Wanderer of Time: Darkness Within

by Tinker16

The powers within have been steadily growing, buying time until the moment of remembrance. The moment swiftly approaches. Wanda's fears are coming to a head as she realizes what has been living inside her has only one purpose in the universe. And it holds no qualms in destroying any who gets in its way, even those who Wanda loves. (Part Three of the Wanderer of Time trilogy)

52. Ch 52: A Wanderer's Memories (Part Two)

Howdy!

I hope everyone's day/night has been amazing! :) Please, enjoy the newest chapter!

Warning: Dark themes ahead in this chapter. There is child abuse/death, mentioning of suicide, and some blood. Please read with caution if these topics are difficult for you. Though I will say all of this is still in the rated T range, so nothing too hard to read or graphic.

XxXxXxXx

Chapter 52: A Wanderer's Memories (Part Two)

Three days. That was how long it has been since . . . since . . . Sitting in the corner which I had secluded myself to, I let out a sob as I could not even bring myself to think about the occurrence. But I could not get it out of my mind. Tina had . . . She had . . .

After we had left for our testing . . . from what the other children had told of what they had witnessed . . . right after our departure, Tina had turned around and walked straight to the window. She somehow managed to climb up to the small window, then broke a large piece of glass from it. Getting back down to the floor, the children told how they had watched with unbelieving eyes as Tina . . . as she . . . Just like that. Not a word spoken. Not a change in motion. Just getting that piece of glass and . . . She did not even allow herself to regenerate.

The window was fixed now. The Golems had done so. They merely walked in, cleaned up the mess, dragged Tina out of the room, and left us all in our states of shock and dismay. Right after the door slammed behind the departing Golems, I walked over to the one decent corner of the room and curled up into myself. Not speaking a word. Not eating or sleeping. Merely sitting there . . . doing nothing and letting my mind tumble into chaos in trying to comprehend just why Tina had . . . Just . . . Why Tina? Why would one ever think of such a thing to do to themselves? And the worst part was . . . I felt as if it were all my fault.

I could have noticed the signs of Tina feeling so horrible that she felt as if she had to do such an act. That she felt that life was meaningless and that no one could help her through her depression. Why had I not noticed? No, I realize now that I had indeed seen the signs. I had simply been too selfish to bother in helping poor Tina out of her dark thoughts and feelings. I had ignored all the signs, ignored everything that I could have done to save her. And because I kept my sight averted from the inner troubles Tina had been facing . . . I had caused her to see no end to her horrors.

I let out another sob, curling into myself as I sat in the dark corner, wrapping my arms around my head as I buried my face into my bent knees. Again and again, the thoughts of Tina went through my mind. Tina, the one person who had kept everyone full of hope and happiness, kept me and Shelly so filled with glee for having her as our big sister of sorts . . . was no more. And I felt nothing but despair upon knowing that I would never see her again.

"Oi! Stop fighting you bunch of animals! Can't any of you learn to share?!"

I glanced up weakly from my knees, seeing that the Golems had brought in our weekly food rations. Kids in the room were fighting around the bag as they scrambled for food. None of them stuck to the system of sharing as Tina had set up. In fact, they all seemed to have abandoned very rule the older girl had made for them since her departure from this world. Shelly had been trying to keep order. But so far . . . nothing seemed to get any of the younger children to listen. Shelly had tried getting me to help as well, but . . .

Shelly glanced back at me, seeming to plead at me with her eyes to get me to move, do something, anything. But still, I remained in my cationic state, simply sitting there, staring at everyone with blank eyes. What did it matter anyway? It was not as if any of them would listen to me or Shelly. We had always been the lesser of the older experiments in the facility. The . . . older experiments . . . .

It clicked in my mind, quite suddenly. As I blinked, looking around the room, I realized something right there and then. There were no older experiments. It was literally Shelly and I left who had been here the longest. All the rest were children who were brought in and out at a normal rate of a new batch every week. But us two, Shelly and me, we were the only consistency left in this horrible mess. And . . . these children . . . they needed something consistent. Someone who could be stable minded, strong-willed, and keep calming kindness for all. Tina had been that one to keep the peace. And now with her gone . . . I knew someone else needed to step up in the loss we all felt. I . . . I had to do it. I knew Shelly could not with how temperamental and aggressive she is. Someone . . . needed to be like Tina and keep order. Because of my selfishness in letting us lose our strong leader, our caring mother . . . I knew I needed to step up to help and finish what Tina had started. I did not know if I would live long enough to see the end of it or keep everyone alive, but I knew I would keep one thing going: hope. Tina had such hope in the Time Lords coming to save us. Something which I knew I needed to carry on. For Tina . . . my beloved sister.

Gaining determination to keep Tina's memory alive, I slowly stood up from my corner. Standing tall, I felt my guilt washing away into a small pocket, staying there to keep my mind in track of what I must do for everyone here. Shelly glanced at me when I walked over, letting a complete relieved expression cross her face. As if something she had been on the verge of becoming heartbroken about was finally set right. She even gave me a loving smile of sorts. I nodded to her, then continued over to three of the children who were creating most of the fighting. I reached down and yanked the piece of bread they had been shouting over right out of their hands. Before the rough kids could blink and realize what had happened, I slapped each one over the head.

"Enough!" I shouted, glaring down at them with my hands on my hips. Doing the same stance as Tina always had. "How can you all fight at a time like this? What good does it even do? What would Tina think of you all for acting in such a way? Shame on you all for acting like this! Tina would be disappointed in you all!" I only received blank stares for a moment. Then, one by one, each child lowered their gaze in shame and embarrassment to their actions. I softened my glare, staring at them with understanding. "Look . . . I know we're all dealing with Tina's loss in our own ways. But don't stoop to the level of savages. Don't give the Daleks any more reason to treat us like vermin. We all need to buck up and keep helping each other if we want to make it through this. For each other. For our families. And for Tina."

Tearing the piece of bread in my hands in half, I handed each piece to a child for sharing. Then, they all did as such, splitting up the rations as we always had. Nodding at them all in satisfaction, I walked away, going over to stand underneath the window. Leaning against the cold dark, brick wall, I kept my arms tightly crossed as I stared at nothing in particular. Hearing someone coming over to me, I sensed who it was immediately and I let my hand hang down at my side in welcome. Shelly took my hand warmly, giving it a squeeze.

"Glad to have you back. Thought I lost you there," she whispered, her tone filled with relief as if she truly had been worried out of her mind for me.

"I'm fine. I just . . . had to mourn. That's all," I replied back in a soft voice. I turned my head to her, eyes glistening with unushered tears. "What about you? Are you all right?" Shelly did not say anything for a moment, simply leaning her head against my shoulder to bury her face from the world.

"I'll be okay," she finally replied in a breath. I stared at her for a second longer before turning around, embracing her into a strong hug. I allowed her to continue to bury her face in my shoulder as I held on tightly. Neither of us breathed a word while we stood there, merely allowing each other to feel comforted by the embrace.

"Shelly . . . do you think we'll ever get out of here?" I finally questioned hesitantly, glancing back at the children around the room, fearful of any hearing my doubt. They all lived for the small beacon of hope that one day the Time Lords fighting the war would find and rescue us. Without that hope . . . I do not think any of us would have made it this far.

"Of course. I just know that they will realize what's happening and will send us our saviors in a blink. You'll see," Shelly replied confidently. She even patted my back in reassurance to her full determination of all of us being saved in the end.

I nodded slowly, allowing myself to snuggle my head up against hers in the crook of her neck. Strangely . . . I felt as if I liked the way we held each other. Shaking off this thought, I went on speaking, needing to hear something in particular from her now to truly reassure myself of hope. "And . . . Shelly . . . will you promise me that you'll never leave me?"

Shelly pulled back, beaming at me. "Psh. As if you even had to ask! I'm never, ever gonna leave your side. That's a definite promise. And, as I've always said, I never break my promises, Alphie girl." She needed her declaration with a cheeky wink, making me laugh in delight and feeling of ease.

