Well I was wondering to myself whether or not I would post this chapter, but I think I'll give you guys a little more anticipation before the finale comes up. This is my own original episode, which probably wasn't that good but oh well. It was my first try at a whole episode, I hope you like it anyway.
The city burned, children cried out for dead parents. People screaming and shouting and dying everywhere. Zaps of alien sounding guns. Alex ducked out from the shadowed corner in which she had hidden. She turned, taking in the scene with horror. She looked down at a gun in her hand and looked back to where the people were being shot down. Guilt ran through her. There was blood all over her hands, no, all over her body. She was just about drenched in it. The blood of a dying race. She ran. She ran away. Gun clutched tightly in her hand, she ran. A ripped and torn soldier uniform hung off her in places but she paid no mind.
A child screamed as she ran past but Alex couldn't stop herself. She had lost control. She had no care for the child. Her mind fogged over as she turned the corner to see a terrified young couple crouching down just out of sight. They screamed at the sight of her and huddled closer, crying into each other. Alex watched herself raise the gun. The couple were dead. She kept running.
Alex had another lone person cornered. A weeping young woman who held close a torn stuffed bear half covered in blood. Having lost her gun, Alex felt herself smile as she pulled the already blood covered knife from a sheath in her belt.
"Alex"
Alex blinked, that voice… She turned, there was a figure less than a couple feet away shrouded in darkness.
"Alex come on, I know you can hear me" The shadow spoke. Alex didn't say anything. She fought, harder than ever against her own mind. She was so close, almost there.
"Doctor…" It came out a whisper, barely a breath. The Doctor walked forward into the light and suddenly everything else was gone. She was left surrounded by endless nothing, an almost blinding white that continued on forever. The Doctor stood before her still, so close but so far. Shaking with the effort, Alex reached forward an arm but he was out of reach.
"Alex, come on, you can do this. You have to wake up" The Doctor told her urgently. Alex frowned at him.
"What does that mean?" She had control now, her body was back. But the white emptiness remained. "Am I sleeping?"
"Yes"
"How do I wake up?" Her voice trembled. The Doctor watched her sadly.
"You have to reach me Alex" He told her. Alex looked down at the ground between their feet, he was only two or so feet away. "It won't be easy but you have to" Alex looked back up at him. She gave a short nod but as soon as she attempted to step forward she felt caught, like she was surrounded by water and she was moving so very slow. Alex grunted with the effort, pushing herself.
"Come on Alex, you can do this, keep going" He urged her on. Alex pushed a little harder and her foot touched the ground, another pace closer. If she could just move that little bit… "You're doing great Alex, keep moving" Alex reached her arm forward, fingers close to brushing his jacket.
"…she doing it?" A voice echoed. It sounded hazy and far away. Rose.
"You're almost there" The Doctor told her, sounding hopeful. Alex found herself smiling as she reached just that little bit further. The Doctor smiled back. She almost had him, her fingers were right there, he was so close and…
A hand grasped Alex's wrist tightly, yanking her back with a sudden force. Alex found herself falling, watching as The Doctor's horrified face got further and further away.
The Doctor's eyes snapped open and he growled. Looking down at the girl in his arms his expression softened. Sadness and guilt and regret washed over him as he watched her laying motionlessly in his arms. Alex looked so peaceful she may as well be sleeping. The only difference being she might never wake up.
"It didn't work?" Came the soft voice. The Doctor looked up at Rose, who stood beside Alex's bed where he sat. He shook his head solemnly, looking down at her again. He brushed her hair gently from her eyes. He placed her down carefully, resting her head on the pillow as he watched her. This couldn't happen, not to Alex, he wouldn't let it. The Doctor stood and ran from the room, leaving Rose to stare after him. She looked back down at Alex then with sad eyes.
