Monsters and Adventures

They'd returned to looking at photos, the Time Lords in the same position, though the album was more in Adelaide's lap as she frowned at a picture of George's mother, Claire. The Doctor shook his head, looking over her shoulder. "What is it with these photos?" he mumbled and Adelaide could only shake her head. The Doctor leaned back in the chair. "Anyway. Good, nice tea. Nothing like a cuppa, but decisions. Should we open the cupboard?"

Alex almost choked on the tea. "What?"

"Should we?"

"Well…"

"Got to open the cupboard, haven't we?" he looked to Adelaide, who nodded. There was no way to know what was in the cupboard without opening it, as much as she didn't like the thought. "Course we have. Come on, Alex. Alex! Come on. How else will we ever find out what's going on here?"

Alex nodded. "All right, but you said…"

"Monsters! Yeah, well, that's what we do. Breakfast, dinner, and tea. Fight the monsters. So this, this is just an average day at the office for us."

Adelaide scoffed. "You've made this an average day, Doctor. My life used to be nothing like this before you arrived."

He grinned. "Then I've made your life far more entertaining."

Alex, who didn't seem to have heard their last few statements, nodded. "Okay, yeah, you're right."

"Or maybe we shouldn't open the cupboard. We have no idea what might be in there. How powerful, how evil that thing might be."

Alex frowned. "We don't?"

"Come on Alex. Alex! Come on. Are you crazy? We can't open the cupboard."

"God, no, no, we mustn't!"

The Doctor stood. "Right. That settles it."

"Settles what?"

"Going to open the cupboard." He drained his cup of tea before turning to Adelaide and holding out a hand to help her stand, the pair heading towards George's room, though, for once, they did not keep holding hands as they did so.

They wanted to, certainly, but, after everything that had happened…they couldn't.

|C-S|

The three adults stood before the cupboard with George hiding behind his father. The Doctor, glancing at Adelaide on the other side of Alex, reached forward and opened it quickly, leaping back. But inside was only a collection of clothing and toys. Adelaide scanned it quickly, but despite the high pitch again, there was no sign of anything overly uncommon.

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't understand it. It has to be the cupboard. The readings from the sonic, they were…"

"Photos," Adelaide told him and the Doctor ran out of the room, returning with the photos in hand.

"How old is George, Alex?" he asked and Adelaide nodded. She wasn't certain, but the Doctor appeared to have the same idea, so that meant she wasn't completely off. Granted, she wasn't normally completely off.

"What? How old?"

Adelaide nodded. "Yes; how old is George?"

"Well, I told you. Just turned eight."

"So you remember when he was born, then?"

"Of course!"

"Course you do. How could you not?" he held up the album, showing them a picture of Claire around Christmas. "You and Claire. Christmas Eve, 2002, right?"

"What? Er…yeah."

"A few weeks before George was born," Adelaide said. "Tell us about the day he arrived."

"Must have been wonderful."

"Well, it was the best day of my…" Alex paused, blinking, for a few seconds "life."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Sure?"

"Yes."

"You don't sound sure."

"What are you trying to say? Look, I don't like this. I've told you before, I want you to go!" he pointed at the door, but his voice was shaking.

"What's the matter, Alex?"

"I can't…oh, don't! Oh, this is scary."

"No, Alex, this is scary. Claire with baby George." The Doctor held up another picture. "Newborn, yes?"

"Yes."

"Less than a month after Christmas."

"So?"

"So look. Look!" he pointed at Claire's very obviously flat stomach from the previous picture. "Claire's not pregnant."

"What?"

"Not pregnant."

"Well, of course not. Claire can't have kids!" it took Alex a second before he seemed to realize what he had just said, his mouth falling open.

Adelaide nodded. "Say that again, Alex." She was honestly surprised she hadn't stopped the Doctor from doing was he'd done, but she supposed her own curiosity had overruled Alex's comfort.

That was slightly refreshing. That was how she'd used to be.

"We tried everything. She was desperate. As much IVF as we could afford but…Claire can't have kids." Alex shook his head. "How? How can I have forgotten that?"

They all turned to look at George, who had gone to sit on the bed, watching them. "Who are you, George?" the Doctor whispered.

"It's not possible. This isn't…"

"George?" Adelaide asked, holding out a hand. The boy had begun to breathe heavily, desperate for air, and the room began to shake. A white light appeared through the cracks of the cupboard, the bedside lamp glowing brightly, before the cupboard door swung open with a vortex of bright light. It grabbed the Doctor, Adelaide, and Alex, pulling them towards it.

"George!" the Doctor shouted. "George, what's going on? Are you doing it?"

"What's happening."

George pulled his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and closing his eyes. "Please save me from the monsters! Please save me from the monsters! Please save me from the monsters!"

They attempted to fight the cupboard, but it was very clear that the cupboard was far stronger than any of them. "George, no!"

"Help me!"

"Please save me from the monsters!"

"George!" Adelaide was pulled into the cupboard, followed quickly by the Doctor.