XxXxXxXx

Years flew by after Tina's departure. Decades. Each day seemed easier to move on with our sister's passing on. Soon, we grew to accept it and move onwards ourselves. With death becoming more common . . . I suppose it was easier for us to keep looking forward and never back to the past. Shelly and I grew closer than ever with us being the last two of the older children. Especially with our numbers diminishing every day. Soon I feared that it might only be her and I in the end. What would happen to us if that were to ever happen? What would the Daleks do then if they only had two experiments left? I shudder to think, really.

As we grew closer and older, I began to notice a shift from our previous relationship. I had noticed something before with how I would constantly get fluttering in my stomach around her. But . . . I did not really think about it much. Now, though, as we were about to enter into our mid-forties (though oddly enough we still stayed very similar in appearance as we had when we first arrived), I realized that . . . I was developing feelings for Shelly. Feelings that I did not know how to act upon or even think about. Sure, I had never had experience with these things myself or even really seen much examples of more grown-up relationships. But I do remember how my mother and father were with each other. That would have to be the best example for me to use as a reference of sorts.

It was little things from Shelly, really, that seemed to catch my attention. Such as how protective she appeared to be over me whenever a Golem would try to be more forceful with me. Then how I would continuously feel her brushing her hand up against my arm in a loving manner. I would notice how she would back away whenever I would glance at her after doing so. As if she were afraid to alert me to how she began to change in behavior and touches around me. And I felt that I quite liked the attention she wanted to give me.

Again, I did not know how to feel about it. I knew we were rather young for our species. Was it normal for growing Time Lords to have deep connectional emotions such as these? I was not sure. But given our situation . . . I do not think it really mattered in the end.

"We got another one."

I looked up from where I had been sitting with one of the new kids from the outside. They were brought in just yesterday and were extremely young. Only three years old. Poor things . . . They would not last a week. Standing up from the child, I made certain they were peacefully asleep before going over to where Shelly had called to me from. She currently sat by the door of the chamber, looking over a boy who had curled up where the Golems had thrown him earlier, shaking up a storm from where he laid. I crouched next to him, opposite side of where Shelly sat. Patting the boy gently, I tried to help soothe whatever pain he was feeling.

"Ssh, it's okay," I whispered to the boy.

"It hurts," whimpered the child.

"I know. But you just need to go to sleep, okay. Do that, and we promise that you'll feel much better in the morning," Shelly told the boy softly. The boy shook his head rapidly, looking terrified of the idea of falling asleep and never waking up again.

I know we felt the same a long while ago. But after discovering how our bodies were changing to adapt to the chemicals and Time Vortex going into us, the best option was sleep. It was sort of a way of healing. Instead of what should have been simply regeneration energy uses to patch up our bodies as we grew worn and hurt, our bodies seemed to be . . . losing that side of its natural genetics. We were slowly losing our Time Lord selves and becoming . . . well, I am still too afraid to think of it. For now, however, I am just glad that we can, in fact, heal.

We only discovered this aspect after Shelly came back really sick one day. Tina had always kept us up as a way to fight through the pain and keep being strong. But, when seeing Shelly hurt so bad . . . crying so much . . . I just sat by her side while she rested her head in my lap, stroking her hair, the beautiful blonde I loved, and cried over her as she fell asleep. I had been so terrified that she was dying in my arms that night. I was certain she would never wake again. But, with delightful shock, she woke up almost twenty-four hours later, smiling once again and ready to eat. She said how her body felt better than ever. The best she had felt in a long while, actually. We tested it out later, pushing our bodies to the limits and seeing just what sleep could really do for us. And it worked. The longer we slept, the more of a healing process our bodies would undergo. It was not hundred percent, but it worked good enough to keep us alive and going without much pain. Shelly thinks this might happen as some kind of adaptation our bodies were creating to fight back. Time Lords did use comas as a way to heal in emergencies. And with all the poisonous things the Daleks were putting into our bodies, our genetics must have changed in using a light method of the coma healing, able to internally repair whatever damage the hazardous chemicals were doing to us. It was the only thing we could believe to be happening to us. Then again, what was happening to us all was beyond possible, or even something that was abdominal. Something that should never be done nor tampered with.

But, in the end, was that not what the Daleks did best? Tampering with the laws of the universe to meet their own greedy needs. With these actions . . . I had a feeling . . . a strange feeling for a long while now that has been developing over a few years . . . that the universe was growing a deep ire in what has been happening. That . . . somehow or another . . . the balance of the universe was shifting. Things have been in chaos for far too long now, and things must change soon . . . or else I felt as though we would all suffer the consequences of whatever punishment the universe wished to evoke on those who have caused such imbalance. It was crazy to believe in such a thing, I know. But . . . still . . . the growing feeling was there. And I only hoped that it was simply my worried nature at play.

Eventually, we got the boy in our arms to go to sleep. We stayed with him for a bit on the bed of straw we made for him. Sitting right next to each other, holding the child as if he were our own, I suppose that we were the closest thing to a family, to parents, for the children here. Just as Tina had once been to me and Shelly and far many others of the past. Shelly scooted around, letting the kid lie comfortably in the straw. Coming around, she helped me up by holding my hand to pull me up. I noticed how she held onto my hand for a bit longer than necessary once she had me on my feet. And once she let go of my hand . . . I sort of wish she would still hold onto it.

"So . . . I guess I'll watch him for now, since it should be almost time for the Golems to show up," Shelly whispered to me quietly as she walked me over to the door of the chamber. Others had already lined up. Those which all had odd numbers like me. Something else that had changed over time. It seemed the Daleks realized that treatments every day on us were not the best idea in the world. So now it was every other day for us. The odd number names get one day and the even numbers get the next. It helped some in having a least one day of rest from the treatments to our bodies. Though that did not mean the treatments to our minds nor training in combat ever stopped.

"Yeah, I'll see if I can sneak us some extra rations for the kids on my way back," I whispered back, both of us wanting to keep our voices down in case the Golems walked by, hearing us.

Shelly nodded, seeming relieved by the idea of some more food for us all. A second later, however, her worried face came back as she stared carefully at me. "Your headache still isn't going away, is it?"

I gave a heavy sigh, wincing as I rubbed at my temples. "No. It's worse than ever, actually. You think after three weeks it'd finally go away. Guess it's stubborn like you, eh." I tried smiling weakly at her in a joking manner. But Shelly merely kept a stern face. I sighed once more, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. "Look . . . it's just a side effect from the experiments. It might go away eventually."

"Or it might not," Shelly replied in a gruff voice, clearly frustrated, worried, and angry by the pain I had been going through lately.

"And if it doesn't, then I'll live with it," I told her strictly, eyeing her as if to tell her to keep her cool and to not yell at the Golems as she has been quite a lot lately. For so long now, I had been developing these awful headaches that would leave me in a weak, shell-like, state. But I had been growing so used to the pain that I found it unnecessary to be bothered with worry over it any more.

"Alpha, you can't be serious in thinking—," Shelly began to protest in spite but snapped her mouth shut once the door swung open quickly, revealing the Golems. They ordered the odd numbers to move out, even yanking a few out who seemed to want to remain behind.

I turned to Shelly hurriedly, giving her a brief hug and kiss on the cheek. I smiled when seeing her blush, whispering in a breath, "I'll be okay. See you soon," before being yanked out of the room.

As usual, I and the others were led down the hall towards the injection labs. Being pushed into a much larger room than usual, I glanced up to see a viewing room of sorts hanging over the table where I was supposed to be trapped down on. Dalek Sec, Caan, and Jast were working around the upper floor, seeming to be setting up different monitoring systems. I gulped as I was pushed forward, made to lay on the table and be trapped down. It was odd that so many of the Daleks were viewing me all at once. Why were they taking such an interest in me? Again, I was not developing much different from the other children from what I have noticed. Though, the Daleks had been taking a lot of DNA samples from me lately. Was it something to do with my internal makeup changing that had them so interested?

