The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 58
A/N: Okay, here's the second part of Fear Her. Now, this is where it all goes down. I promised some revelations about Rhea's past and I will deliver, I promise.
Okay, so this is the last chapter I'll post before I go back to university tomorrow. I'm going to try my hardest to update every week but that only works if I write a chapter a week. I will try my hardest, but updates might be a little slower than usual. Sorry about that.
Replies to Reviews:
CmdrHawke667: I know! I've been waiting for Rhea to come back for ages!
NicoleR85: Thank you so much!
grapejuice101: Thank you!
LookAliveSunshine03: I'm glad you think so! I hope you like the second part just as much!
DoctorWho9: Thank you so much!
Audrie-13: I know, I feel really bad for her, even though she's a fictional character. I think you'll feel even worse after reading this chapter. Unfortunately, we need to see vulnerable Rhea and absolutely-crazy Rhea. Thank you so much for your review!
Guest: Rhea's not one to take comfort from anyone, let alone the Doctor. So, I think if he were to try, she may do something a little insane. So, I don't know, I think the Doctor's trying to distract her from thinking about everything too deeply, so he's making her focus on the problem at hand.
Marmalade1512: I know, I'm so sorry. I did it as a kind of Valentine's Day update. It was very long. I think it was a month. I kind of forgot about my Doctor Who stories when I got into my Vampire Diaries one. There's so much more about Rhea's past in this chapter, I promise. I haven't done New Earth yet. I wanted to do it after Rhea finds out Jack is the Face of Boe, because I think it'll make it all the more painful for her to see him like that.
Warnings: Allusions and flashbacks to rape, swearing, discussions of sexual fetishes, trigger-worthy content. This chapter has serious warnings, people. If you are light of heart, please be very careful when you're reading the ending.
Fear Her: The Bad Seed
"And you dismissed it, because what choice do you have when you see something you can't possibly explain?" He moved over to her. "You dismiss it, right? And if anyone mentions it, you get angry, so it's never spoken of, ever ag-"
"She's a child-" Trish protested.
"And you're terrified of her. But there's no one to turn to, because who's gonna believe the things you see out of the corner of your eye? No one. Except us."
Trish paused. She sighed. "Who are you?" She pleaded.
"We're help." The Doctor said, softly.
Back in the kitchen, the Doctor swiped a jar of marmalade off the worktop, unscrewed the lid, dipping his fingers into the viscous liquid and started sucking the jam off his fingers. Rhea ignored the pang in her stomach, her eyes darkening as she watched his tongue slide across his skin, the bitterness of the marmalade on his tongue. She shook her head, clearing her head of those thoughts, and cleared her throat. The Doctor paused and Rhea shook her head, mouthing 'stop'. The Doctor, looking for all the world like a naughty schoolboy caught red-handed, glanced at Trish who is just staring at him with disbelief. He meekly replaced the lid and pushed the jar behind him and out of sight.
"Those pictures, they're alive. She's drawing people and they end up in her pictures." Rose commented.
The Doctor nodded. "Ionic energy. Chloe's harnessing it to steal those kids and place them in some kid of holding-pen made up of ionic power."
"And the dad from hell in her wardrobe? What have you got to say about that?" Rhea raised an eyebrow, leaning against the fridge and crossing her arms.
Trish scowled. "How many times do I have to tell you? He's dead."
Rhea smiled. "Dead people don't have loud voices in reality, sweetie." She purred. "Just in your nightmares."
The Doctor's face turned thoughtful. "If living things can become drawings, then maybe drawings can become living things..." He suddenly shivered violently, making Rose jump and Rhea stare at him with confusion. "Chloe's real dad is dead, but not the one who visits her in her nightmares. That dad seems very real. That's the dad she's drawn and he's a heartbeat away from crashing into this world..."
"She always got the worst of it when he was alive." Trish mused.
"Doctor," Rhea started and the Doctor looked up at her. "How the hell can a twelve-year-old be doing all of this?"
The Doctor paused. "Let's find out."
He strode off and Rhea and Rose followed.
The Doctor, Rhea, Rose and Trish walked into Chloe's bedroom. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, while the Doctor stood before her, looking down at her. She said nothing, but repeated the same 'live long and prosper' gesture that the Doctor had shown her earlier.
"Nice one." He commented.
Rhea's brow furrowed and she turned to Rose. "What the hell is he talking about?"
Rose shook her head, rolling her eyes. "You don't wanna know, believe me."
Rhea sighed. "I'll take your word for it." She stared at the Doctor, fondly, his eccentricity oddly endearing him to her.
He knelt in front of her, holding her head in his hands, fingers poised on her temples. Her eyes rolled back in her head for a moment before closing. He closed his own eyes before suddenly Chloe fell backwards onto the bed.
"There we go…" The Doctor hummed.
"I can't let him do this-" Trish rushed forward to stop the Doctor.
Rhea stepped forwards to block her. "I promise you, Trish. He's trying to help her. Nothing's going to happen to Chloe."
The Doctor straightened. "Now we can talk." The Doctor addressed Chloe.
"I want Chloe. Wake her up. I want Chloe." Chloe's voice was a strange whisper and echoed, ominously, clearly not her real voice.
"Who are you?" The Doctor asked, carefully.
"I want Chloe Webber!" Chloe said, hoarsely and passionately.
"What've you done to my little girl?" Trish asked, upset.