The girl who had so recently become her best friend didn't move. She lay there silently, closed eyes unable to open. Rose sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"Alex, I hope you can hear me. I'm so sorry" She spoke softly. "It was all my fault Alex, I shouldn't have left you behind, I should have checked you were there" Silent tears ran down her face and she took a deep breath to keep her voice steady. It didn't help. "I should have been there, that's what best friends are for. It should be me lying there, not you" She paused, breathing deeply to keep from breaking down. After a moment Rose took her friend's hand and held it tightly.
"You need to hear me. You need to wake up. I can't deal with that lunatic on my own" She laughed through tears. "Please. We're falling apart out here Al. You have to wake up, you have to…" She trailed off, falling silent as tears stained her cheeks. Alex's hand tightened over hers. Rose looked up, shock and amazement and hope all struggling through. Alex had a single tear run down her face. Rose's eyes widened.
"Can you hear me?" She asked frantically. Her grip tightened once again holding as hard as she could. "Oh… oh my god, Alex" Rose breathed.
The Doctor ran until he reached his correct destination. The library seemed almost as endless as the TARDIS itself. He stopped further in, at a computer screen with empty shelves behind it. He quickly listed off non-fiction, the genre, content key words and more. When he was finished book covers and titles flashed across the screen and the automated shelf behind it began working. Three books were filtered out of the shelves and stopped in front of him. He sighed, grabbing the books he was given and moving towards the nearest table. He put down the stack and read quickly through each one, looking for something, anything, to tell him how to save Alex.
He dropped the last book with a sigh, leaning forward on the table tiredly. There was nothing.
"Oh Alex…" He breathed out. "I'm so sorry"
An alarm rang through the air and Alex reached over groggily to bang against the off button. Monday. She sighed when she hit snooze although she was getting up already. She'd just have to turn it off next time while she was getting ready. Alex frowned as she felt some kind of weird tingle in her hand. It felt like someone was holding her hand, but when she raised her arm to look there was nothing there. She opened and closed her hand, frowning as the feeling dissipated. Weird. She sighed then as she got up, flattening her blanket in a half-hearted effort to make the bed. She moved towards the bathroom and did what she had to do in there before coming back to rifle through her closet. She picked out some clothes and threw them on the bed before going to look out the window. She smiled to herself as she looked out to the sun beginning to brighten the streets of Melbourne.
Alex loved the city.
A sudden split of pain burst through Alex's head and she cried out, hands on her head as she fell. It was gone as soon as it came and she sat under the window a moment, eyes wide as she breathed heavily. She'd never had anything like that before. Just as Alex was going to stand again it happened again. It didn't leave this time.
"…wake up you have to" A voice called out in her head. Alex tried her best to concentrate, maybe figure out what this was but the pain was too intense. Her breaths came out in short, sharp bursts and tears ran down her face. It faded slowly this time. Just as it had reached a bearable level and was leaving completely she heard the voice in her head again.
"Oh my god, Alex"
It was spoke softly but rang through her head with an echo. The voice was familiar somehow but she couldn't put her finger on why. Her alarm went off again, causing her to jump in surprise. She sighed heavily and went to turn it off properly that time. She stood there a moment, contemplating what had just happened.
"Doctor!"
Alex looked up, watching the door to her apartment with fear in her eyes this time. The voice was so much clearer in a single shouted word and it almost sounded like it was spoken inside her apartment.
The Doctor looked up and took off running. He almost ran right into a couple bookshelves as he skidded passed, leaving the library and heading straight for Alex's room.
Rose looked up as The Doctor came running in.
"What is it? What happened?" He asked frantically, looking between her and Alex still asleep.
"I was holding her hand, and she held my hand too. I mean, she was squeezing my hand, like hard, and then she just stopped" Rose stumbled out. The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out, scanning Alex starting from her hand and then up her arm and eventually her head. He frowned at the results.
"What is it?" Rose asked worriedly. The Doctor looked at her, seeming to not believe it even as he said it.
"It's a neural extraction"
"What does that mean?" Rose asked, frowning. It didn't sound good.