As I laid there, being hooked up to the different injection machines and the process of the normal procedure beginning, I felt . . . off. Something was different. Something was changing. Was it them? The situation? Or . . . me? Glancing around nervously at the Golems surrounding me, it was strange in seeing so many. Usually, there was one or two Golems monitoring me, with the occasional Dalek every once and a while. But now there were ten, all scattering around, activating different computer systems and large hookups with needles. Wh-what . . . What were they planning on doing to me?

"Masters, the experiment is ready," one Golem spoke obediently, even bowing to the Daleks.

"Begin the procedure!" commanded Dalek Sec in his sharp, shouting voice. I wince at the shout. Something that I had been doing for a while now. I hated their shouting. I wonder if it would become a constant, internal flinch of mine now with shouting.

A machine lowered over my head and face, placing sharp rods into each temple of mine and had two scanners that held perfectly still over my eyes. It made me nervous not being able to see what was happening around me with the device blocking my view. What was this device anyway? I never saw it before and they had never used it on me. I jolted on the spot a little when feeling the sharp jab of the needles in the bend of my elbows. Then, as usual, I felt the burning sensation of whatever chemicals they pumped into me. Then, I felt the machine around my head quake as something was being pumped into it. A soft, golden glow started up in the scanners. No . . . they were not scanners. They were . . .

I gasped, too late in realizing what they were when the golden light hit my eyes with a force. It was brief. Only a small amount of the Time Vortex forced into my vision. Just the small minimal amount that was always given to us experiments. For too much would have killed us all a long time ago. No living beings were ever supposed to have this kind of energy living within us. And by making it go into my eyes directly in such a way, besides fusing it with my developing genetic makeup; they were trying to force my mind into accepting the energy.

I screamed as my eyes burned from the energy. My mind pounded away in agony as the Time Vortex settled within my brain. Not that it had not already been doing so with years of being pumped into my body. But having such a direct approach added more fuel to the fire burning away my mind. My hearing had a sharp ring to it as the world around me seemed to shift and sway. My mind hurt worse than ever, feeling as if it were being spilt in two. I felt ready to be sick from the pain. It was beyond anything that I had experienced before. Even worse than the first time I had arrived here to this place. What have they done to me?

Just as I wished for death, something in my mind seemed to snap. Like it clicked together once the energy in my mind and body settled. Images started rushing through my mind rapidly. Of places, people, and things I did not understand or even know of. I even heard the voices and sounds of these images buzzing away at my ears. Then, once my mind settled, everything was back to normal. I lay there in a stupor as the machines moved away from me. I had heard that through training a Time Lord could seeing time as a whole. The flow of nature, of what should be, could be, and not to be. Everything lined up in history, ready to be as a permanent insight into the universe. None of us children of Gallifrey had this insight since the only way to have even beginning abilities, one would have to look into the Untempered Schism. At least, that is what Tina had explained to me and Shelly once. She had been one of the few who had actually had the opportunity to go to the Time Academy and begin her training with her Time Lord abilities and insight. But as for the rest of us, these powers we were getting were something that I knew was completely wrong.

The Golems forced me to sit up. It was near impossible from how weak I felt. I only wanted to continue to lay there, curled up on my side and forget about the pain that was going through my body. But they made me move into the training room, forcing me into action. Truth be told, I do not recall what happened in the training room that day. I was too much of a daze to even know where I was, let alone of what I was doing. Though I do remember hearing the Daleks sound very pleased with . . . something I did. Something about improving my strength. Really, I have no idea. All I do remember was going back into the chamber and seeing Shelly standing there nervously by the doorway. She looked alarmed when I came in. I do not know why. Something about me seemed to horrify her.

Things went blank after that. I briefly remember Shelly being over me while I laid on a bed of straw. She kept fussing over me, seeming extremely in a panic. But every time I see her in this state, I would merely black out again. Then, eventually, I woke up. I blinked slowly, turning my head to the side to see Shelly asleep next to me. She laid with a hand on my chest, and another clutching tightly to one of my open palms. Everything was quiet in the chamber. Still, at peace, as I gazed at her. I felt my hearts beating strongly as I reached over and brushed a strand of hair from her face. I love her blonde hair. It was just so . . .

"Beautiful," I sighed, closing my eyes as I rested there. I wanted to know what happened to me while I was unconscious. It must have been something serious in the way Shelly freaked out. But, when she slept in such a peaceful state, I did not want to wake her for anything. I wanted to allow her to keep sleeping, dreaming of some far-off place of her wild fantasies and feel some happiness in this miserable life we lived.

"You're awake," I heard her mumble. Opening my eyes, I saw her staring intently at me.

"Yeah," I whispered, "I'm awake. What happened? I don't remember much." She sat up, grabbing a wet cloth and dabbing at my forehead.

"You had blood all over your face from whatever they did to you," she explained in a heavy sigh. "Your arms were cut up. You were barely able to stand and were just . . . walking around like a zombie."

I stared at her curiously. "What's a zombie?"

"It's an Earth saying. Think Golems, only more . . . brainless."

"Ah." Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to enjoy the tender way she wiped at my head. "So . . . what else? Was that it?"

"No." Shelly sighed, moving the cloth away to get my attention. "You kept having seizures. Whatever they did to you . . ." Pausing in hesitancy, she glanced up towards other children who sat far away from them. "Some others who came back with you said the Daleks made you do some odd training. Said they had you lift huge weights and that you even started . . . turning things into dust. Whatever that means."

I hummed, unsure of what to say in response. Instead, I let the comfortable silence shift around us, finding myself to enjoy the quiet moment we were having. Shelly started to wipe at my forehead once more, dazing off towards nothing in particular. Eventually, she stopped, placing the rag somewhere nearby before scooting down and lying next to me. She held me, shaking even. Swallowing thickly, I rolled to my side, holding her as well.

"I didn't think . . .," she began to say in a strained whisper, sucking in a breath before continuing, "I didn't think you were going to make it. I thought . . ." I felt her hold tighten. "I thought I was going to lose you."

"I'm not dying anytime soon," I tried reassuring her, giving her a squeeze around the middle.

Shelly grew tense, her voice coming out gruff when she said, "You don't know that. You don't know that at any second we could both go. Just like that."

I gave a weak chuckle. "Nah. You're too stubborn to die." I was glad when I heard Shelly let out a laugh, easing in her hold to face me, smiling away.

"You're damn right I am." We both laughed, pressing our foreheads together while smiling away in content as we let out worries ebb away. There was so much to worry about all the time. Stressing over when we were going to die . . . It was better to worry about something like that for later.

"We'll always be together . . . won't we, Shelly?" I suddenly asked, smirking at her as I usually did when I asked this question. It had become a sort of tradition (one that Shelly had begun) that we would ask each other this, as it helped remind us that no matter what we would always be there for each other. Always. Shelly grinned, rubbing her nose against mine affectionately.

"Of course! Forever and ever!" she exclaimed in merriment. My smile dropped somewhat as I turned more serious, staring deeply into her hazel-brown eyes.

"Promise?" I whispered.

She returned my serious expression, knowing just how terrified I was on the aspect of ever losing her. Cupping the side of my face, she breathed, "I promise that no matter what happens, I'll never leave you. Not ever, Alpha."

"And you always keep your promises, right, Shelly?" Seeing her smile at me, full of warmth and kindness, before I knew what I was doing, I leaned in and kissed her. I pulled away immediately, my face turning beat red. "I-I-I-I—I'm sorry. I don't know—."

Shelly let out a sharp laugh, shaking her head at me while grinning brightly. "Oh, just shut up, Alphie." She then grabbed my head more firmly and returned my kiss.

XxXxXxXx

Years went by, and from that first night I kissed Shelly, our love grew. We have become even more bonded than ever. And I could not be any more content and happy. I could stand all the pain and torment given to me by the Daleks if it meant I could be with Shelly for the rest of my life. She meant everything to me, just as I knew I meant everything to her. Things could be more perfect, yes. We were also rather young to be feeling such emotions. For most Time Lords, at least. But with this life we lived . . . we could not let hardships and age become factors that kept us apart.