"Doctor, what is it?" Rhea asked.
The Doctor walked slowly around the bed, all the while looking down at Chloe.
"I'm speaking to you. The entity that is using this human child. I request parley in compliance with the Shadow Proclamation." The Doctor addressed Chloe.
"I don't care about shadows or parley."
The Doctor frowned. "So what do you care about?"
"I want my friends."
The Doctor knelt by the bed. "You're lonely, I know. Identify yourself."
"I am one of many. I travel with my brothers and sisters. We take an endless journey. A thousand of your lifetimes. But now I am alone. I hate it. It's not fair. And I hate it!" Chloe snarled.
Her eyes snapped open.
"Name yourself!" The Doctor growled.
"Isolus."
The Doctor's eyes widened as if this explained everything. "You're Isolus. Of course."
"Our journey began in the Deep Realms when we were a family."
Trish, Rhea and Rose were immediately drawn to a piece of paper on the desk near Chloe's bed, a picture being drawn on it by thin air.
"What's that?" Trish asked, looking at the drawing.
The drawings began to take shape.
"The Isolus Mother, drifting in Deep Space." The Doctor stood up. "See, she jettisons millions of fledgling spores. Her children. The Isolus are empathic beings of intense emotions, but when they're cast off from their mother, their empathic link, their need for each other, is what sustains them. They need to be together. They cannot be alone."
"Our journey is long." Chloe murmured.
"The Isolus children travel, each inside a pod. They ride the heat and energy of solar tides. It takes thousands and thousands of years for them to grow up." The Doctor explained to the others.
"Thousands of years just floating through space... poor things. Don't they go mad with boredom?" Rose asked, sceptically.
"We play."
Rhea frowned. "You… play?" She asked, unsure.
The Doctor sat down on the corner of the bed. "Mm. While they travel, they play games. They use their ionic power to literally create make-believe worlds in which to play."
Rhea snorted. "In-flight entertainment."
"Helps keep them happy. While they're happy, they can feed off each others' love. Without it, they're lost." He turned to Chloe. "Why did you come to Earth?"
"We were too close." Chloe said, simply, and ripped the piece of paper she was drawing on off the pad and started anew.
The Doctor looked over at the drawing. "That's a solar flare from your sun. Would've made a tidal wave of solar energy that scattered the Isolus pods."
"Only I fell to Earth. My brothers and sisters are left up there. And I cannot reach them. So alone."
The Doctor pursed his lips. "Your pod crashed... where is it?"
"My pod was drawn to heat… And I was drawn to Chloe Webber. She was like me. Alone. She needed me. And I her."
The Doctor stroked Chloe's head, fondly. "You empathised with her. You wanted to be with her because she was alone like you."
"I want my family. It's not fair."
Rhea flinched, taking in a sharp breath, knowing exactly what that felt, and Rose and Trish watched as well, obviously affected.
"I understand. You wanna make a family. But you can't stay in this child. It's wrong. You can't steal any more friends for yourself." The Doctor said, earnestly.
"I am alone."
There was another thump from the wardrobe and Trish gasped. Rhea narrowed her eyes and reached out her hand, holding onto Trish's wrist and squeezing.
"He's dead." She said, lowly. "He can't hurt you again. Remember that."
Rose watched Rhea in interest.
"I'm coming to hurt you." Chloe's dad's voice came from the wardrobe.
Chloe started to shake and tremble in fear, although her face remained impassive, as though the real Chloe was coming through the shivers. There was a pounding on the door of the wardrobe.
"I'm coming."
Rhea swore. She turned to Trish. "Trish, how do you calm her?"
Chloe's body was jerking as though she was in the middle of a seizure.
"What?!" Trish asked, confused.
"When she has nightmares, what do you do to get her back?" Rhea asked, quickly, her eyes nervously straying to Chloe's writhing form.
"I… I…" Trish stammered, her eyes terrified.
"What do you do?" Rhea snapped.
"I sing to her." Trish said, finally.
"Then start singing." The Doctor said, sharply.
He motioned for Trish to come over and Trish took his place next to Chloe.
"Chloe... I'm coming."
"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he..." Trish crooned.
"Chloe… Chloe…"
The banging and thumping on the door continued. The Doctor Rhea, Rose both looked over at it, whilst Trish strokes Chloe's hair, trying to sooth her from whatever nightmare she had found herself in.
"Chloe… Chloe…"
"Laugh, Kookaburra laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be."
The banging and the voice eventually faded.
"Laugh, Kookaburra laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be."
Chloe had now fallen asleep.
"He came to her because she was lonely... Chloe, I'm sorry..." Trish buried her head in her little girl's shoulder, arms around her, sobbing desperately.
Trish strode into the sitting room and started gathering up all the pencils that were lying around.
"Chloe usually got the brunt of his temper. When he'd had a drink. The day he crashed the car, I thought we were free." Trish said, absentmindedly.
Rhea handed her a bunch of the pencils.
"I thought it was over." Trish sighed.
Rhea swallowed hard. She remembered what it was like to live in constant fear of what would happen next. "Did you ever talk to her about it?" She asked, softly.
Trish shook her head. "I didn't want to."
Rhea pursed her lips. "I do understand that."
