Alex faded back into the world the way seemed to be normal as far as she knew. She'd seemed to begin making a habit of being knocked out or falling unconscious recently and she'd almost gotten used to the slowly and bleary way she woke up. She wondered briefly is that should worry her but pushed the though away as she directed her mind towards where she was. Her hearing was first, but there wasn't much. A coach outside somewhere, voices a bit away, brief little sounds of the few people outside at this hour.

Touch was second, and Alex felt the cold metal table below her with more and more clarity rushing to her head. She was still wearing the dress. Her most dominant senses used, she lastly opened her eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the little light in the room. The sight of the ceiling and the few other things she saw had everything rushing back and she sat up quickly. She immediately regretted her decision as the world spun around her and she looked down, holding her head in her lap and closing her eyes with a soft groan.

There was movement behind her. Alex whipped her head back up and turned. She felt a little dizzy with that movement but it was less so and faded quickly so she ignored it. She decided to focus instead on the corpse rising out of its coffin behind her. Alex was frozen for a second as it shuffled its way out of the coffin and beginning to walk towards her. She snapped herself out of it and stood, rushing to the door. She tried to open it only to find it locked. Alex actually found herself growling as she turned back until the terror took over again. What do I do, what do i- The Doctor's here Sure enough, one of the distant voices was him.

"Doctor!" Alex shouted without hesitation, her voice betraying her terror. The corpse was getting closer as another rose from the other side of the room. She spotted a vase beside her and picked it up, chucking it right at the corpse in front of her. You kidnap me, you lose a vase. "Doctor!" She called again, pressing her back against the door as the first corpse got close enough to reach her. She screamed, calling The Doctor's name once more before the door behind her opened.

"I think this is my dance"

Alex gasped, breathing quickly as she felt The Doctor's familiar hands pull her away and behind him. She clutched the back of his jacket instinctively, although immediately hating how childish and scared she felt. Rose stood behind her she noticed and attempted to step closer and offer Alex some comfort.

"It's a prank?" The other man suggested. "We're under some mesmeric influence"

"No we're not" The Doctor shook his head, watching the corpses. "The dead are walking" He smiled down at Alex then. "Hi!" He said it so happily Alex couldn't help but smile despite the slowly fading fear.

"Hi. Who's your friend?" She asked.

"Charles Dickens" He said simply.

"Oh, alright then" Alex nodded, her smile slightly forced as The Doctor faced the corpses again.

"My name's The Doctor. Who're you then? What do you want?" He asked them. Alex could tell how he tried at keeping calm with them. Kidnapping one of The Doctor's friends was not the best thing to do, no matter who you are. She was at least grateful he kept his arm out in front of her, making her feel incredibly safe compared to before.

"We're failing" The corpses spoke. "Open the rift, we're dying. Trapped in this form, cannot sustain, help us" they pleaded. Then all of a sudden both corpses threw their heads back and the same blue gas from before poured from their mouths and into the gas fixture leaving the bodies to fall to the ground.

Everyone was silent for a moment and Alex was only just getting her breathing under control as the Doctor turned and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. Alex clutched at his jacket as she sighed again, relieved the terror was gone, for now. He stroked her hair softly a moment, letting her compose herself.

"You alright?" He asked in a whisper. Alex nodded and pulled away.

"Just scary" She told him, managing a weak smile. He smiled back at her and wrapped an arm around her as he led her along, talking to the others until they found themselves in what seemed to be the sitting room.

The girl, Gwyneth, was pouring them all cups of tea as they sat around the room. All except Rose of course, who was standing as she shouted, having a go at the man, Mr Sneed, for taking Alex. She had to admit it almost seemed like a sweet gesture, her verbally abusing someone for a friend.

"First of all you drug her, then you kidnap her" Rose fumed.

"And don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander you dirty old man" Alex spoke up in the same tone, remembering the line and also remembering how true it had been. Rose glared at the man again as they heard. The Doctor, however, seem fairly amused by their team up making the older man look ashamed.

"I will not be spoken to like this!" Sneed insisted.

"Then you stuck her in a room full of zombies!" Rose continued on. "And if that ain't enough, you swan off! And leave her to die! So come on, talk!"