"Oh! Does the Doctor really travel to the waterworlds?" an excited boy asked me.

Currently, I sat in front of our family of orphan children. There was about fifteen total. Not counting Shelly and I. Almost all the children here with us were around the same age we had been when we arrived here, or some even younger than that. The experiments had grown harsher still, with the Daleks now taking my blood daily and injecting it into others to watch the effects. I had been going through programming so often to the point where I found myself questioning whether or not I was even against the Daleks. I only managed to keep myself, well, myself was because of Shelly, and because of what powers I had developed the day after the Time Vortex had been injected into my eyes.

The next day after Shelly and I had kissed, besides coming to terms with our relationship, I woke up realizing something dramatic had changed about me. When I stared at the others around me . . . I could see into their lives. Their very nature of what impact they held in the universe. It had startled me at first. Terrified, confused, and even unnerved me when seeing images flash through my mind whenever I gazed at someone. Even the Golems. The images I saw in my mind were that of their lives. Not just present, but past and future as well. And . . . sadly the future was bleak for all. Though I still felt hopeful that the future sight was not all true . . .

Shelly did not believe me at first when I told her what I was seeing. She tried passing it off along with what my headaches were. A side effect of the experiments. But as I began to see more and more, timelines past even those who were around me, she began to realize this was something that would not be going away. My mind had changed permanently. For better or worse, well, time will tell with that one. All I knew was, now that I was seeing people's timelines outside of our tiny, miserable world, I started feeling more hopeful than ever before. Seeing what worlds laid beyond Gallifrey, it was truly something. Though I never really wished to go exploring the universe, it was still something awe-inspiring to see. The worlds filled with ice, oceans, forests; worlds filled with peoples of all kinds and so many stories to tell. I was glad that my sight only went so far, however. It was getting harder to ignore all the timelines bombarding me. It hurt my head almost constantly, making me feel sick and dizzy most of the time. I was learning to control it, thankfully. I could ignore the timelines by merely pushing it to the back of my mind, letting it buzz away almost like white noise. Even if it became an endless ringing in my ears, I knew I could live with it as long as I did not have to constantly feel the effects of the timelines.

The one timeline that had stood out from all the others, the one which had caught my eye from most, had been one that I had caught by brief passing. A timeline that I believe I had stumbled across by mere chance or luck. Maybe it was because he had been in passing, just a second he arrived on Gallifrey before leaving in a blink once more, not wanting to stick around for anything while he went off to hide from this war. I did not blame him. If I had a blue box to run away in, I would too. I did not mean to keep looking at his timeline. But it was just so interesting with such love and adventure involved in his life, I just could not help but to keep looking. And into the life of the others as well. Just so many people he met. So many lives that were intertwined with his. All those worlds and lives he's saved. Just watching him live such a life. It was not a happy life. No. Not really. But it was not a sad life, either. It was his life. A life he made all his own, no matter what hardships he faced or fears he came across. A life I wanted. I just wanted to be able to choose a life of my own, like he had. So, I will admit, I became somewhat obsessed in observing such a life of this strange healer. Of this Doctor. He was such a good man . . . A person I wanted more than anything to come find and save us.

And so, over time, I began sharing the stories of his adventures with everyone else. To all those children who had long ago given up hope of rescue, began to feel a spark of change when hearing the stories of the Doctor. At first, it was just something to tell to pass the time. But the more who listened to me, the more stories I told, the more they began to hope again. Hope that we actually had a hero out there, protecting not only us but the rest of the world, heck, the rest universe, too. Hope that one day the Doctor would come knocking and would save us from this hell hole. Hope that he would stop the war and the Daleks just as he has stopped them before. It was the only thing I . . . we had left any more. The stories of the Doctor, the brave man with the blue box, kept us from drowning in despair and believing he would somehow find a way to save the children of Gallifrey. Years later, I realized then that I made myself believe he could have saved us. That he would come and save us. But I know now that . . . nothing could have saved us. Nothing.

"Of course the Doctor travels to the waterworlds. He can go wherever he wants silly," I went on telling the boy sitting in our small family.

"Can you tell us about them again. Oh, please! Can you?" one little girl pleaded, giving me her best big-eyed look. The waterworlds were everyone's favourite.

"There's big glass domes right at the bottom," I began telling in my best dramatic story-telling voice, "and the water is so clear you can see the sky perfectly above. Then there's the fish who light up in the brightest blues, reds, and yellows you've ever seen." Standing up, I began to make gestures in the air while describing the worlds. "The plants underneath are a rich blue, while the sand is sort of red like our grass here in Gallifrey. The people who live there don't really need to live in air domes. They have both gills and lungs and are more agile swimming in the water than walking on land. But their technology doesn't work the best in water, so—anyway," I moved on, facing my audience more theatrically, standing in a way that I knew the Doctor would, full of confidence and conviction.

"—there he was, face-to-face with the Devolved Ones. They had successfully taken over all of the main dome capitals. They had sent the pathogen through the air ducts, making so most of the population had devolved into the likes of them. They had full control of all weapon systems and the access to the main surface. All they had to do was to kidnap the Council Man of Zene and make their way to the mainland under the disguise of peace. The whole world was going to fall if the Doctor didn't stop them. But what could he do? He was outnumbered. All he had on his side was his companion, Sarah Jane Smith, his sonic screwdriver, and the Council Man himself. What could he possibly do with such odds?"

"He can blast them!" shouted one boy, bouncing while he sat in anticipation.

"No, he wouldn't! The Doctor never kills," countered another boy.

"That's right," I replied, grinning largely. "The Doctor always uses his wits. He always has a plan up his sleeve. He already saw the water and air ventilation next to him and his group where the Devolved Ones had them cornered, so, he whips out his sonic in a flash," I made the same motion as the Doctor had done on that day, thrusting my arm outwards to point towards the wall, "making the whole system malfunction. Water sprays everywhere, evaporating into a mist from the air overheating. The Doctor grabs Sarah Jane's hand and they bolt in the confusion. At the same time, K-9, who had managed get into the main controls of the domes, sending through the antidote to the pathogen through the air systems. Oh, but the Doctor knew they weren't through the worst of it yet. So he rushed off to get to the leader of the rogue group, knowing he had to keep to his wits if he wanted to change them back to normal, too. But it was going to be tough without resorting to a fight."

I kept telling my dramatic story of the Doctor saving the day, managing to stop the villainous plan and cure everyone of the waterworld domes. All the while I noticed how Shelly sat away from the group, crossing her arms and pouting as usual. I could tell she was trying hard not to listen but was glancing over intently during the more exciting moments. After I finished my story, the group of kids cheered and clapped, happy to hear another epic tale of the Doctor before splitting up and going to their hay beds for the night. Ready for a good night's sleep before the experiments tomorrow.

"I don't know why you keep telling those stories," Shelly grumbled after I walked over and sat down next to her in our bed area. "They're just a bunch of fairy tales. He probably isn't even alive anymore."

"It gives them hope," I retorted crossly, frowning heavily at her. "And don't say he's dead. He's alive and fighting out there somewhere, maybe even fighting to find us." Shelly scoffed, turning away from me while I rolled my eyes. "Besides, I'd know if he was dead. And what are you mad about? You used to love the Doctor's stories." Staring at her for a bit, seeing how much she grumbled and pouted, it dawned on me. Smirking slyly, I slide up to her, hugging her from behind. "You're jealous."

"No, I'm not! I just think it's stupid to keep pretending some random guy we know nothing about is going to save our butts."

"Jealous," I sang in her ear.

Shelly huffed. "You keep talking about him like that, why don't you go marry this Doctor, huh? Apparently, he's much more exciting than the rest of us."

I chuckled softly, kissing her neck slowly. "He's got nothing on you." I gave her cheek a quick peck, earning a small smile from her. "That, and he's way too old. I mean, ugh, could you imagine?"

"Gross," she agreed with a laugh. We both smiled in content, cuddling up in our hay for the night. Shelly sighed, smiling as she wrapped arms around my middle. "I love you."