She really did. She hadn't spoke about what Damian had done to her to anyone. Only her mother knew bits and pieces, but she had never wanted to disclose the full details, because it would hurt her to know what her baby girl had gone through. She had the sneaking suspicion that the Doctor knew more than he was letting on. She noticed all the side glances he had been giving her, as if she were about to break down at a moment's notice. But she wasn't that same weak girl who let a man walk all over her, she was like a fortress, she wasn't about to let anyone bring her down.
"But…" Rhea bit her lip. "I can understand why Chloe feels alone. Maybe… maybe she wants to talk about what her father did, but she feels as though she can't talk to you about it."
"Her and the Isolus... two lonely kids who need each other." The Doctor commented.
Rose looked at the Doctor. "And it won't stop, will it, Doctor? It'll just keep pulling kids in."
The Doctor shrugged. "It's desperate to be loved. It's used to a pretty big family."
"How big?" Rose asked.
"Say around… four billion?"
This drew a stunned silence from Rhea, Rose and Trish. Rose turned her attention to the television.
"The queues started a week ago for those desperate enough to be inside, although lots of them expected a capacity crowd of eighty thousand... For this evening's opening ceremony. I have to say there's been..."
The Doctor shrugged into his coat, as he, Rhea and Rose left Trish's house.
"We need that pod." The Doctor told them.
"It crashed, won't it be destroyed?" Rose asked, confused.
"Well, it's been sucking in all the heat it can... hopefully that should keep it in a fit state to launch."
Chloe was watching them through her bedroom window, as Rhea spotted her outline in the windowsill.
"It must be close. It should have a weak energy signature that the TARDIS can trace. Once we find it, then we can stop the Isolus."
The Doctor, Rhea and Rose approached the TARDIS.
"We can scan for the same trace we picked up from the scribble creature. Just need to widen the field a bit." The Doctor explained.
He fished in his pocket for the TARDIS key and opened the door. They went inside, shutting the door behind them.
The Doctor fumbled with some device, putting it together, while Rhea and Rose sat in the chair next to the console.
"You knew the Isolus was lonely before it told you. How?" Rose asked.
The Doctor shoved Rhea over and sat down on it himself.
"I know what it's like to travel a long way on your own. Give me the stina magnetic erm..." He nodded towards the object in Rhea's hand, violently. "Thing in your left hand!"
Rose glanced at him, chewing on her gum absentmindedly.
"Sounds like you're on its side." Rose commented.
Rhea slotted the object in her left hand into the device whilst the Doctor held it still between his legs.
The Doctor shrugged and looked over at Rhea, who determinedly kept her eyes away from him. "I sympathise, that's all."
Rose frowned. "The Isolus has caused a lot of pain for these people." Rose pointed out.
"It's a child!" The Doctor protested. He blew on the device. "That's why it went to Chloe, two lonely mixed up kids." He blew on it again, examining it.
"Hmm... feels to me like a temper tantrum because it can't get its own way." Rose said.
"It's scared! Come on, you were a kid once. Binary dot." The Doctor ordered.
Rhea handed him the binary dot.
"Yes! And I know what kids can be like. Right little... terrors." Rose said.
The Doctor held his hand out under Rose's mouth. "Gum."
Rose spat her gum out into the Doctor's hand, despite Rhea's grimace. "I've got cousins. Kids can't have it all their own way. That's part of being a family."
The Doctor stuck the gum to the device, securing it.
"What about trying to understand them?" Rhea said, pointedly and quietly.
Rose turned away with a slight smile. "Easy for you to say. You don't have kids."
"I was a mother once." Rhea said, offhandedly.
Suddenly, it was as if time stood still.
The Doctor's hands halted in their midst and Rose reared back in shock. The Doctor stared at Rhea for a moment. He had never heard her admit to the fact out loud. His hands itched to take her into his arms, but he knew she wouldn't appreciate it if he did. Rose just stared at Rhea, a part of her not being able to comprehend what Rhea had just said. There was no way that Rhea was a mother. She just couldn't be. She would know if something like that were true, wouldn't she?
"What did you say?" Rose asked, her voice stunned and shocked.
Rhea's eyes darkened, when she realised what she had just confessed to. It was a secret that she kept in the dark recesses of her mind. A secret that only came out in the midst of her deepest nightmares and when she was at the point of alcohol poisoning. It was something that she spoke to no one about, not even her mother. A secret that emblazoned on her skin and that was enough for her.
The Doctor decided to change the subject and wait for a better time to bring up what she had just revealed with Rhea.
"I think we're there!" He exclaimed, suddenly. He stood and went over to the console. "Fear. Loneliness. They're the big ones, Rose. Some of the most terrible acts ever committed have been inspired by them. We're not dealing with something that wants to conquer or destroy."
Rose was still reeling from the bombshell Rhea had just dropped, and Rhea was determined to forget she had ever said anything. The Doctor carried on, as if oblivious, but knowing better. He knew that Rhea's go-to act after talking about something painful to her was to bring up her walls around her. He started pulling levers and pressing buttons on the console.
"There's a lot of things you need to get across this universe." He gestured with his hand. "Warp drive... wormhole refractors..."
Rhea frowned, noticing something on the monitor screen. She held her hand out.
"You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold." The Doctor noticed Rhea's outstretched hand and took it, grinning.
Rhea rolled her eyes. "No, you moron! Look at the screen!" She laughed.
The Doctor looked at the computer screen where she was pointing and saw a flashing white light on a map of the neighbourhood, indicating the whereabouts of the pod.
