He's not real, he is not real, she thought to herself repeatedly. But the man had stood before her with his smile stretched over his lips, and eyes gleaming in the sun; how real he looked. She felt the beast rise its head, and it howled with glee as she approached the man.
"What do you want" She had asked, not expecting an answer. His smile widened, it frightening and disturbed her.
"Answer me dammit," she hissed. He angled his head, the only movement that disrupted his still form; not even the wind ruffled his hair.
"Why answer what you already know?" His familiar voice lilted through the air, and for a moment, she wasn't sure if he had spoken for his lips had not moved.
"You have come to a cross road," his voice transfixed her, "come with me, let the wolf free. It's all you have wanted, to be free, is it not? Let me help you. Do not let the Doctor and dear Clara pay for your mistake."
Unexpectedly, he took a step towards her, his hand outstretched as if to take hers. For a moment she was transfixed, such words had once been spoken to her long ago.
Let us help you. Let the wolf be free…
She gazed back up into the mans face. How real he was; but it could not be. She remembered the way his eyes and glinted when he leaned down over her bed; recalled each soothing word he had said while he ripped screams from her lips.
His eyes. She had hated those eyes; so she had ripped them from his skull.
He was dead…
But his hand was inches from her own, and she could almost feel the phantom warmth of his skin…
With a scream she hurled her power into the man, dragging all her strength to pour out the heated light.
She wouldn't let him live, she would make sure nothing of him remained.
But when the last of her power gave way, and the light diminished, he stood before her with his contorted grin, gazing down at her.
She collapsed to the ground, staring at him in amazement. He wasn't real, truly he was just a mirage. But there he stood, his hand still outstretched to her. She held back a sob, and pulled her knees up to her chest.
He had haunted her dreams, now was a living nightmare.
She heard the Doctor approach, and panicked slightly when she saw the man's eyes gleam at the unknowing Doctor. There was something in the man's eyes, and it terrified her. They needed to leave, they needed to find their escape.
She felt the man's stare as she walked back into the house, knowing that now he had found her, he was never going to leave her alone. Reentering the house was a nightmare of its own. Memories she had so long suppressed now jumped into the forefront of her mind and replayed its horror.
She had been woken in the dead of night; heard the crashing of the door against the wall. Barely awake, she was shaken as two pairs of hands roughly pulled her from her bed. She cried out in shock and fear; they had found her. After a century of running, they had found her…
Rubbing a hand across her face, she sat gingerly on the edge of the over turned sofa. Once she had escaped the nightmare, thought she was beyond their reach, but once again, she was trapped. For centuries, she had fought to protect him, but now she must protect him from herself; she could no longer leave him in the dark. How was she to tell him? She realized she was trembling; she feared what he might think, what he might do. She wished she were dead.
She did not hear him enter the house. Her eyes were closed in thought and so did not see him tread softly toward her. But when she felt his hand gently lay across her white knuckled grip on the sofa, she startled back to the present. He had pulled a chair close to sit by her, his knee knocking into hers.
How close he was, the green eyes boring into her own.
She knew those eyes. Once that had been blue and then brown. So different from each other, but the same as well. It was a conundrum how something so different was also the exact same; to her he was just as he was… always hers.
How tempting it was to lean into him, to press tentative lips to his. His hand rested gently atop hers, and without his realizing it, his fingers gently stroked the skin of her hand. She shivered at his touch, her lips open slightly to draw in sudden breath.
Both became aware of the shift between them, and both continued to stare at each other not knowing what to do.
He was the first to look away; and she smiled slightly knowing that such moments always made him uncomfortable.
"I have been honest with you," he began slowly, "I know trust is not something to be given easily. And I think you of all others know this…but I'm asking you, do you trust me?"
She could only nod, her voice escaped her.
He turned back to face her, eyes level with hers.
"Then tell me what happened here."
The moment shattered, and she turned glassy eyes back to the floor. Too soon, it was happening too soon. She wanted to hold on to this moment just a little longer, to feel his warm hand on hers just a second more, to have him close to her…
She took a shuttering breath, and took what was left of her courage to look him in the eye.
"I want the photograph," she cleared her throat, desperately trying to loosen the knot that was forming.
Frowning, the Doctor removed the journal from his coat pocket and and slipped the photo from the front cover.