"Love you, too." I smiled warmly, so glad to have her in my life. Where would I be without her? If there was anything good that came out of this whole thing, it was me finding the love of my life. I wonder how we continue on after leaving this place. Once the Doctor found us, would it be okay for us to still be together? I was certain they would be as Time Lords, from what I have gathered in my timeline searching, were never much for judging those based on age, gender, sex, etc.

"Do you really think the Doctor can come save us?" Shelly asked curiously, frowning as she stared up out of the small window in our chamber.

"If anyone can, it would be him," I replied. I watched as she hummed in thought, still gazing off to nothing in particular. She had been asking me a lot about the Doctor recently. I knew it was partly because she was indeed jealous that I was so fond of someone other than herself. But also because she too had hope in this mysterious man drifting through time and space. A hero we could keep wishing for. It was better than the alternative, at any rate.

Looking away from the window, Shely gazed at me in interest. "So, any new developments for today?"

I shrugged. "Nothing much. Still the same as yesterday. And nothing to report from the outside, either." Shelly would ask me this every night, keeping track on any new powers, abilities, or side-effects I received in the harsh new experiments the Daleks were putting me under. So far, the only abilities I kept gaining were with my insight to the worlds around us. Nothing more. Then again, I never thought to keep track of any outwardly changes.

As for outside reports, this was me keeping track of the ongoing war. The Time War, as I have learned to call it. This was another good thing which came from my ever expanding powers. I was the key to the outside universe, keeping us all informed of what really went on beyond our hell hole. I could see many new timelines and events clashing about, watching as many others struggled just as much as we did. I actually felt useful for once in being able to keep track for everyone here in what state of the universe was. Able to help many in gaining some peace of mind knowing what happened to their families and such. Many families had been lost the same day each child had been brought into the Station Alpha. Just like Shelly's and mine. Though, knowing one's family was gone is not all bad. It also gave peace of mind in knowing if our families had not suffered from the war. The end had been . . . quick for our parents.

We lay there together in the hay, enjoying the warmth and peace each of us gave the other. Staying up through the night as, now that we were in our nineties and finally looking like teen Time Lords, there was not much need for sleep every night anymore. The next morning came too quickly for us, and the Golems stormed in as usual, getting everyone up for the new day. Shelly gave me one more kiss before we departed our separate ways.

As per usual, the Daleks had me break apart large objects of their choosing. Whether it be through my powers of turning things to dust or simply using my bare strength. It was surprising in just how strong I was becoming over the years. Was it normal for Time Lord teenagers to be this strong? I did not think so. The Daleks continued on in pushing me. Then testing me on anything else they could push my body through. Strangely . . . it felt nice seeing how far I could push myself in speed and strength. Almost like a nice exercise. In the end, I finished up by receiving a small dose of Time Vortex energy into my eyes from the Daleks before departing. Though not before I was asked by Dalek Sec if there were any changes to my mind. As always, I answered 'no' as I did not wish to let them know of my powers of insight. Best not give them any sort of advantage in the war. Especially using me in doing so. It always seemed to displease them, making them talk of putting me through even more tests. I did not care. Let them do as they wished. I would never help the bastards of my own free will.

I followed the Golem down the dark corridor, ready to go lay in Shelly and my bed of hay for the night to relax. However, when I went to turn down the one way towards the direction of the experiment chambers, I was shocked when the Golem escorting me yanked my arm to steer down the opposite path. I was still blinking in shock when the Golem pushed me into a smaller room. Different than any sleeping chamber than I had been in before, I was surprised to see . . . beds. There were actually beds in here. Beds! I had not seen a real bed since the day I had been taken away from my home. The beds made out of rusted, thin pipes and the mattresses were made of a thin cotton that had been stuffed with hay. Each sat low to the ground, maybe only an inch up from the dirty floor. Then when I examined around more, I saw a small toiletry area, including a small, yellow-white tub (again low to the ground), a small toilet, and a tiny sink connected to the wall. No windows this time in the room, but still . . . this was more than I would have ever expected from the Daleks.

There had to be a catch.

"What kind of place is this?" I heard the voice from Shelly coming behind me. Turning around, I saw a Golem slamming the door shut behind her while she stood by the entrance with her arms crossed. She eyed the place warily, looking at me for answers. "Did you know this place even existed?"

"Never thought the Daleks kind enough to even consider giving us this kind of comfort," I responded, frowning as I took in the room once more. "Looks like this was all placed in here recently. But why?"

"Better question is . . . why is it just us in the room?" Shelly pondered aloud. Both of us glanced at the other, expressions shifting to worry as it hit us. We were all alone. We have never been alone before. All Time Children have always been placed together. At least, that was what I had always assumed.

"I swear, if those bastards are trying some kind of new stunt," I heard Shelly mutter under her breath. I just grunted in agreement, not really knowing what to say about our current situation. In the corner of my eye, I watched as Shelly huffed and walked over to the beds, staring at them cautiously. Then, she plunked herself down, slowly laying back onto the mattress. She let out a long groan of relief as her whole body relaxed into the mattress. "Damn, this is blissful. I forgot what actual comfort felt like."

Laughing, I walked over to the other small bed, slowly lowering myself onto it. Instantly a sigh of content left me as I sunk into the bed. I knew that anyone else might be uncomfortable by the very thin mattress stuffed with hay and laid across metal bars held together by rusted pipes. But to me, it felt absolutely fantastic. It had been decades of sleeping on cold, hard floors with only hay to help keep warm. Now my muscles eased from tension, my body sinking in with delight as though the bed was made of clouds.

"Ah man," I sighed.

"I know," laughed Shelly, she turned on her side, wiggling her brows. "You know what would make this even better?" She stood up from her small bed, pushing it over to mine. Once each bed was pushed together, she got on her side, scooting right up to me. "There we go. Comfort and snuggles." I chuckled, happily snuggling up to her. Each of us holding the other close as we pressed our foreheads together. Our smiles slowly faded, as we knew this room was not meant to be a happy place. This was not meant to be a moment to be laughed at.

"What's going to happen to the others?" I questioned quietly.

Shelly shrugged sadly. "I don't know. I just hope they'll be strong enough to make it."

"Of course they will," I said strongly, not even wanting to think for a second of any child being hurt.

Shelly puffed out a breath. "I just hope they don't freak out when we don't show up tonight." She absently played with my hair as she glanced around the room. "It's so weird. Why put us into a separate room?"

"We are the oldest. Maybe they have something new planned for us?" I snuggled up closer to her, pressing my face into her chest as I sighed heavily. "I really don't want to think about it at the moment. Let's—let's just enjoy this, shall we?"

I could tell Shelly wanted to talk about our situation more. To be more worried than I wanted to be. But I refused to look at her, keeping my face buried into her chest while she rubbed my back, trying to remain in denial as an unsettling chill crept up behind me, at the ready to pounce.

XxXxXxXx

Things became so much worse from that day. The experiments intensified tenfold. For both me and Shelly. The Daleks would have us together during many points, testing us at the same time for strengths and powers. Harsh chemicals pumped into the air for us to breath, making us choke while we performed many tasks. Other days where we would be pumped so full of injections and bits of Time Vortex energy, that by the end of the day each of us were hurting so bad we could hardly do anything but lay in our beds in pain and cry. It came to the point where I barely wanted to wake up in the morning anymore. I just wanted to die. However, Shelly kept me going. I loved her too much to give up. I wanted to be there for her, just as much as she was for me. So, I pushed on.

During all of this, after having days alongside Shelly during the Daleks tests, I never realized Shelly had many new abilities as well. Though hers were more strength based than insight through mental powers like me. She could crush things in the palm of her hands without so much of a blink, lift almost anything the Daleks placed in front of her, and speed around large rooms in a flash. While I could also lift heavy objects, I mostly could simply continue to control atomic particles, turning things into dust and shaping things at will. It was my mind that was expanding even more day after day. I never told Shelly, but it was hard for me to even stay aware of who I was, let alone my surroundings. The noise in my mind . . . it was unbearable. Like roaring waves crashing onto me at random. Sometimes, the jumbled mess of timelines and expansion into thousands of peoples' emotions was nothing more than white noise that I could push away and ignore. But other times, it was so crippling I could barely even move a single muscle. I was glad that most of these times happened at night, or else the Daleks would have begun to become suspicious. Or even worse, it would have upset Shelly.