"It's the pod! It is in the street! Everything's coming up Doctor!" The Doctor exclaimed, excitedly.
He rushed over to the doors, Rhea and Rose following after a moment, the former still slightly distracted. They emerged from the TARDIS and the Doctor shut the door behind them.
"Okay. It's about two inches across. Dull grey, like a gull's egg. Very light."
"Two inches. Well, that's gonna be easy to find." Rhea muttered to herself.
"So these pods, they travel from sun to sun using heat, yeah?" Rose asked. "So it's not all about love and stuff. Doesn't the pod just need heat?"
Rhea stared at her for a second. "You don't exactly have a sense of poetry, do you?"
Rose looked offended for a moment. She opened her mouth to retort, but there was a crash from behind the two and they turned. The device that Rhea and the Doctor had constructed lay shattered on the floor and the Doctor was nowhere to be seen. Rhea's eyes widened in shock.
"Doctor?" Rhea called out, hoping that he had just been distracted by something and ran off.
Her eyes widened even more when she saw the empty space between the two gates. The TARDIS was also missing.
"Doctor?" She called out again. "Fuck!" She snarled and turned and ran in the direction of the Webber house, Rose hot on her heels.
Rhea knocked on the door of Trish's house, impatiently. Trish opened the door and Rhea pushed past her and up the stairs, Rose following her.
"It's okay! I've taken all the pencils off her!" Trish told them, following up the stairs.
Rhea burst into Chloe's bedroom. She crossed the room over to the desk, snatching the paper Chloe was drawing on from her and observing the crude drawing of the TARDIS and the Doctor sketched onto it.
"Leave me alone! I want to be with Chloe Webber! I love Chloe Webber!" The Isolus cried, hoarsely, through Chloe's voice.
"Bring him back, now." Rhea said, coldly, her mind spiralling.
"No." Chloe said.
Rhea turned away for a second, her nails digging into her hair. It was at that moment, seeing Rhea's bleak face, that Rose realized just how important the Doctor was to Rhea. How much he grounded her and kept her sane. Looking at her now, it was easy to see that she was moments away from falling apart.
Suddenly, she spun around and sank to her knees in front of Chloe, her nails digging into her palms to prevent her from seizing the young girl by the shoulders and shaking her, blindly. Rhea gritted her teeth and looked at Chloe, pleading.
"You don't realize what you've done!" She said, viciously. "Don't you realise what you've done? He was the only one who could help you, now bring him back!"
"Leave me alone! I love Chloe Webber!" The Isolus shouted in protest.
Rhea recoiled and her face softened, as Rose and Trish watched. "I know." She said, gently. She stood up. "I know." Her fingers brushed against the image of the Doctor on the drawing. "I have absolutely no clue whether you can hear me or not, but I'm gonna get you back. I promise." Rhea looked over at Trish. "Don't leave her alone, no matter what. She doesn't draw one more thing."
She and Rose left the room.
Kel smoothed down the road outside with the palm of his hand, just as Rhea and Rose exited the house.
Rhea looked around. "Heat. They travel on heat."
"Look at this finish. Smooth as a baby's bottom." Kel exclaimed, proudly.
Rose and Rhea looked at each other before hurrying over to him.
"Not a bump or a lump."
Rose crouched to speak to him. "Kel, was there anything in this street in the last few days giving off a lot of heat?"
Kel remained oblivious to what Rose was saying. "I mean, you can eat your dinner off this. Beautiful. So you tell me why the other one's got a lump in it when I gave it the same love and craftsmanship I did this one!"
"Well, when you've worked it out, put it in a big book about tarmacking, but before you do that, think back six days." Rose told him.
"Six days…" Kel's face dawned with realization. "When I was laying this the first time round!"
Rhea frowned. "What did you just say?"
"Well, that's when I filled in this pothole for the first time."
Rhea ran her hands through her hair, tugging on the curls as she did so. "Six days ago…" She muttered to herself. Her eyes widened. "Hot fresh tar…"
Kel nodded. "Blended to a secret council recipe."
"Son of a-" Without another word, Rhea raced over to the van, as quick as she possibly could in her tight skirt.
"Ah-ah! I don't keep it in the van!" Rhea wrenched open the doors of the van. Kel strode towards her. "Ay, that's a council van. Out."
Rhea ignored him and limbs inside, picking up an axe. She laughed with glee when she found it, hopping out of the van again. She felt the weight of it in her hands. There's nothing like having a deadly weapon in your hands. She grinned.
"Whoa, wait, wait, wait, you just removed a council axe from a council van. Put it back. No don't, wait, put the axe back in the van, that's my van, gimme the axe." Kel ordered.
Rhea sighed and turned to look at Kel. "Look, I really don't mean anything by it and I'm sorry in advance, but I don't have time for this. I have to rescue this really hot alien in a suit." And with that, she slammed the palm of her hand into the underside of Kel's jaw, striking the nerve in his jaw to damage it, forcing his head to snap back and sending him unconscious.
Rose's eyes widened with shock. "What was that?"
Rhea rolled her eyes. "If you're planning to bitch at me for that, don't bother. He'll wake up in a couple of hours with a sore jaw. No biggie."
Rhea turned to the street and swung the axe above her head, ready to bring it down hard on the road. With a snarl, she brought the axe crashing down on the road, smashing right through the tarmac. She hacked again and again at the road. She knelt down and dug into the hole she had just made with her fingers, searching for something, and finally found the pod.