"It's not my fault! It's this house!" Sneed defended, nearly pleading. "It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back. And then the stiffs…" He trailed off then, noticing Dickens staring at him with an offended expression. Alex simply rolled her eyes. "The, er, dear departed started getting restless"

"Tommyrot" Dickens dismissed. Alex sighed, sitting back and closing her eyes to keep from calling everyone in the room an idiot. She felt The Doctor's eyes on her but ignored it. She had seen this so many times it had been seared into her brain. A single quote she could tell you circumstance, who was talking to who, episode and season. Not like she wasn't the one to choose to watch them over and over again. She loved every minute of it, it was just sad to her that she'd never see a new Christopher Eccelston or David Tennant episode. Every Doctor she had seen she had loved dearly and now she was living through them.

Even though you'll never live past Rose.

Alex shushed her mind before she could react physically. She could never mention anything to The Doctor. But she also couldn't hurt him like Rose's leaving did. Whatever Rose said about him being in love with her, if it was true it made things all the worse. She loved him but she knew that if he loved her she couldn't let him be hurt like that. Should she leave now? It would hurt him a lot less compared to… But could she leave him? She didn't want to, more than any other companion of his she was sure. It wasn't just the adventure and the time and space, for everyone it was him. But everyone usually had someone else. Alex had no one but him.

Alex blinked her eyes open, finding herself looking up at the ceiling of Sneed's now empty sitting room. She looked around, realising she must have fallen asleep and trying to remember where the others could have gone. It only took a moment, especially with her past thoughts to worry they'd left her. Alex hated her mind and tried to think logically but it kept going back to he must have left her.

Alex shook her head, holding it tightly as she curled in on herself in the corner of the small couch. She found herself calling for The Doctor before she could stop it and silently cursed herself. Too late, she heard The Doctor running into the room and he burst in, looking around a moment before finding her right where she had been and frowned at her new position. He moved slower then, coming to crouch before her and looking into her eyes. Neither of them noticed the girls standing by the door.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" He asked softly. Alex shook her head.

"I'm fine, I just…" She trailed off, not wanting to say it. The Doctor waited a moment before moving slightly closer, taking her hands in his.

"Something's wrong, tell me" He said it like a request but Alex knew he was desperate to know. She hesitated a moment, until she felt tears threaten.

"I woke up and… I woke up alone" She whispered. Realisation crossed The Doctor's face and he suddenly looked very guilty. Alex suddenly felt guilty for making him guilty.

"I'm sorry" He said softly, moving one hand to cup her cheek. "It's alright, I'd never leave you" Alex nodded and he offered her a smile.

"Doctor… Can I ask you a question?" Alex asked hesitantly.

"You just did" he pointed out in attempt to cheer her up. She rolled her eyes but a small smile crossed her lips a moment. "Go ahead" He amended after a moment.

"Why do you… Keep looking at me like that?" She asked slowly, watching his reaction carefully. He paused, looking like he had absolutely no idea how to answer that question.

"You remind me of someone" He told her softly. Alex froze even as she felt her heart rate pick up. She thought over everything he could possibly mean by that, but her mind kept going back to the time in his future when he said those very words to Clara. But she couldn't've…

"Who?" She asked just as quietly.

"Someone I lost" He responded vaguely. There was a moment of silence but Alex recognised his sad reminiscing face and gave him a soft smile. He smiled in return and all of a sudden was back to his happy self once again.

"Guess what?" He asked, looking exited and holding both her hands again. Alex couldn't help but mirror his smile. He was just so adorable.

"What?" She asked, actually founding herself giggling in excitement along with him.

"We're going to have a séance" He told her, still grinning. Alex gave a small laugh, loving how he could be so excited about that.

"Alright" She nodded. He helped pull her up and let her stop to straighten her dress before leading her into the next room. The girls had already gone, neither knowing they had been watching in the first place. The Doctor sat her down before organising everyone else. Alex glanced over at Gwyneth then Rose before looking down at her hands, trying to escape their knowing smiles. The Doctor came and sat down beside her a minute later. Alex found herself between The Doctor and Gwyneth, with Dickens on the other side of The Doctor and Sneed beside him. Which left Rose between Sneed and Gwyneth. Alex couldn't help a small smile when she noticed all the girls were pushed together. It was something she'd notice on the TV.

The Doctor, who had been watching her carefully in his peripheral vision, smiled softly when he saw her smile. He wanted to be sure she was okay, not knowing for sure what had just happened but knowing there would be no discussing it until later. It was clear to him she seemed to have some kind of abandonment issue but he was unsure if it would have been from suddenly not existing in a world or if it was from before then. Whatever the cause, The Doctor was now certain he'd do anything to assure her he'd never leave and make sure she was never alone.