I found the one thing that kept my mind in check, the one thing that helped me focus on the universe and myself, was holding onto the one timeline I loved to watch. The Doctor's timeline. His story, his life, was my lifeline. I could grasp it like a guiding rope, hold onto it, and walk along my path. It made all other noises in my mind grow to a quiet breeze. As long as I heard the whispers and voices from the Doctor, of all his many voices, then it helped. I never wanted to admit it, to Shelly or even to myself, but the Doctor was becoming my hero. A person I could look to for direction on where to go and what to do. He had so much hope for the universe, it was hard not to feel it too. It was becoming a clutch for me, I would admit. Not very healthy of me to cling onto some stranger's timeline in such a starving way as I was doing. However, given the situation, I believe even Shelly would agree it was best for me to find some sort of stability to keep myself sane.

Currently, I sat in the bath, trying to let the lukewarm water ease my muscles. As well as clean off the grim from the day. Shelly sat behind me in the bath, pressed against my back, using the small bit of soap we had to massage into my hair. It was nice having such a bath and privacy. In the past, the Golems would always throw all us children once a week into a large washing area where we could be hosed and scrubbed down before given new clothes that the Daleks had somehow gotten. At least now it was just me and Shelly bathing together instead of the whole bunch. True, we could still not have full private washes since there was only enough warm water for one bath a night. So, sharing was much easier than one of us dealing with a freezing cold wash. As well as . . . well, to be honest, we both secretly enjoyed being so close together. As intimate as we have ever allowed ourselves to be besides an occasional kiss.

"Damn bastards injected me so much together I thought my whole left side went numb at one point," Shelly told me as I hummed. "But I showed them. Took that extra loaf of bread, didn't I?"

"Oh, yes. They'll never know what hit them when they realize they lost a valued piece of moldy bread," I joked lightly, laughing as Shelly tickled me down my sides. She laughed a bit as well, enjoying assaulting me with tickles. But then began to cough badly, letting go of me to cover her mouth as she gagged a bit. I tried turning my head around to see her, but the way we were situated in the bath I could not view her fully. Especially in how she turned herself away so that I could not see her. "Are you okay?"

"Psh, I'm fine. Just got a tickle in my throat is all," Shelly laughed, patting me lightly on the shoulder to assure me she was okay once she turned back around. I let it slide while she started massaging my head again. Though not without a tinge of worry go through me. She had been coughing a lot lately. I noticed she was trying to hide it from me. I was not sure why. Maybe she was worried that I would be anxious about her getting sick? There was also the other day when I saw blood on the front of her shirt. She told me that it was just from her biting her lip during some training. I wanted to believe her, but . . .

"So, you were saying earlier about your training. What was it they made you do again?" Shelly asked me suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. My mood shifted to that of solemn guilt, as well as a little fearful of even telling her. I had been debating on whether or not I should confine in her on what had occurred. In the end, I decided to tell her.

"They had me kill some animals they had brought in," I mumbled quietly. I tensed as I felt her halt in her massage around my neck.

"They've never done that before," Shelly muttered, sounding uncertain. "Did . . . did you really—?"

"Yes," I responded, knowing what she was going to ask. "I killed them all . . . just like the Daleks wanted me to. Every different way I could, they ordered me to do so. And I—I couldn't fight their orders."

Shelly hummed quietly, gently rubbing my shoulders. "That must be why they've started testing us together like this. Why they separated us from the rest. We're almost complete with whatever they've done to us. Now they're just testing to see if our 'programming' is complete." She sighed, then hugged me from behind. "It's all right, Alpha. I'd rather you play along than get yourself killed. Even I have to stoop to their orders sometimes. Have to play it safe until our rescue, right?"

"But, Shelly, you don't understand . . . when I killed those creatures, I . . . I felt happy that they died." My whole body shivered as a few tears leaked down my face. I was unable to look around, to face Shelly, and see her reaction to my words. To see how horrified and terrified that I knew she must be now. "I felt relieved that they were dead. It's like all the pain suddenly went away when they were dead. I knew I shouldn't have liked it, but I did!"

Hands stayed still on my shoulders as Shelly seemed to take in these words. She finally whispered, "It's all right, Alpha."

I shook my head rapidly, pushing her hands away. "No, it's not! It's not all right! I've been following their orders for months now, and I haven't been able to even fight back like I used to. Not even for a second." Burying my face in my hands, I tried to get a grip on myself, trying to hold back my tears as I felt so sick of myself. Finally, my shoulders slumped as I let my hands fall back down into the water, staring dejectedly at my murky reflection in the bath. "I . . . I'm going to lose myself to them. I'm going to become just like the Golems, aren't I?"

Shelly swiftly grabbed me by the shoulders, turning me to face her fully now as she stared hard at me. "No, don't you dare say that." She gripped my chin, making my eyes meet hers. "I'll be here. I'll keep you sane. Keep you, you. I promise." Cupping the side of my face, she thumbed my cheek lovingly. "As long as I'm here, I will make sure that you always stay just the way you are. The kind and strong woman I love." Her promise was sealed with a gentle kiss, making me warm inside from her love and devotion.

Even though I have done a horrible action on this day, just in knowing that she still loved me gave me hope for myself. "Okay."

I smiled, pecking her on the lips briefly before stepping out of the bath. She followed after me shortly, draining the water away before joining me next to our bed. Each of us drying off the other with a few large rags that had been given to us for towels. Once we were dressed, we fell together onto the bed, snuggling right up to help warm the other up.

"We're going to get out of here," Shelly whispered as we lay in bed, not wanting any of the Daleks hearing as we both knew they had surveillance in the room. "You mark my words, I'm going to break us out of here. Soon, too. I'm tired of waiting for the Time Lords to save us. About time we did something ourselves."

"You think we can make it?" I breathed quietly.

"You watch me. I'm gonna rip those Daleks apart," Shelly said firmly, nodding in determination. I smiled at her, nodding as well. Knowing that, if there was anyone other than the Doctor who could save us, it would be Shelly. Smiling at me, Shelly gripped my hand firmly. "And then you watch us end this war. The Daleks will wish they've never experimented with us. We'll help the Time Lords put a stop to them once and for all."

I laughed, wishing that her words to become true. It seemed impossible to me for us to ever get out of here and the war ending. But I smiled nonetheless and nodded firmly. "And then we can finally get that little cottage on the hilltop like we said we would."

Shelly snorted. "I never agreed to that. I'd say we travel the universe in our own TARDIS."

I gave a pout, poking her in the side. "Fine. We'll have a cottage for summer visits. Deal?"

Laughing, Shelly shook her head fondly. "Deal." We then sealed our promise with a kiss.

XxXxXxXx

When I woke up again the next day, I found myself alone for the first time in decades. The realization hit me when I felt the empty spot beside me. I groggily tried to feel around the cold mattress, trying to feel for Shelly's warmth, my body curled up towards her side of the bed. Brows furrowing, I sat up sleepily, blinking away my foggy vision. Upon noticing the rest of the room was absent of Shelly's presence, I began to worry. This was not normal. Since they have moved us into this room, we had always been taken out together for training or more tests. When had they even come into the room? I do not remember the Golems even coming into the room to get her. Shelly would have woken me up, would she not?

I jumped when the door suddenly slammed open. Two Golems came in, marching right up towards me. I flinched as they each grabbed onto my arms, yanking me off the bed and out of the room. Not unusual of an awakening from the Golems. But something about it felt . . . off—as though this was not a normal day of training. Everything felt tense, from the air around me to the Golems themselves. The cold grip of their dead fingers seeped into my skin, sending a chill down my spine. The metallic, stale air of the facility made my stomach churn as I glanced at the passing doorways. These cold hallways have not affected me for some years. Now, they felt just as haunting as the first day I arrived here.