"It went for the hottest thing in the street. The tar!" Rhea grinned in delight. She examined the spaceship. "Hello, gorgeous."
Rhea and Rose burst in through the front door.
"I found it!" Rhea called out, the two of them going through into the sitting room. "I have no idea what to do with it, but maybe the Isolus will just jump on board." She realized that Trish was alone. "Wait a second, I told you not to leave her alone!"
"My God. Er, what's going on here?"
They turned to the television and watched as the crowds inside the stadium vanished, leaving it deserted.
"The crowd has vanished! Er, um... they're gone. Everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone. Er... um... right in front of my eyes. Um... it's impossible! Bob, can we join you, um, in the box?" There was silence. "Bob? Not you too, Bob?"
Rhea shook her head, grimly. "The stadium won't be enough. The Isolus has four billion brothers and sisters."
Rhea charged up to Chloe's bedroom door holding the axe, Rose and Trish behind her. She tried the handle, but the handle wouldn't go all the way down, something on the other side of the door obstructing it.
"Chloe?" Trish called out, worriedly.
"Chloe, it's Rhea!" Rhea called out, urgently. "You need to open the door! We found your ship! We can send you home!"
"Chloe!?" Trish shouted.
"Open up!" Rhea growled. She turned to Rose and Trish. "Okay, then, you might want to stand back."
Trish and Rose moved a good few steps away from Rhea.
"I'm coming to hurt you..."
Rhea swore to herself, hearing Chloe's father's ominous voice and the sound of the wardrobe rattling and shaking. She swung the axe with all of the strength she could muster and brought it crashing down on the door. She swung the axe again and again, splintering the wood and making slices in it.
"I'm coming to hurt you..."
Having made a large enough hole in the door for her arm to fit through, Rhea slid her arm through and knocked the chair, which was pressed against the door from the other side, out of the way and opened the door from her side. She, Trish and Rose rushed inside.
"Chloe!"
"I'm coming to hurt you…"
Chloe was now colouring the land in green.
"I'm coming…"
"I have to stop her." Rhea snarled. She started forwards but the wardrobe doors rattled particularly violently and she stepped back.
"If you stop Chloe Webber, I will let him out. We will let him out together. I cannot be alone. It's not fair." The Isolus growled.
Rhea held out her pod to Chloe. "Look, I have your pod."
"The pod is dead."
"It-it only needs heat." Rhea sighed.
Chloe shook her head. "It needs more than heat."
"What does it need, then?" Rhea asked, desperately.
"Um, Rhea, you might want to come and see this. The drawing of the Doctor just changed."
Rhea looked over and saw the Doctor now pointing to something in the drawing. Her eyes shifted to the right, slightly, and saw a new drawing of the Olympic torch tacked to the wall next to it.
"I don't think she drew that. He did. But it needs more than heat, Doctor." She muttered to herself.
She looked at the picture, helplessly. She turned her attention to the television, which was now depicting one of the athletes running along the road with the Olympic torch.
"It's much more than a torch now, it's a beacon. It's a beacon of hope and fortitude and courage. And it's a beacon of love."
Rhea's eyes dawned with realisation. "Love." She muttered.
"So let's have a look from the helicopter, there we go, the torch running..."
"I know how to charge the pod." Rhea declared. She turned to Rose. "Keep an eye on her. I'll be back."
"... past Dame Kelly Holmes Close."
Rhea ran down the street, seeing that there were a lot of people congregated at the end, cheering as the torch bearer passes by. Rose joins the back of the crowd, squeezing through to the front, before a policeman stopped her from going any further.
"Sorry, you'll have to watch from here." The policeman told her.
Rhea glared at him. "I have to get closer!"
"No way!"
"I can stop this from happening!" She said through gritted teeth.
"Chloe…"
"Chloe…" Trish moved closer to her daughter, while Rose watched the wardrobe with unease.
"I'm coming to hurt you."
Trish turned to look at the shaking wardrobe, crying and out of her mind with anxiety, clutching at her head with desperation.
"My baby! You're not going to hurt her again!" Trish snarled, protectively.
"I'm coming."
Rose swallowed hard and rushed down the stairs, throwing herself out of the house and racing down the street, on her way to the assembled mass of people.
As the torch bearer passed by Dame Kelly Holmes Close, the pod began to chirp.
"You can feel it, can't you?" Rhea muttered to it.
She backed out of the crowd and then brought her cupped hands close to her mouth, whispering to the pod, frantically.
"Feel the love." Rhea smirked.
She threw it into the air in an arc, in the direction of the torch, and surprisingly it veered in that exact direction. The torch bearer staggered slightly at the moment when the pod fell into the flames, but dismissed it as nothing, continuing on his path. Rhea cheered, jumping up and down.
"Yes!" She shrieked.
Chloe had very nearly finished colouring in the Earth, when suddenly she stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide.
"I can go home. Goodbye, Chloe Webber. I love you." The Isolus said, hoarsely, through Chloe's mouth.
Chloe's eyes rolled back in her head, as the tiny Isolus emerged from her mouth and zoomed off out the window. As though she had just woken up, Chloe turned to Trish.
"Mum?" Chloe asked, tentatively.
"I'm here." Trish said, reassuringly, tears coming to her eyes when she realised that she had her daughter back.
"Mummy!" Chloe shrieked in joy and terror, dropping her pencil.
