once she made impact, Terra screamed.

There, the Doctor's mind connected with hers again. The humans fell to their knees, hiding from the light and from the psychic backlash Terra dished out.

The Doctor went to her side. Terra continued to scream, crying out in what could only be described as anguish. The Doctor scooped her into his arms. Terra curled against him, sobbing into his shirt.

"It's gone." He promised her. "It's gone. It's gone, it's gone, it's gone, it's gone. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone, it's gone, it's gone. It's gone, it's gone, it's gone."

==MGCB==

It took thirty minutes for the rescue to arrive.

Terra sat at his side, leaning against him for support. The Doctor blocked her from all the humans. No one said a word since she stopped screaming.

"Repeat. Crusader Fifty rescue vehicle coming alongside in three minutes. Door seals set to automatic. Prepare for boarding. Repeat. Prepare for boarding."

"The hostess. What was her name?" The Doctor wondered.

None of the humans knew.

Terra sniffled. "I asked."

"What was it?" The Doctor asked.

She sniffled again, curling at his side. "My head..."

The Doctor rubbed her arm. She pressed her face against his coat. "It's alright. It's alright."

==MGCB==

They sat together on the rescue truck. Terra sat in her chair, leaning on him again. The Doctor welcomed it. The rescue team asked questions of the humans about what happened to the ship.

Only Terra stood up to answer. The Doctor tried to stop her, really he did.

Terra answered. The shieldings on the front broke down, so they lost the cabin. Not long after, the hostess went to check on the cabin before falling off. She accidentally took another member with her. The dents came from falling rocks. The bumps and bruises on the passengers came from the ship rocking as the rocks hit.

The rescue crew accepted it.

The humans gawked at her. Not a single one argued with her story.

Terra nodded, taking her seat again. The Doctor offered his hand. Terra squeezed it. She pulled out her phone, and got to texting.

==MGCB==

Donna was waiting for them when they got back.

The Doctor kept a step behind Terra. She kept glancing at the other humans. All of them went their separate ways, looking at the little scraps of paper with them.

Terra gave them GARTH's phone number. For help, should they ever need it again.

"I don't hold any grudges from what just happened. Call this number if you're ever in trouble." She told this to them all. To Biff and Val, to Hobbes and DeeDee. To Jethro, she said this and handed him a notebook paper covered in the names of songs. "They'll exist in a weird archive. If you call that number, and say I sent you. GARTH will hook you up."

As they exited the rescue ship bank into the Leisure Palace, it was obvious Donna heard about it. She must've heard an alarm, or watched as the rescue team left.

Terra's phone was full of texts and missed calls to prove it.

Terra walked up to Donna.

Donna held out her arms.

Terra hugged her, but did not cry. She ran out of tears hours ago.

==MGCB==

They walked to the TARDIS. She was safely parked, far away from this mess.

"What do you think it was?" Donna asked the Time Lords.

The Doctor shrugged. "No idea."

"It's a bully. That's all I need to know." Terra replied

"Do you think it's still out there?" Donna asked. It made them all pause. "Well, you'd better tell them. This lot."

"Yeah. They can build a Leisure Palace somewhere else. Let this planet keep on turning round an Xtonic star, in silence." The Doctor mused.

"It's a stupid star and I hate it." Terra kicked out on the tile flooring. "Poisoned sunlight. That's dumb. Why is light poison? Why do humans always pick the deadliest places to live? Planets by a black hole. Deadly sunlight. Or Australia."

Donna laughed. The Doctor smiled at Terra. "Can't imagine you without a voice."

Terra giggled. "Good! Cause you'll never be without it again!" She threw herself into a high with Donna.

"Then again-"

She and Terra laughed.

The Doctor watched them. A soft, fond smile on his face. He fought back an errant thought. He wanted only to exist here in this moment with them.

...Terra was going to leave him soon

==MGCB==

AN: So, originally, this was gonna be either the Doctor or Terra. However, I realized if the Doctor got possessed then Terra would shoot Biff and anyone else to keep the Doctor safe, before finally shooting Sky. And that wouldn't be as…good? Fun? It would be too traumatic? Yeah and I wasn't all for that. That meant Terra predictably gets possessed. Yay!

Still. It's good. Good things came about from here. Sure, the last bit is confusing but I think it's a confusing scene with a lot going on. Things are happening really fast. You don't exactly get time to think, even if you're a Time Lord.

As for any theories from Terra, I went off things that made the vaguest sort of sense. Maybe she believed it, maybe she wanted the humans to believe it, it's up to interpretation.

I'm not sure what chapter will be next. There's some Big Finish stories I'm looking at to see if one fits, or if it's going straight to Turn Left. Y'all will know when it gets published. Or, you can see updates on my tumblr (authorawritingupdates). I'll talk about it up there.

Thanks to Croonsgirl for following