"No!" and even Alex was pulled in, making the door slam shut.

|C-S|

The Time Lords jerked awake, Adelaide a second or two before the Doctor, and quickly determined where they had ended up; they were inside the dollhouse. The Doctor ran to the door of the dining room they'd ended up in. "George! George, don't do this. We want to help you, George!"

Alex groaned as he woke, rubbing his head. "We went…we went into the cupboard. We went into the cupboard! How can it be bigger in here?"

Adelaide scanned him to ensure he was alright. "It's not bigger, we're smaller. But you're okay."

"Where are we?"

"Notice everything." Alex just shook his head as the Doctor poked the turkey on the table. "The dollhouse."

"The dollhouse?"

"The dollhouse in the cupboard."

Alex grabbed his head, shaking it again. "No, no, just slow down, would you?"

Adelaide sighed. "Doctor?" he threw her the turkey. "Wooden turkey. Cups, saucers, plates," the Doctor threw her things as she named them, showing them to Alex as she went, "knives, forks, fruit. All wooden. Thus, dollhouse."

"Or this is a refuge for dirty posh people who eat wooden food," the Doctor called. "Or termites. Giant termites trying to get on the property ladder. No…that's not possible…is that possible?" he looked to Adelaide.

"Giant termites?" he nodded. "I've met some." She stood and, gesturing to Alex, left the room with the Doctor.

Alex rushed after them, grabbing both of their arms to stop them and spin them around to face him. "Look, will you stop? What is he? What is George? And how could I forget that Claire can't have kids? How?"

"Perception filter," the Doctor said. "Some kind of hugely powerful perception filter. Convinced you and Claire, everyone." The Doctor stepped away, continuing to walk down the hallway. "Made you change your memories. Now, what could do that?" he stopped in front of the mirror, making a face.

Adelaide sighed, walking forward and taking the Doctor's arm to keep pulling him forward. Alex paused and looked at the mirror, shaking his head. "Just a mirror."

They kept walking down the hallway, exploring. "So, Claire can't have kids and something responded to that," the Doctor mumbled, working through his ideas. "Responded to that need. What could do that?"

"I thought you two were the experts, fighting monsters all day long." Alex shrugged. "You tell me."

"Oi!" the Doctor turned to him. "Listen, mush. Old eyes, remember? I've been around the block a few times." The Doctor, cleverly, did not speak for Adelaide. "More than a few. They've knocked down the blocks I've been round and re-built them as bigger blocks. Superblocks. And I've been round them as well. I can't remember everything!"

Alex looked at Adelaide expectedly. "I was more of a scientist than monster hunter, which means I have quite a few species running through my head right now. It will take some time before I know anything for certain."

"It's like…trying to remember the name of someone you met at a party when you were two."

"Doctor…"

"Or trying to remember a word at a specific point in the dictionary."

"The lift…"

"And I can't just plump for 'Brian' like I normally do."

"Listen!"

Adelaide put her hand over the Doctor's mouth, silencing him. "What is that?"

"It's the lift. It's the sound that the lift makes. George is scared stiff of it." Alex looked to the side, seeing five electric candles going out one by one, only to turn on and off again, still one at a time. "Five times."

She looked over. "Yes?"

"The lights. It's happening five times. It's like one of George's habits. We have to switch the lights on and off five times."

She smiled. "Very good!" The Doctor licked Adelaide's hand, making her snatch it away and rub it against his jacket.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you tell George to do, Alex," the Doctor asked, "with everything that scares him?"

"Well, put it in the…cupboard."

"Exactly. And George isn't just an ordinary little boy, we know that now, so anything scary he puts in here. Scary toys, like the dollhouse. Scary noises, like the lift. Even his little rituals have become part of it."

Adelaide nodded. "A psychic repository for his fears. So a psychic field, perception filter, and filling Claire's need…" she closed her eyes, thinking, and thus missed when the door opened and a life-sized doll entered. The Doctor pulled her back, disrupting her focus.

"Oh my God," Alex breathed. The Doctor pulled out his sonic, flashing it. "A gun? You've got a gun?"

The Doctor frowned at him. "It's not a gun!" he groaned. "Wood! I've got to invent a setting for wood. It's embarrassing." He ran for the door at the opposite end of the room, grabbing a gigantic pair of children's safety scissors as he went. "Come on!"

Adelaide grabbed Alex and made him come after them, leaving the room and slamming the door, before spinning on the Doctor, grabbing his arms instead. "Tenza!"

His eyes widened. "Tenza?"

"Tenza!"

"Of course he is! George is a Tenza!"

Alex frowned. "He's a what?"

"Like a cuckoo; he's a Tenza." Adelaide was grinning widely now, almost laughing. "Millions of them hatch throughout the universe and then drift off, looking for a nest. They can sense what their foster parents want and then assimilate perfectly."

Other dolls entered the room and Alex shoved back two of them. "George is an alien?"

"Yep."

"But he's…he's our child!"

Adelaide nodded, pulling both of them back up the staircase. "He found you and became the child you always wanted, but something must have scared him and instinctively started this cycle of fear. He's likely not even aware he's doing it."