"Someone or something is inside her head and cherry picking bits from her thoughts and memories" He explained, looking at Alex. "It's an incredibly difficult process. And painful" He said the last part with a grimace. Rose looked at her friend with a whole new level of worry.
"What do we do?" She asked, scared for her friend. The Doctor looked over his shoulder at her, seeming to hesitate.
"She has to do it. You can't do anything, but there is one thing I can do to help her"
"You're gonna what?"
"I going inside her mind" The Doctor repeated, walking around Alex who was now on a bed in the medical ward of the TARDIS. "The way I did it last time was only temporary, couldn't stay there long. This time, I'm stuck in there until I pull out myself" He looked at her seriously then. "But if it goes wrong…"
"What?" Rose asked, her panic and worry skyrocketing for both her friends.
"If it goes wrong whatever is happening to her could spread or transfer to me through the connection" He said seriously. Rose blinked and swallowed nervously. She wasn't sure what to say. Beg him not to do it? But then Alex might never wake up. And he'd never listen to her anyway. The Doctor was watching her closely, as if waiting for her to say yes or no.
"How likely will it be to help her?" Rose asked in a small voice.
"Very" He responded softly. Rose nodded.
"Do it"
Alex walked into her office later that day with her bag slung over her shoulder and a smile on her face. She could probably never forget what had happened that morning, but for now she pushed it to the back of her mind.
"Hey Alex" A familiar called to her, just walking in the doors. Alex turned smiling at him.
"Hey James" She greeted back as he caught up to her. "What've you been up to?" She asked him as they started moving again.
"Nothing much" He shrugged. "But hey, did you finish the web page for Mr Harrison and his dog grooming company?" He asked. Alex laughed.
"Oh god, do not get me started on Mr Harrison and his dogs" She shook her head.
"He ask you over again?" James asked, a knowing smile on his face.
"Yeah. One of the dogs, one of the big ones this time, slobbered all over me just as he opened the door, knocked me flat on my back" She paused her story when James was laughing too hard to listen. "It was not funny!" She protested, but she was laughing too.
"Yeah I know" He sighed, laughter subsiding as he swept his blonde hair from his eyes. "And I get to update the Bad Wolf company's main page" He gloated. Alex scoffed, rolling her eyes at him but paused as she frowned. Why did that sound familiar? The two of them stopped in the elevator and James put in the number for the ninth floor. Nine Alex watched the numbers on the digital screen climb, shaking the senseless thoughts from her head as they stood in a comfortable silence. When the doors opened James went to head to their desks while Alex turned the other way.
"Where're you going?" He frowned.
"Just down to the break room, didn't get time for a coffee this morning" She told him, turning and walking backwards as she talked before turning back.
"Well be quick, I need your opinion on a page for that new flower shop" He called out to her.
She took a left instead of right into the break room and stopped in the girl's bathroom. She checked the cubicles before stopping in front of a mirror, the bag she carried off her shoulder and on the sink. She looked hard at her reflection. She frowned at the butterfly clip in her hair and her pink zip up hoodie that she always wore. Then at the baby blue tights under her flowy pink skirt. Even the shirt underneath that matched her tights looked wrong somehow.
It was all so familiar, so normal and she wore it all every day. But today it just seemed wrong. Everything seemed out of place. A stab in her temple warned her of an impending headache and Alex groaned as she leaned forward on the sink, holding her head in her hands. Maybe she should get a coffee. She was just having an off day, it'd pass. With a sigh Alex stood and slung her bag back over her shoulder, glancing in the mirror one last time before heading for the break room to grab a quick coffee.
As Alex walked back to her desk with her work mug in her hand she glanced around and noticed a man standing off to the side. He seemed lost but he didn't look the type to be getting a job in web design. The man with the leather jacket kept turning his head as if he was looking for someone. Alex frowned slightly at him, he felt familiar but she couldn't recall ever having met the man. She reached her desk in the corner of the open room and put her mug down on James' side purely to annoy him, smirking as he glanced at her. He rolled his eyes and began pointing out changes he'd made to the page he was creating over the weekend. Asking if he should make the text bigger, make the background a little less vibrant so it wouldn't be distracting, and Alex discussed it all with him as he worked. All the while she kept glancing up at the man in the leather jacket who had taken to watching her.