She reached for the photograph, but then paused and took the journal instead. She flipped through the pages until she reached the last page of documentation.
Her lips pressed into a tight line she skimmed the words in distaste.
Day 302. This is the last of the experiments. I know this will be the last. She is finally broken, and the wolf is too powerful for her to contain. She just needs that final push, and the cage will be unlocked.
She could not read the rest; she knew what happened next. Gingerly, she took the photo from his fingers and rested it on the worn pages.
"I knew your friend," she wanted to see his expression, but found she could not raise her eyes, "this place had been her safe heaven. She lived here hoping that her friend would come back one day…but he never did come back. She was on the run from…these people," her voice was rough, her throat tightening with each word until she sounded strangled, "they had been tracking her down after they learned of the wolf. She had to run away. But they found her, what they did to her…" her voice cracked and she found she could no longer speak. Pressing her lips into a thin line she dared a glance up at him, and felt hear heart break.
His face was cast in shadow, but the darkness did not hide the anger that burned in his eyes. His hand gripped hers, his jaw tightening with each passing second.
"You knew her?" His voice, too, nearly broke, and she could only nod her head in reply.
"How did you know her?" He pressed unrelenting. The desperation in his voice shook her; she had opened a door that could never be closed, and painful memories flooded through.
"She…" she swallowed, "we were close you could say…" Again her voice left her, her mouth opening and closing, but no words emitted.
An ominous darkness crossed his face.
"Did you hurt her?" He nearly growled the question, "where you part of this?" He snatched the journal from her hands and waved it in front her of face.
"I was there when she died," her answer stilled him. Horror had him scramble to his feet, a hand pressed over his eyes.
She stood unsteadily, "Doctor," her voice was foreign to her own ears, "what these people were after…They knew of the power your friend held. They sought to release it and harness it for their own gain. They didn't understand the consequences of what it would do once they released it. Rose…she warned them repeatedly. Tried to hold onto the beast for as long as she could. It took nearly a year of torture until they broke her." She winced when he turned to look at her. A dangerous storm was brewing in his eyes.
"But, they did. And the beast overtook her. It destroyed her." Her voice trailed off, lost in the memory.
"Is this what you came to warn me of?" His calm voice frightened her, "The Big Bad Wolf is coming to find me?"
She could say nothing, for he had closed the space between them and was peering down at her with eyes full of hate.
"You stood by and watched her die," his steady voice rang in he ears, "did you think you would find solace in finding me, to warn me?"
She rose to meet his fire, her own eyes hardening in anger.
"You left her here. You who knew about the wolf, knew the danger it could cause, and you left her standing on that damn beach," she shoved him away from her, his self riotousness ripping into old wounds.
"Why did you not warn her? Why did you do nothing to save her?" She growled, her golden eyes sparking in warning.
"You thought she would be safe? She was on the run for centuries, hiding from those people. She never saw her family again. She promised her brother she would come home, but she never saw him again. She was never safe. And you brought her right back into the world she fought so hard to escape."
He gazed at her searchingly, then stepped away from her until his legs bumped into the capsized chairs.
"I had hoped…I was certain I had taken the vortex completely out of her mind. But there were times…I was never sure that it was there." He sounded almost broken, as if the weight of his guilt had finally crushed the last bit of his hope.
"She deserved a full life with someone who could offer that to her. That world could offer her that, and…him." His voice became bitter, but she only frowned at his words.
The man he had left her with; a shell of a man. She wondered if she should tell the Doctor exactly what became of him, but found she had not the strength.
"You should have taken her with you," she said simply, "then maybe none of this would have happened." She seated herself again on the sofa, her head beginning to ache.
"What does the Wolf want?" He was gazing out the window, no longer able to look her, "why is it coming for us?"
Her heart began to pound; she knew what it wanted.
"It isn't coming for you," her voice barely reached his ears, but he turned back to her in confusion.
"I came here by mistake," she continued, her courage wavering like a small flame, "I was never meant to come here. But…" she paused finding the right words, "the warning back on the TARDIS, the Bad Wolf. It was a message was it not? A warning to you. But this time it wasn't meant for you, it was warning me."
His breathing quickened, but he remained silent, waiting.
"I am the threat I first warned you of. I am the Bad Wolf."