"So, we have to make him aware." The Doctor ran up the next flight. "George! George, you're the only one who can stop this but you have to believe! You have to believe! You have to know you're safe! We can't save you from the monsters, only you can! George, listen to me! George! Listen to me!" he spun, spotting Rory fighting off two dolls with a mop. "Rory!"

"Doctor!"

"Where's Amy?" Rory pointed at a red-haired doll. "Oh no…George! George, you have to face your fears! You have to face them now! You have to open the cupboard, or we'll all be trapped here forever in a living death! George! George, listen to me! George!" they were all being cornered by dolls, separated, barely able to do anything to fight them. "George, please! George, you have to end this! End this, end it! End it now!"

And then the dolls stopped.

Adelaide turned since she'd been pushed against the banister of the staircase. George had appeared in the center of the foyer, looking up at them in terror. "George, everything's going to be okay now, I promise."

But then the dolls started to move again, only this time they moved towards George.

"No!" the Doctor ran to the banister. "No, no, no, no, no, no! George, you created this whole world, this whole thing. You can smash it. You can destroy it!" George shook his head. "Something's holding him back. Something's holding him back…something…" the Doctor turned to Adelaide for a second, eyes wide, before spinning on Alex. "That's what did it. That's what the trigger was. He thought you were rejecting him. He thought he wasn't wanted, that someone was going to come and take him away…"

Alex looked towards George. "Well, we…we talked about it."

"Yeah, and he heard you, Alex."

Adelaide nodded. "The sole function of a Tenza is to fit in and be wanted, and you were rejecting him."

"We just couldn't cope! We needed help!"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "but George didn't know that. He thought you were rejecting him. He still thinks it."

"But how can we keep him? How can we? He's not…"

"Not what?"

The dolls closed in around George. "He's not…human."

"Dad!" George shouted, and Alex couldn't stand still any longer.

He ran forwards, shoving the scissors into the Doctor's arms and pushed aside the dolls to get to his son, falling to the ground and pulling him into a tight hug, letting him cry on his shoulder. "Whatever you are, whatever you do, you're my son, and I will never, ever send you away. Oh, George. Oh, my little boy."

"Dad…" a bright light started to come through the windows.

"My little boy."

"Dad."

|C-S|

The Doctor looked over when someone arrived in the doorway of the kitchen, clearly Claire once he saw her. "Hello!" he cheered. Claire just stared at where George was sitting on the counter, playing with a toy. "You're Claire, I expect." He walked up to her, giving her air kisses that made Adelaide sigh. "Claire, how'd you feel about kippers?" he moved back to the stove, where he'd been instructing Adelaide.

"Er…who…"

"They sent someone about George," Alex said, gesturing to the Time Lords. "It's all sorted."

"Yeah, we had a great time, didn't we?" the Doctor said, grinning at George.

George grinned widely. "Yeah!"

"See? He's fine."

Claire moved to her son. "What, just like that?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes. Trust me. And if you don't, trust her." Adelaide gave a little wave.

Alex kissed Claire on the cheek, making George smile again, and the Time Lords left once Claire made it clear she was going to take over the cooking. They had just gotten out the door when they heard Alex saying, "Doctor, Adelaide, wait."

"Sorry, yes," the Doctor said, turning and shaking his hand. "Bye." Adelaide did the same.

"No, no, you can't just…I mean…"

"It's sorted. You sorted it." The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder. "Good man, Alex. Proud of you."

"What, that's it?"

"Apart from ensuring he eats his greens and gets into a good school, yes," Adelaide said, stepping back.

"But is he going to, I don't know, sprout another head or three eyes or something?"

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "He's a Tenza; he's going to adapt perfectly."

The Doctor leaned forward, giving George a wave as he appeared in the doorway. "Hey!" he straightened. "Be whatever you want him to be."

"We might be back around puberty," Adelaide said. "Tenzas can have a difficult time with that."

The Doctor nodded. "Always a funny time."

"But enjoy it," Adelaide said, stepping back as Claire called for Alex to return. Alex gave them a final wave before they turned and went for the stairs, deciding not to risk the lift at the moment.

They found Amy and Rory sitting on a low wall waiting for them. "Come on, you two. Things to do, people to see, whole civilizations to save." Amy stood, still looking slightly uneasy. "You feeling okay?"

Amy nodded. "Er, I think so."

"Well, it's good to be all back together again, in the flesh. Come on." He led the way back to the TARDIS, almost running back up to the console once they arrived. "Now, did someone mention something about planets and history and stuff?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah."

"Where do you want to go?"

Amy frowned. "Um…"

"Mind's gone blank."

She raised her eyebrows. "Well, I have just been turned into a wooden dolly."

"Excuses, excuses."

Rory shrugged. "It's tough, though. It's like being given three wishes. The whole universe?"

"Or universes," the Doctor offered. "Ooo, three wishes, like Ali Baba." He looked to Adelaide. "How about that?"

She winced. "Oh, best not. It didn't go well last time."

"Last time? You've met Ali Baba before?"

A/N: A relatively happy ending, for once :)

Notes on reviews:

Starangel5593: Procrastination is a wonderful thing sometimes ;)