Alex had sat down at her own computer and James had gone to raid the vending machine as far as she knew when the man approached her desk.
"Alex?" He asked, seeming unsure of himself. Alex looked up, mouth open slightly in surprise as she hadn't seen him coming. That voice, it seemed familiar like the rest of him but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Yes, can I help you?" She asked politely, regaining her composure. He paused momentarily, thinking before he spoke next.
"I was more hoping I could help you" He replied. Alex sighed then, getting an idea of what was going on.
"Blimey" She muttered under her breath. "Mum sent you didn't she?" She asked, looking him up and down now. He frowned.
"Sorry?" He had a northern accent. Her mother knew full well she liked English guys, that was just cheating.
"So what are you then? Some kind of personal bodyguard? Oh I know, you a psychiatrist or something?" She asked, thinking through her Mother's thought processes as far as she knew.
"No, I'm not a psychiatrist" He frowned.
"All I told her was that I couldn't call every night, I've been busy. What with Mr Harrison who likes me a little too much if you know what I mean, a whole three new cafés around the four blocks, a whole class or writers graduated from the University downtown and are all asking at once, and James keeps asking for help with that new florist now that he's been busy with the Bad Wolf company. It's not my fault I'm a bit busy so you can tell her to quit her worrying and take care of little bro back home, because I'm fine. Nineteen equals adult" Alex ranted on, looking back down at her computer as she finished.
"I wasn't sent by your mother"
Alex looked up, her mouth open like when he had first walked up.
"Oh my god" She said quietly. "Oh god I'm so sorry I'm just ranting on to you about all this and it had nothing to do with you. God I'm sorry, she fusses I wouldn't put it above her to hire someone to follow me around and just I could swear I've seen you somewhere before" Alex shook her head, her headache resurfacing. She hissed in pain and put her head in her hands.
"Are you alright?" The man asked, seeming incredibly concerned all of a sudden. Alex waved him off.
"I'll be-" Another stab of pain shot through her temple and Alex froze up, holding her head tightly between both hands. The man was suddenly in front of her, moving her back from the desk and taking her hands away to look at her. He buzzed something in front of her face but Alex payed it no mind, the pain in her head strong enough to ward off her usual sense of curiosity. Her eyes finally focussed on his and he stopped, looking right back at her.
"What's happening to me" She whispered. He hesitated.
"I know this is gonna sound really weird right now but Alex you have to trust me" She nodded. "None of this is real. This is all made up in your own mind and you have to get out Alex or you're gonna die in the real world" He summed up. Alex gaped at him.
"What. I mean, what?" She stuttered slightly, not understanding.
"You're dying Alex, and I can't let that happen. Look at me, really look" Alex looked over his face and his clothes and the weird silver object in his hand before meeting his eyes again. "You recognise me" He told her more than asked. Alex nodded and he smiled. He looked over his shoulder then.
"The illusion is cracking"
Alex looked too, her mouth falling open when she noticed everyone else was gone.
"No, It's not possible. It… James, he can't be gone" Alex stuttered, surprised.
"He doesn't exist" He told her. Alex shook her head, dazed as tears gathered in her eyes. Was none of her life real?
"You have to wake up Alex, there's nothing else I can do from here. But you have to wake up, please" He begged. Alex's mind seemed to open then. She remembered everything.
"Doctor" She whispered.
"Alex, come on we're waiting for you!" Rose called from the control room. Alex rolled her eyes, grabbing her jacket and smiling up at her starry ceiling before closing the door to her room.