Chloe rushed into her mother's arms and hugged her, tightly. Trish hugged her back, simply glad to have her daughter back.
Still cheering and delight and gut-wrenching relief, Rhea raced back down the road and met Rose halfway, throwing her arms around the younger girl.
"You did it!" Rose laughed in her ear, her arms thrown around Rhea.
Rhea grinned into the girl's shoulder and tightened her grip, spinning Rose around.
"Oh, I am so good." She purred.
They watched as all the missing children materialised out of thin air, in the exact spots from which they had disappeared. A little boy ran to his mother, throwing his little arms around his mother's waist.
Rhea smiled and watched as a little girl ran to her mother.
"Oh, Jane!" Jane's mother cried out.
Rhea smiled fell as she realised that the person she was actually looking for wasn't amidst all of the reappeared people.
"Doctor…" She muttered, looking around desperately.
She watched the happy families, sadly, and spun on her feet when Maeve touched her arm.
"I don't know who you are, or what you did, but thank you, darling!" The old lady leaned up and kissed her cheek, making Rhea laugh. "And thank that man for me too!" She said before walking away.
Rhea scanned the street with growing anxiety. She shifted when Rose came to her side. "Where is he? He should be here." She muttered to herself, her hands shaking. She watched the happy children playing in the street. "All the drawings have come to life." Her eyes widened. Fuck. She looked up at Chloe's bedroom window. "That means all of them."
A red light filled Chloe's room and even Rose's eyes were drawn to it, her eyes dawning with realisation, the sound of Chloe's father growling coming to both of their ears.
"Oh, fucking hell." Rhea swore and she and Rose ran towards the house.
Chloe and Trish were walking down the stairs together when the front door suddenly slammed shut of its own accord. Trish ran to it and frantically tried to open it, but it was stuck fast. The other doors from the hallway slammed shut as well, leaving Chloe and Trish trapped inside the entrance hall.
Rhea and Rose rushed to the Webber's home and banged on the front door, frantically.
"Trish, you and Chloe need to get the hell out of there!" Rhea shouted, urgently, through the glass.
"I can't!" Trish shouted back. "The door's stuck!"
Rhea swore under her breath. "Is the Doctor there?" She tried. If the Doctor was there, he may be able to get the door open with his sonic screwdriver.
"I don't think so!"
"Mummy…" Rhea could hear Chloe's scared voice through the glass.
Dust was shaken from the ceiling as the sound of heavy footsteps could be overheard, accompanied by the red light from the wardrobe.
"Chloe, I'm coming to hurt you..."
Chloe bit her lip, tears coming to her eyes. "Please, dad. No more." She pleaded.
"Chloe…"
Rhea ran her hand through her hair. "Chloe, listen to me. He isn't real like the others. He's just energy left over by the Isolus, but you can get rid of it-"
"Help us!" Trish started banging on the door.
"Trish, I've already tried, I can't seem to break down the door." Rhea replied. She took in a sharp breath. "Chloe, the only reason that thing upstairs is real is because you're still afraid. But you can get rid of him, for good, Chloe!"
"Mummy!" Chloe cried out, casting terrified looks over her shoulders.
"You can do it, Chloe!" Rose shouted.
"I can't!"
"Chloe... I'm coming..."
"I can't!" Chloe whispered, desperately. She sank to the bottom of the door, hunched up and terrified, giving up. "I can't."
The shadow appeared on the wall of the landing.
"I'm coming..."
"Mummy…" Chloe sobbed out.
"Chloe…"
Trish put her arms around Chloe, hugging her close. "I'm with you, Chloe. You're not alone. You'll never be alone again."
"Sing again!" Rhea shouted, pounding on the door. "Chloe, sing!"
"Chloe…"
Chloe began to sing the Kookaburra song again, but it was barely heard over Chloe's dad's roars, his shadow coming closer.
"Chloe... Chloe... Chloe... Chloe, I'm coming to hurt you."
Trish swallowed hard, hearing the ominous voice, and joined her in the song, rubbing Chloe's arms, comfortingly.
"Chloe!"
As their voices became stronger with every verse of the song, his became weaker. His shadow retreated and the light faded. He roared with anger, but it sounded distant.
Chloe and Trish started laughing with relief, still continuing to sing.
"…merry merry king of the bush is he..."
Rhea and Rose, both sighing with relief that one disaster had been averted, slid down the door, sinking to the ground and burying their faces in their knees.
"Laugh, Kookaburra laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be."
Chloe and Trish looked at each other, smiling.
Rose approached a tense Rhea.
"He'll be here somewhere, Rhea." Rose said, earnestly.
Rhea's shoulders slumped and she tipped her head back, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "What am I supposed to do now?" She asked, bleakly.
Rose just stared at her desolate form, not knowing what to do now.
Back in the sitting room of the Webber house, Trish and Chloe were watching the TV, as the crowds have returned to the stadium.
"Just look at this! Utterly incredibly scenes at the Olympics stadium, eighty thousand athletes and spectators, they disappeared, they've come back!"
Chloe and Trish looked up as Rhea and Rose entered the house.
"They've returned. They've reappeared. It's quite incredible. Bob, this will certainly..."
Rhea looked completely stunned and ran a hand through her hair. "Eighty thousand people came back, but where the hell is the Doctor…?" She hissed. "Fuck, I need him back."
Rose squeezed her hand in response.