"This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the land of mists. Down in mid-town" Gwyneth told them when they were all settled. "Come. We must all join hands"

"I can't take part in this" Dickens announced suddenly, standing.

"Humbug?" Alex teased, looking up at him with a childish kind of smile.

"Come on, open mind" The Doctor took over.

"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask" Dickens continued, unwilling to be persuaded. "Seances? Nothing but luminous tamberines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees" Alex glanced across the table at Rose, pulling a wide-eyed disbelieving face at the expression. Rose laughed a little but it didn't stop Dickens from adding "This girl knows nothing"

"Now don't antagonise her" The Doctor told him, catching on to Gwyneth's slight sadness at the comment. "I love a happy medium" He added, grinning, also catching on to the joking air from the girls.

"I can't believe you just said that" Rose laughed, shaking her head. Alex looked down into her lap as her shoulders shook with her own laughter. She took a deep breath and composed herself before looking back up. She even had to bite her lip to keep from laughing again as she looked at Rose again, seeing her do the same.

"Come on, we might need you" The Doctor added, looking back up at Dickens. He hesitated another moment before sitting back down. "Good man" The Doctor praised before turning back to Gwyneth. "Now, Gwyneth. Reach out"

"Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits?" She called. Alex looked around, looking for any and every sign of anything coming, her joking manner gone.

"Come, speak to us that we may relieve your burden" Her eyes raised to the ceiling as a soft murmuring filled the room. Alex shivered as the air seemed to get colder. Ghosts certainly weren't her thing, and that included ghost imitating aliens.

"Can you hear that?" Rose asked. Alex nodded slowly.

"Nothing can happen, this is sheer folly" Dickens dismissed.

"Look at her" Rose insisted.

"I can feel them. I can feel them!" Gwyneth exclaimed. Blue gas appeared behind her and Alex's breath caught a moment.

"What're they saying?" Rose asked, looking from the gas to The Doctor.

"They can't get through the rift" He told them, his voice in complete seriousness. How was Alex supposed to convince him not to let them use the bodies? "Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now look deep, allow them through" He encouraged. Alex glanced around, her breath picking up as she watched everything blowing around the room from a wind that originated inside. Her hand clutched tighter at The Doctor's but she had tried her very best to not distract Gwyneth on her other side.

"I can't!" She insisted

"Yes you can. Just believe it, I have faith in you Gwyneth. Make the link" He urged her. She pushed harder and her face almost looked pained for a second when her head dropped forward suddenly and her eyes opened, staring ahead.

"Yes" She said simply.

Three humanoid figures appeared behind Gwyneth, the blue gas hovering just above her head. Gelth. The wind continued around them but it almost seemed to move just around the group of them, leaving them in a bubble of calm.

"Great god, spirits from the other side!" Sneed cried, watching in what Alex couldn't determine was horror or amazement.

"The other side of the universe" The Doctor corrected.

"Pity us. Pity the Gelth. There is so little time, help us" One of the creatures begged. Alex's eyes hardened, fear all but forgotten as she stared down the three.

"What do you want us to do?" The Doctor asked, getting down to business.

"The rift. Take the girl to the rift, make the bridge"

"What for?"

"We are so very few, the last of our kind, we face extinction"

"Why? What happened?" The Doctor had his worry face on. Damn that worry face. He was an optimist at the best of times, that was certain.

"Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came"

"War? What war?" Dicken asked, seeming actually curious now.

"The Time War" The Gelth answered. Alex stopped, glancing between Rose and The Doctor, who were doing the same. "The whole universe convulsed" They continued, seemingly oblivious to the exchange between the three of them. "The Time War raged, invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state"

"So that's why you need the corpses" The Doctor realised.

"We want to stand tall. To feel the sunlight. To live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste, Give them to us!" They pleaded.

"But we can't!" Rose cried. The Doctor looked to her.

"Why not?" He demanded.

"It's not… I mean, it's not…"

"Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives" He told her in an irritated tone. Alex paused a moment, should she say something? She decided on not right now.

"Open the rift" The Gelth spoke up again. "Let the Gelth through. We're dying, help us! Pity the Gelth!" Then they faded away, disappearing into blue gas which was sucked away and Gwyneth fell forward onto the table. Rose jumped up and went to check on Gwyneth, Dickens seemed to be in a sort of daze, muttering about it all being true. The Doctor simply sat silently, having removed his hand from Alex moments before. Alex glanced at him warily.