"Alright, alright" Alex huffed, slipping her arms in her jacket as she reached the console room. Rose was waiting by the door and The Doctor was beside the corridor she just came from. "I'm ready" She grinned at him. He returned the grin, taking her hand and took off running, grabbing Rose in his other hand as he passed and the three ventured out onto an alien planet.
Alex looked around, taking note that they seemed to have landed on the coast of an extremely small island. Extremely small as in she could see the other side. The rest of the planet as far as she could see was just water dotted with giant lily pads. There seemed to be no living creatures around until she looked down. Alex smiled at all the life that swam past, some looking up at the strangers as they continued on their way.
"How small is this planet?" Rose asked. Alex looked up and saw what she meant. The horizon seemed much closer than it did on earth and the single sun that was just coming up seemed incredibly small too. It was pretty cold too she noted.
"Approximately eleven times smaller than Earth" The Doctor told them. "Fantastic isn't it?" He asked then, looking down at Alex. She smiled at him and nodded.
"It's awesome" She agreed. "Aqua land"
"Aqua land" He nodded, grinning. She let go of his hand then to walk around and lean down closer to the water. Rose followed her and the two peered down into the aquatic civilization as The Doctor explained about a magma core like Earth's that filtered through the water, keeping the creatures warm with the smaller sun and how that's why none lived above the water. Rose stood and talked with The Doctor as they crossed some of the lily pads to get a closer look at some of the architecture.
Alex watched as a creature stopped just below the water, watching her curiously. She smiled and waved at the small eel like creature. The creature made no move to somehow return the gesture but pulled its tail forward and a small dart shot out, catching Alex on the wrist. She hissed in pain and stared in almost offence at the small being as she pulled the small dart from her wrist. It hurt but only like a splinter and didn't bleed. She flicked the dart back into the water but the creature continued to watch her until Alex felt her vision start to blur. Her head spun and she fell back onto her hands.
"Doctor…" She called out weakly. He turned but Alex was already falling unconscious. She heard the sounds of them rushing back over to her until even that faded away.
Alex blinked at The Doctor, everything rushing back.
"Aqua land" She whispered. He nodded, a sad look on his face.
"I'm sorry Alex, I should have been watching. I should have protected you…"
"No" Alex shook her head firmly. "It's not your fault. It didn't have anything do to with you" She assured him. He gave a small nod. "How do I not die?" Alex asked, attempting some humour on the way.
"Last time you could've simply reached for me, it would have been enough to pull you right out. This time I'm all the way in, meaning I can't do much else from here. You have to find something that doesn't belong in this illusion, something real. You can use that to pull yourself out, is there anything you've noticed here that didn't make sense. Something that you had in reality but weren't meant to have here?"
Alex thought for a moment she shook her head.
"I don't know"
"Where have you been since this all started? How long has it been for you?"
Alex frowned to herself, she had the memories of a whole other life, where did she really start?
"Just today" She realised. "I woke up today when I first had that headache, that's part of all this right?" He nodded.
"I've only been here and home" She told him.
"Then let's go back to your place" He told her, helping her stand from her chair.
"You're sure nothing would be here?" She frowned.
"You wouldn't be able to tell the difference" He explained. "This reality is cracking and since it's the reality of your mind it's cracking from the very point you realised the truth. Alex looked around again, finding that all of the objects and furniture were missing from the corner she stood in. Some still remained on the other side of the room but it was sparse.
"Alright then, apartment twenty-five" She told him, heading for the doors. He followed.
"The headaches are what now?"
"Neural extraction"
"And is that what it sounds like?"
"Yes"
"Hold on" Alex stopped at the apartment door, turning to face The Doctor fully. "If they're taking bits from my brain, am I going to forget some things?"
"Possibly, depends what type of extraction. It could be you'll lose some memories, could bring some to the surface, could do nothing to you at all. The memories are being seen by someone else, we know that, possibly even taken out for them to keep but it could just be a copy. I haven't ever seen it happen before"
"Lucky me" Alex rolled her eyes, unlocking her door and stepping in. "Something real" Alex muttered to herself, looking around. She glanced back at The Doctor who was staring at the room with wide eyes. "What?" She frowned at him.