"The torch bearer seems to be in a bit of trouble. We did see a flash of lightening earlier which seemed to strike him... erm, maybe he's injured... he's definitely in trouble."
The torch bearer collapsed.
"Does this mean that the Olympic Dream is dead?"
A familiar brown-clad arm picked up the torch from the ground.
Rhea shook her head, a smile spreading across her face. "I'm gonna kill him." She swore, making Rose, Chloe and Trish laugh.
The Doctor started to run with the torch, alongside the crowds.
"There's a mystery man, he's picked up the flame... we've no idea who he is... erm... he's carrying the flame, yes! He's carrying the flame and no one wants to stop him."
Rose, Trish and Chloe smiled as Rhea grinned in relief and joy, feeling that sick feeling in her stomach start to disappear.
"It's more than a flame now, Bob. It's more than heat and light. It's hope. And it's courage. And it's love."
The Doctor ran up the red-carpeted stairs with the torch, the spotlight following him closely. The Doctor faced the crowds with a huge grin on his face, whooping and he lit the Olympic Flame.
"Go on. Join your brothers and sisters. They'll be waiting." The Doctor urged the Isolus.
The crowd screamed and cheered. The Isolus, unseen by anyone but the Doctor, rose up into the air and away into the night.
The Doctor walked back down Dame Kelly Holmes Close, hands shoved in his pocket. Rhea crept up behind him, biting her lower lip, as a slow, sweet smile spread across her lips.
"Cupcake?" Rhea asked.
The Doctor turned around to see her holding a cupcake decorated with edible ball bearings. He started to laugh and so did she.
"Top banana!" He exclaimed, snatching it from her hand.
He took a bit out of it while wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his chest, Rose watching them both fondly, grinning from ear to ear.
"Mm." The Doctor hummed in agreement. "I can't stress this enough. Ball bearings you can eat… masterpiece!"
Rhea simply watched him for a few seconds before she hesitantly wrapped her arms around his neck, burrowing into his shoulder.
"I thought you wouldn't come back." She managed to say, her voice muffled.
He pulled her away from his shoulder, stroking a hand down her long hair and tugging on the curls at the bottom. "Where would I go?" He asked, slowly and sincerely, kissing her on the forehead, softly. "Not on a night like this! This is a night for lost things being found. Come on!"
The three walked down the road together.
"What now?" Rose asked them.
"I wanna go to the games! What we came for!" The Doctor exclaimed.
Rose looked over at Rhea and the Doctor. "Go on, give us a clue, which events do we do well in?"
"Um, well…" Rhea rubbed the back of her neck.
The Doctor's mouth was still full of the cupcake. "Well, I will tell you this: Papua New Guinea surprises everyone in the shot put."
Rose's eyes bulged. "... Really? You're joking, aren't you?" She turned to Rhea. "He is joking, yeah?" She giggled. "Doctor, are you serious or are you joking?"
"Wait and see!" The Doctor declared.
Fireworks exploded overhead as the Doctor, Rhea and Rose walked down the street, Rhea pressing her body into the Doctor's side, and his arm a comforting weight around her waist.
"You know what; they keep on trying to split us up, but they never ever will." Rose said, shaking her head.
The Doctor looked at her, coming to a halt, suddenly. "Never say never ever." He said, grimly.
"Nah. We'll always be okay, the three of us." Rose said, confidently.
Rhea flinched, thinking of all the times she had seen the Doctor without Rose at his side. For some reason, she thought it was coming close for them, maybe not for her, but for them. The time when they'd lose Rose forever. Rose. The little blonde girl with a heart of gold and an aching to experience something beyond the Powell Estate and being a salesgirl. Rose, who had the naivety of a five-year-old, yet the maturity of a middle-aged woman at the same time. Who brought light and joy to a woman who had never had the chance to experience friendship like this before.
Rose stumbled when she didn't receive a reply from either of them. "Don't you reckon, Doctor? Rhea?"
The Doctor looked skywards, holding onto Rhea tightly, reflecting for a moment, as though he was able to sense something.
"Something in the air. Something coming." The Doctor murmured.
"What?" Rhea looked at him.
The Doctor, Rhea and Rose looked up at the sky, watching the fireworks.
"A storm's approaching." The Doctor said, simply.
Rhea closed her eyes.
Rose glanced at the Doctor, nervously, and shivered.
Rhea slid onto the captain's chair and tucked her legs under her thighs, nursing a glass of scotch between her hands. She sipped quietly, relishing in the slow burn that made its way down her throat. The Doctor came up behind her and sat down on the captain's chair with her.
"You okay?" The Doctor asked, quietly.
Rhea smiled over at him, it was slow and tremulous. She took a sip of the scotch. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?"
"It's just… earlier…"
"Oh, yeah." She looked down, averting her eyes. "Chloe's dad brought back a lot of memories for me."
She didn't notice Rose come up behind them and join them, leaning against the console and facing them.
"I was actually meaning to ask you, why did Chloe's dad affect you so much?" Rose asked, bluntly.
Rhea swallowed hard. She looked up at Rose, schooling her face. "I guess you could say I have experience with abusive men."
Rose's face softened and she faltered slightly. "Did your father…" She wasn't exactly sure how to finish the sentence. Hit you? Beat you up?