"Doctor, please, just listen…" Before she could finish he simply stood and walked out of the room. Alex didn't move, just sat where she was facing where he was a second ago, her mouth still open from her attempt. She sighed, pulling her legs up onto her seat and wrapped her arms around them, holding them to her chest as she buried her face in her knees. She should have known he'd do that but it still hurt to have him just walk away from her like that.

The Doctor's words echoed around her head. 'It's alright, I'd never leave you' That didn't take long.

With a huff, Alex threw out her legs and stood, leaving the room the opposite way the Doctor took, ignoring Rose's gaze following her. She didn't look where she was going but sped up even as she was going until she found herself running as she burst from the door to the snowy outside. She didn't stop, just kept running through the snow. She had dropped her cloak inside and her arms were freezing in the biting wind but she didn't care. She didn't know where she was going and certainly wouldn't know how to get back but all she cared about right now was getting as far away from him as she could.

She didn't know how long she'd been running when her legs gave out from underneath her and she fell to the snow covered ground. The streets were empty. Alex was breathing hard and she knew she was panicking. She hadn't even realised she was crying until she reached up to swipe the tears roughly away. She never liked to cry, but sometimes, she just couldn't help it. Alex lowered her head, sitting there on her knees in the snow, and cried. This was another point she didn't know how long it was until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Alex's head snapped up with a gasp, her teary eyes not focussing on whoever it was. She wiped roughly at her tears with her freezing arm when something warm was draped over her. She blinked up to see the last person she had expected.

"Doctor?" She whispered, confused.

The usually cheery smile of Eleven looked sad.

"I thought you'd recognise me" He said softly. Alex blinked again.

"What are you doing here? You know you're…"

"Yes, I know" He nodded. "I also know what I just did" Alex lowered her head again.

"No, it wasn't your fault, I shouldn't have-"

"No, stop" He interrupted her. Alex blinked back up at him again. "None of this has ever been your fault. It doesn't matter if you knew or not, I've never been good with listening to you" He smiled sadly again. "Now come on, do I get a smile?" He asked. Alex scoffed lightly, but managed a light quirk of her lips. "A little better" He admitted. "Now come on" He pulled her to her feet.

"What?" Alex frowned at him. "Where are we going?"

"Not we, you" He corrected. Alex simply frowned again. "I'm going to need you in there. It's not like I'll listen to Rose you know" He smiled at her. Alex laughed a little. He began to lead her back through the streets, pulling his coat closer around her.

"You're going to get cold" She told him, frowning slightly in worry.

"Not me" He smiled down at her. "No, I'm fine. Fragile human bodies" He muttered the last part good humouredly. Alex glanced over at him and the coat around her. He looked like he was dressed for the time sort of but he never did that. Alex wondered when he was from. That was when she noticed something very strange. He was not wearing a bow tie. Alex looked back down at the ground as they walked, thinking.

"Where is it?" She couldn't help but ask. She saw him look down at her from the corner of her eye.

"Where's what?"

"The bow tie, you never go anywhere without one, where is it?" She rephrased, looking up at him then. He laughed.

"Oh, you never change" He mused, shaking his head. Alex frowned at him.

"What's that mean?"

"It means, you always notice the little things, and you always worry. I'm fine" He told her. Alex frowned, certainly not believing him but letting it go for now. "So like you but unlike you at the same time" He sighed then, before falling silent. Alex frowned again but still didn't say anything.

"Here" The Doctor told her stopping them. Alex looked up to find they were at some kind of back door to the house she had spent most of her night in. Alex almost hesitantly slipped the coat off her shoulders and handed it back to him and he took it with a nod, both knowing that they couldn't let the younger him see it. Alex started to the door before turning back.

"When's the last time you saw me?" She asked him, not being able to stop herself.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Alex trailed off. "I must have told you at some point…my internet, for some reason, connects back to my universe, with me in the show. And I looked up my name and found out I was a character" She took a deep breath before continuing. "And it says my last appearance… The same day as Rose" The Doctor's face seemed to fall then and Alex didn't like the sadness his eyes held.

"I can't tell you anything" Was all he said. Alex nodded.

"Alright then" She relented. She opened the door and glanced out behind her one last time but he was already gone. Alex took a deep breath to steady herself before she walked in, closing the door behind her. She strained to listen to try and find where they were up to. She heard voices from downstairs and frowned slightly, continuing on in a cautious pace until she heard words.

"Come to this world, poor lost souls!" Gwyneth.

Alex's eyes widened and she took off at a run.