Before I knew it, the Golems pushed me into the large training room where the Daleks would monitor the Time Children experiments from above. I glanced around the room, seeing the different equipment that was either used to inject, spray, zap, or stab at us during whatever exercises each of us had to do for the day. Looking upwards, I saw the glass windows up above, with the large computers and the four Daleks behind the glass. I watched as Dalek Sec turned to the glass and stared down at me, the blue glow of the eyestalk staring me down. As my mouth ran dry, I straightened to attention, awaiting any command. Best I just go through the day as normally as possible. Maybe they would answer my questions about Shelly once I did all their tasks.

"Subject Alpha, today you will fight Subject Upsilon," barked Dalek Sec from the intercom. I gave a brief bow, my body doing so in obedience, before I faced the direction where I heard a door opening from the other end. On their own accord, my feet marched forward while my mind began to race. I had to fight? I had never done that before. And which subject did they . . . No . . . Oh, no, no, no, no.

My eyes went wide as I saw Shelly being pushed into the room by two Golems. The door slammed shut behind her, leaving us all alone. I halted in place, standing a few paces away from her as I took her in. I saw how her shoulders shook while she coughed. Blood was coming out of her mouth. She gagged a bit before wiping away the blood and rubbing it on her ragged clothes. Soon, she noticed me standing there and seemed to freeze on the spot. Each of us stared wide-eyed at the other, unable to say anything.

"Subject Upsilon, you will fight Subject Alpha," came the order from above. "Initiate!" My body jerked slightly as it wished to obey, but I forced myself to stay put. Refusing to move as I shook my head slowly while keeping my eyes locked on Shelly. She stared back at me, horrified by what she had heard Dalek Sec commanded. She then promptly shook her head and glared up at the Daleks.

"Hell no! You can't—," she began to shout.

"Silence! You will obey!" yelled Dalek Sec, gazing down at us harshly. "You will initiate! You will fight!"

"S-shelly," I whispered as my body jerked into motion, slowly walking towards her. "I'm so sorry. I can't . . ." Shelly looked at me, seeing how much I shook from trying to fight back. Then, smiling and nodding, she stood straight as she stared at me with an expression of understanding.

"It's okay, Alphie. Just do what you have to do," she assured me.

I shook my head as tears began leaking down my face. "I-I-I don't want to."

Shelly nodded firmly. "You have to. And don't worry, I'll fight back. Just think of this as sparring, okay?"

I knew she was trying to lighten the mood, to make this seem less horrible then we both knew it was going to be. Truthfully, her trying to make me feel better only made my gut twist as we started towards each other. Before I could stop myself, my fist swung forward and connected with her chin. I felt sickened as I watched Shelly stumble back and groan, holding her face. My body did not stop there as it moved and kicked her right in the gut. She rolled on the ground quick, only allowing this to stop her briefly as she got up and came at me. As she and I hit each other, I could tell she was holding back immensely. Her strength had always been far above anyone else's. Even Boogie's. But she barely left a mark on me as we both hit the other. While I . . . I could not hold back. Even as I tried to all my might, each hit had my full force behind it. Soon, her face was bleeding badly, her arm was broken in a sickening twisted way, and she coughed so loudly as she tried staying upright. Eventually, it all just became too much for her.

I cried as she fell to the ground, gasping for breath, wheezing as she lay in defeat. I shook as I stood over her, seeing how she stared weakly back. Blood came leaking out of her mouth as she hacked in her coughs. I heard, in relief, the Daleks ordering us to stop fighting, having to need time to make evaluations. I was just relieved it was all over and done with. Now all I worried about was getting Shelly to bed for needed rest, planning to help her wash up and giving her all the bread she could eat.

"What did they do to you before?" I whispered to her, needing to know if anything else had been done to her.

"More . . . injections," she managed to gasp out. I could hear her lungs rattling through her rasping breathes. Coughing more, she stared urgently up at me. "Alpha . . . t-there's been . . . something I-I n-n-n-need . . . t-to tell you. Should have . . . told you . . . s-s-so-o-oner."

I shook my head, desperate for her to stop talking and save her breath. "You can tell me later, okay? Let's just worry about getting you better, all right?" I tensed as I heard the booming voice of Dalek Sec speak over the intercom.

"Subject Upsilon is inferior, defective," Dalek Sec stated harshly. I looked up, seeing all the Daleks gazing down at us. My eyes watered as the blue eyestalks stared us down as though we were insects. Dalek Sec's eyestalk moved up and down as he seemed to take us both in. "Subject Alpha, exterminate Subject Upsilon."

"NO!" I screamed on the top of my lungs, shaking as I felt my body jerk, wanting to obey. I would not! I will never kill her! I forced myself to turn, facing the windows. "You can't do that! She's—she's fine! Just give her another chance!"

"Subject Upsilon is defective! You will exterminate!" ordered Dalek Caan.

"Subject Upsilon is dying. We no longer have a need for her," spoke Dalek Sec monotonously, giving no thought to my plea. I shook as my body forcefully turned back around, facing Shelly once more. Tears streamed down my face as a sob escaped me. Shelly stared up at me, smiling.

"Alpha . . .," Shelly panted, barely able to get her breathes out. Our eyes met, hers trying to convey something to me while I cried. "I l-love you."

Another sob left me, my arm raising up. "I love you, too, Shelly." My hearts raced, my fear increasing as she gagged and spat out more blood. Her breathes raspy, barely able to suck in any air as her lungs rattled with each intake. My hand came up, grabbing onto my arm, holding it back. "Please, don't make me do this! PLEASE!" I pleaded to the Daleks one last time.

"Exterminate!" they began to chant, forcing me to obey. I shook my head rapidly, using all of my will to fight back. I fell to my knees hard and my body quaked, tearing in two from the internal battle of obedience and love. My arm still raised high with my hand barely able to hold it back. I flinched as I felt Shelly touch my cheek, wiping away my tears. I gazed at her, my vision blurr from my tears as I saw her staring back, eyes swirling with a mixture of emotions.

"Alpha . . . please . . . don't . . ." She cupped my cheek in reassurance with a trembling hand. She smiled feebly at me. "I . . . promise . . ." Then, quite suddenly, my arm came slamming down onto her chest. Her body shook from impact, her breath whooshing out in a rush. Her hand fell into my lap as her eyes dimmed. Her beautiful hazel eyes still gazed at me, though there was no life within them. Blood trickled out of her mouth slowly as I stared at her in horror.

"Shelly? . . . S-shelly?" I shook her, trying to get her to respond. Tears began to stream down my cheeks as my breath hitched. "Shelly, come on . . ." Shaking her harder, I began to sob in despair, my hearts ripping apart as I gazed at her. I turned to the windows, screaming on the top of my lungs. "HELP! PLEASE! Please, save her! Save her! Save her!"

I kept screaming until I could not any longer. Begging for someone, anyone, to save Shelly. I rocked in place as I held her against me. Holding her so tightly, stroking her head, I talked gently to her the best I could. Trying to soothe her. Trying to keep her warm as she grew cold. She . . . she would be fine. I knew she would. They would save her. She was too valuable as an experiment for them not to. They just had to help her. She would be healed in no time. Then—then we could laugh about this whole day.

Eventually, I heard a door opening. Footsteps marched over to where Shelly and I sat. Rough hands grabbed at Shelly, trying to yank her from my grasp. I held on tighter, locking my arms around her as I sobbed. I . . . I did not want her to go. She—she needed rest. I knew that was all she needed. I needed to stay to help her sleep and get better. The Golems would never understand that. They would just make her worse. Eventually, they pulled her limp form savagely out of my hold, dragging her by her arms out of the room. While I was dragged back the other way.

"No! Let me go! I have to help her! She needs me!" I screamed, kicking my legs and fighting to get out of their grasp. I was hysterical, hyperventilating in my panic as I fought to get back to Shelly. Soon, I was thrown into my sleeping chamber. I ran to the door the moment it was closed, slamming my hands onto it.