"No." Rhea said, simply. "My dad… I always thought I had the perfect family. My parents, they taught me to be strong and independent, to be kind and generous, fight for what I believed in, to never let anyone use me in a way I didn't want to be used. They taught me that family was everything. That you should love your family beyond belief and I suppose that was a lesson that stuck with me all these years. I have a hard time giving family up, even if they treat me like crap." She took another gulp of the scotch, needing the liquid courage to continue with her story.
"Rhea, if you don't want to talk, you don't have to." The Doctor told her, gently, his hand falling onto her thigh.
She secretly revelled in his warmth.
"No, it's okay." Rhea sighed and looked up at Rose. "She should know. She shouldn't be as stupid as I was." She looked down at her glass. She took a sharp breath. "Did you know I was married, Rose?"
Rose's eyes widened and she almost stumbled with the force of her shock. "No, I mean, you never said-"
"Yeah." Rhea laughed. It was a harsh and unforgiving sound. "I don't exactly make it a point to advertise my relationship status." She pursed her lips. "My husband was a sick bastard, Rose. He spent every moment of our relationship torturing me in new ways."
"How long were you together?" Rose asked, quietly.
Rhea tapped her nails on the side of the glass. "Let me think. I met him when I was seventeen, right out of high school, and we got married when I was eighteen. We were divorced after I turned twenty-one." She mused. "So, around five years."
"Did you… did you tell anyone?"
Rhea smiled, sadly. "No one asked." She paused. "Everyone just saw the dream guy. Hot, rich, successful, charming. He was the whole package. No one bothered to find out what happened behind closed doors. And that's where my nightmare began."
"So," Rose shifted against the console. "He hit you?"
Sunehri's brow furrowed. "Actually, I suppose he didn't hit me all that much. I could count on one hand the number of times he raised his hand to me." She smirked. "No, my husband preferred a different type of torture."
Rose frowned. "What do you mean? I mean, if he didn't hit you, what… what did he do to you?" The way that Sunehri's face looked, completely expressionless, made her almost afraid of what the answer would be.
Sunehri smiled into her glass. "He… well, I suppose you could call it rape. It all just seems emotionless when you characterise it as 'rape'. You could probably say he forced himself on me, but that just makes it seem like a bad romance novel. How do you describe years of fear and blood and confusion? One moment you're this happy college girl with the perfect husband, and the next, your hands and feet are bound with electrical ties and you're surrounded by men you've never even met before." Her eyes glazed over, not even addressing Rose anymore.
"What do you mean?" Rose's voice was a low whisper, her face drawn and pale and there was a sheen of tears in her eyes.
Sunehri smiled, sympathetically. "Don't cry for me, honey." She chanced a glance at the Doctor, watching his tired and painful eyes, his lips turned down at the corners. She raised a hand and placed it on his cheek. She looked back at Rose. "He'd drug me and leave me tied up like a present for all of his friends to have a piece."
Rose rubbed her hands across her face, not even realizing that they were trembling. "I don't… What…" She stammered.
"I mean, honey, my husband did things to me in our bed that sweet girls like you don't even know about." Sunehri crooned, lowly, her eyes flashing, dangerously.
Rose felt like she was about to be sick.
"From pegging to somnophilia to bloodplay to menophilia, you name it, I've done it." Sunehri smirked, her eyes dead. "I've pretty much participated in any sexual fetish under the sun. Some girls are squeamish to have sex with more than one person at a time… I've had twelve men and women fuck me at the same time and I didn't have a choice in the matter."
Suddenly, it was like a switch was turned on inside her mind and her eyes reeled back with horror, realizing exactly what she had just revealed in the presence of the Doctor. She turned to him, hesitantly, and saw his face bleak with horror, as if he hadn't realized the extent of the torture she had gone through. On a first glance, she couldn't see any judgment against her, although this didn't stop her stomach from churning. There was a part of her that was smirking, proudly.
Good girl, you've pretty much ruined any chance you had with the Doctor. You just admitted to his face the sort of whore you are. There's no way he's going to want you after this.
She scrambled to her feet, her hand tightening around the glass, and she tipped her head back, downing the rest of the amber liquid in one go. She spun on her feet, determined to race out of the room and rush back to her own, shut the door behind her, bury herself in her bed and hopefully not come out for a couple of years.
"Wait, Rhea." Rose called out, making Sunehri stop in her tracks, her entire form tense and ready to run at a moment's notice. "How… how did you get over what he did to you?"
Sunehri's fists clenched. She remembered lying in a pool of her own blood and wondering when death would come to her. She remembered waking up in the hospital and realising that her world was quickly coming apart at the seams. She remembered the quick and unsatisfying orgasms in the backs of alleys, desperately trying to feel something. She remembered the determination and the hatred that had brought her to this point.
"I never did." She said, finally. "Some days are good, some days are bad. I try my best."
With that, she left the room, leaving the Doctor and Rose to contemplate what she had revealed.
A/N: Okay… I really don't want to say too much about this chapter, because I'm more interested in hearing what you all have to say. This chapter was really hard for me to write. It was hard balancing the dead, emotionless Sunehri with the more compassionate and desperate Rhea. That's why I switched the name in the last bit of the chapter, it was Sunehri coming out more than Rhea. In an earlier chapter, I mentioned how the Doctor likes to call her 'Sunehri' when he's saying something heartfelt. Now, I see it more like he's trying to get 'Sunehri' to accept him, because he knows he can win over 'Rhea'. Sunehri's the hard one in the relationship.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to review!