"Well, just… It shouldn't be too hard" He attempted to shrug off. Alex rolled her eyes but she understood his confusion. Everything was just as it would be for any other girl in the world, that was the problem. Everything was pink and flowery and clean with color complimenting and basically a page in some kind of interior decorating magazine.
It really wasn't Alex.
Alex continued to scout around, looking for anything that didn't belong among the pink, something from the real world.
"Any ideas?" She asked, turning slightly.
"Something that would be important to you" He added. "Something you could never lose would be more likely to slip in through your subconscious" Alex nodded.
"Alright then" She thought through that as she looked, checking out the kitchen cupboards. God, there was far too much pink in here. Alex's hand went to her neck out of instinct, something she noticed when her necklace wasn't there to grab on to. Her eyes widened and she rushed off to the bedroom suddenly, The Doctor following her just as fast. She pulled out jewellery boxes and drawers from a vanity in the corner and every small box under the bed, throwing contents every which way in an attempt to find the necklace she never removed.
"Alex what is it, what are you looking for?" The Doctor asked, watching from the doorway.
"You can't help?" She asked, trying her best to keep her irritation from her voice.
"I can't do anything here" He shook his head.
"I had a feeling you'd say something like that" Alex sighed. She glanced around, every box and drawer in her room empty. She cried out as a now familiar pain flared up again inside her skull. She vaguely heard The Doctor's voice calling to her but he sounded so far away. That was when she saw it. A small brown wooden box. It was simple and undecorated, something hand-made. Certainly not something that belonged here within all the pink. And Alex knew what must be inside. She pushed herself forward, reaching out. A hand clamped over her wrist as the pain subsided and she looked up.
"This is curious" She muttered to herself. Alex stood slowly, a perfect replica of her younger self stood before her. "How old is this image?" She asked, knowing it must be the thing to be causing all this. "What? Four? No, your hair is straighter, I had curls when I was four, Five? Six?" The image didn't respond. Alex smiled to herself when she noticed the odd fringe. "Ah, I'll go with six according to that hair. I can't blame you, no one ever really told me how to cut my hair"
"Alex? Who is this?" The Doctor asked, looking between the two.
"It's me" She told him, smiling softly at the girl. "When I was six years old. Whatever locked me in my mind must have created an image for itself out of my memories. But why a child? Even in my childhood memories there were plenty adults, unless…" Alex's mouth dropped open as she realised. "Oh you poor thing"
"What? What is it?" The Doctor asked, confused as he looked at the young girl again.
"It's a child" Alex realised. "The creature, it's just a child and it's alone. That's why it picked me and my younger image. It's the same, it found a match in my six-year-old self. That's what the neural extractions were, it was searching for the right year"
"Why, what happened when you were six?"
"Just, a lot of things" Alex shook her head. "We lived two hours away from our nearest relatives, half of them were on the other side of the world, my friends started moving away, one-by-one, that was when the kids in my class got older, decided they didn't want to be friends with every person they met. It was when kids chose friends based on personality" Alex hesitated before she finished. "It was when they decided they didn't need to be friends with the American weirdo"
The Doctor looked at her, shocked and back at the little girl. The younger girl had tears running down her face now. Alex kneeled down beside her as she let go of her hand.
"It's okay, it doesn't go on forever" She told her softly.
"You friend" The girl said softly. "He broke in to your mind to save you, he's risking his own life every second he's here" Alex looked up at The Doctor, who stared straight back at her.
"I should have known" Alex laughed slightly.
"I've never had someone who would do that for me" More tears spilled over the young girl's eyes. Alex gave her a soft smile and wiped her tears away.
"You will" She promised. "There's always someone out there for us, whether we know it or not. Not a single creature in the universe was made to be alone, there will be someone for you. Lonely times don't last forever, you just have to be strong enough to reach the friends you'll have on the other side, and then you can do the same for them" The girl nodded. Alex reached forward and pulled her into a hug. When she pulled away the girl wiped her tears and smiled at Alex, who smiled back. She turned and picked up the box from behind her and passed it to Alex. Alex stood and walked over to stand beside The Doctor. Box in one hand, she took his hand with the other. The young girl smiled at them and faded away.
"Will she be okay?" Alex asked. The Doctor looked down at her and their eyes met.
"She'll be fine. That was just a projection, her physical form never left her home"
"Aqua land" Alex smiled.
"Aqua land" He smiled back.
Alex looked down at the box in her hand with a smile, opened it and pulled her necklace free. Small silver charms adorned the one side, clinking together as they hung from the delicate chain. She put the box carefully down on the edge of the trashed bed and clasped the necklace on. She smiled up at The Doctor who smiled down at her and they faded from the broken world, hand in hand they returned.
Alex's eyes snapped open and she sat up. She didn't get time to see anything when she was hugged suddenly and tightly.
"God, Rose, how long have I been gone?"
"Days"
Alex pushed her back suddenly, holding her at arm's length. "I was gone for days?" Rose nodded. Alex pulled her in again and hugged her tighter. When they pulled back again Alex looked around. She looked to be sitting in a hospital bed but was still wearing her own clothes. She was hooked up to a pulse monitor and what seemed to be an IV. She looked to her right when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. The Doctor stood there, watching her carefully.
"Hey" Alex said simply, feeling tears form in her eyes.
"Hey" He said back.
"I'm not wearing pink" Alex pointed out. He laughed.
"No, you're not" He stepped forward, carefully removing everything she'd been attached to before pulling her into another hug. Alex buried her head in his shoulder as she tried to stop the tears from coming. They stayed like that for god knows how long before he pulled back and looked her in the eyes, their foreheads touching as he held a hand to the side of her face.
"I could have lost you" He whispered. Alex felt the tears that hadn't really left trail down her face once again. He sounded so broken.
"You're not getting rid of me that easily" She smiled.
Alex sat in the flight seat with her sketchbook as The Doctor fiddled with the wiring under the console. It was silent aside from the occasional buzz from the sonic screwdriver or a spark from the console. Rose had retreated to her room for some much needed rest but Alex knew she couldn't sleep.
"Who was James?" The Doctor asked suddenly. Alex glanced down at him but he wasn't looking at her, still focussing on the wires in his hand as he waited for an answer.
"Just a friend" She shrugged, looking down as she sketched another line. "A friend from back home" She placed her pencil down and flicked through the pages for a moment before offering it to the Doctor. He glanced over and pulled himself out from under the grating. He took the book slowly, looking over the detailed grey-lead face. He recognised it as the man she had been with in her dream. It hadn't been there last time he saw this book.
"So this… friend"
"Just that" Alex nodded. "Met him in the early days of high school. Kept in touch once I moved" She glanced downwards. "He probably doesn't know what happened to me" The Doctor took one last look at the drawing before handing it back.
"It wanted your memories, why was that?" He asked, still confused about the whole thing.
"I think it wanted my happy memories, it was lonely" Alex shrugged.
"So you said, like you were when you were younger. But why did it pick you? If it wanted happy memories why wouldn't it pick someone who wasn't lonely?"
Alex thought about that a moment.
"Because I've been both"
The Doctor frowned at her.
"What do you mean?"
"I've been lonely before, I know what it's like. But when it saw me I had you and Rose. I was lonely" She moved forward, sitting on the ground in front of him and took his hand. "Now I'm not" She finished with a smile. He smiled back at her and moved closer to pull her into a hug. Alex laughed a little.
"I've had a lot of hugs today" She mumbled in his ear. The Doctor laughed and went to pull away but Alex grabbed him tighter. "I'm not protesting" She added. He laughed again and they hugged a little longer.
...you like?