"Bring her back!" I wailed, sobbing in desperation, pleading with all I had. "Bring her back! Please, bring her back! Don't let her leave, please! Don't let her leave m-me!" I fell against the door weakly, slumping against it with my forehead pressed into the metal. My hand still shakily pounding onto the steel as I sobbed in anguish.

XxXxXxXx

I spent that night in a rough state. Screaming and crying at the door until my vocal cords could not take it. Slamming my hands into the metal door so much that my fingers bled. I threw things around the room, hoping, praying, that the Golems, or anyone else, would come to let me out. To let me go to Shelly. Did they not understand that Shelly needed me? She needed me. I needed her!

When the Golems came to retrieve me the next day, I practically threw myself out the door, in a rush to get back to Shelly. Even though they forced me back into the training, I still frantically looked for her. I begged to the unlistening Daleks, crying for them to give Shelly back. It hit me with full force when Dalek Jast finally answered my pleas.

"Subject Upsilon's body has been incinerated with all other inferior experiments," stated Dalek Jast strictly before ordering me to complete new tasks.

The words from Dalek Jast crashed down upon me. A cold chill of dismay and disbelief slowly trickled down me from head to toe. I could only stand there . . . the words from the Dalek echoing throughout my mind. Robotically, my body moved, doing all tasks ordered upon me. While I withdrew internally, staring off into the blackness that filled my soul, unable to comprehend what was happening. My thoughts echoed the same mantra over and over again: Shelly was gone. Shelly was dead. And . . . I had killed her.

At the end of the day, when the Golems had pushed me into my room, I merely stood there, unblinking as tears slowly ran down my face. I stared at the two thin beds pushed together in the room, seeing how barren it was without the presence of Shelly lying there. My mind envisioned a faint ghost of Shelly, sitting there smiling at me and ready to talk all about our dreams together. As I let out a silent scream, my body fell back onto the floor, weak and unable to move. I gazed at the ceiling, in a daze as the universe around me tilted and swayed. The noise in my head from all the timelines and other such things began to overrun me as I let my defenses down. I was gripped in crippling pain, allowing it to wash over me without any resistance. A just punishment for I had committed.

Three days went on with this. Every day I would be taken away, doing all tasks mechanically. While every night I would lay on the floor, allowing pain to flow through me like heated lava. All the while I never ate anything they served me. I never slept each night, too afraid of what nightmares would be if I dared to close my eyes for too long. On the fourth day, while I rested and suffered from my mental pain, the Golems brought in a new child. It was a small girl. About as young as I was when I first arrived. She was weak, feeble as she stood there quivering by the closed door. The rags of clothing hung loosely on her from how skinny she was. Her mousy brown hair hung lifelessly around her face. Her sunken eyes just peeking out from around her locks.

I lay there for a bit, dulling blinking as I took in the sight of her. At first, I did not wish to move, wanting to wallow in my sorrow. But, as I had been envisioning for these past days, I saw the ghost of Shelly standing next to the child. I saw her nod to the small one, encouraging me to push onwards and help the young one. Just as I had always helped the other children in the past. Just as we both had. So, I slowly stood up and walked over to her, keeping my mind in focus enough to complete the task at hand.

"Hello," I said to her as I crouched down to meet her gaze, "I'm Alpha. Who are you?" The girl gazed back at me mutely, looking as though she did not know what I was saying. I gave her a strained smile, patting her on the shoulder. "It's okay, sweetie. You don't have to say anything. Why don't you come to the bed? A good night's sleep is always the best."

And so, I took to my new ward. Keeping to the old task of helping any young Time Lords, trying to give them any kind of peace, I fell into a routine. It kept me occupied, distracted from the pain my hearts felt. Though my hearts did not feel to console or be kindly as I had been in the past. Now, I only felt numb. Doing so kept me busy at nights, while training preoccupied me during the day. Not once did I allow myself to sit still for even a moment. Too fearful to mourn in silence.

The little girl did not last long. Only a week went by before she never came back again. I felt saddened but moved on robotically as training and programming continued. It went on like this. For how long, I did not know. Months maybe? Years? It all blurred as more children were brought in, training with me through the day. Or tested and experimented on separately as I was placed into the room, force-fed Time Vortex energy into my veins or pierced at my eyes.

As time went on, I felt more and more numb to my environment. To the point where many times, when a new child was brought in crying, I stopped going to them to console them. Sometimes I found myself merely sitting in my bed, watching them blankly as they cried. As they wept for relief. As they pleaded for their lives as they slowly withered away. I pitied them at first, feeling sorry for the loss of life. Then . . . I envied them. I wished I could follow in their footsteps. Wish I could embrace death like an old friend. Why did they fight it so? Why did they beg to live? Did they not understand that death would be a release from this hell we call life?

Soon, I began to realize the reason the Daleks brought in other experiments alongside me. They were the fodder to enhance their ultimate weapon—me. I was their main experiment they focused all their resources on now. All this time . . . they only wished to bustle my abilities. To increase all my powers for their use. Even more so now that they knew about my mental powers, my incredible insight which had been discovered by them after they had ordered me to tell them all that was changing about me. It did not matter any longer in trying to keep secrets from them.

So, in knowing that these children were nothing more than fodder, I gave up caring for them. Why bother when they would be dead shortly anyway? Instead of going to them, or even acknowledging their existence, I would stay in my bed, pretending they were not even there in the first place. They were nothing to me in the long run. It was hard ignoring them sometimes as during many occasions the Golems brought in the children as they were dying. Screaming in pain from whatever had been done to them that day. I would lay on the bed, annoyed at how they cried. Sometimes covering my ears trying to drown out the noise with my timelines flowing in my head. A few times I would even snap at the children, yelling at them to shut up.

Could they not just hurry up and die? Giving me some peace and quiet that I deserved?

Eventually, over time, it became just me in the room. I was finally alone. The experiments and training even wound down to days apart, leaving in my room to silence and darkness. The Time War ramped up tenfold, making the Daleks begin focusing more on battles for once instead of creating weapons. While I laid in bed, staring at nothing as I was left alone with my thoughts. Out of boredom, I searched through the timelines and explored what I could of the universe that had been opened to me. The pain was so crippling at times, making me unable to even blink from how much it hurt. Pain became my friend. Pain became my everything. It became the only thing I felt anymore. It reminded me that I was indeed alive and not some Golem just mindlessly walking around, completing tasks.

I became lost to my senses as days went on with nothing. Hallucinations became normal for me as I saw images of dead bodies all around me. Trapping me within. Blood oozing and crawling down the walls, trickling into my eyes from the ceiling. I hyperventilated so many times, passing myself out from pure terror. I screamed for death. Pleaded for anyone to kill me. At some points the Golems came in, tying me down to the bed so that I could not harm myself. I tried. Oh how I tried to end it. But they would not let me die. Not now nor ever. I cried. More than I ever had in my life. I laid there in my bed all day, sobbing my hearts out as my vision of the universe blurred. Time flowed through my head, making it so I barely knew who I was anymore. I barely remembered what I was doing. Who I had been in the past. I grasped whatever memories I had, keeping them locked in my conscious.

One day, as the timelines flowed forcefully through my mind, I came to the horror, the realization of something . . . deplorable. As I looked through the lives of others outside my realm, I searched into the High Council. I had never bothered in the past. Or perhaps it was more I have never been able before now. Either way, as I looked at their lives, their actions throughout their existence and that of the Time War . . .

They had known. From the first day I arrived they, they knew. They. Have. Known. All this time, they had the information about us. About the children being taken after the battles by the Dalek Cult (a name of these four Daleks I now knew) and of what the Cult was doing to said children. They knew of all the experiments and hell us children, their own children, were going through. They did not know about the reasonings of the experiments, or the exact details. But they knew enough to know what cruel ways were done to us. They knew all this time from devices they had planted on children, purposely placed for the Daleks to pick up. They used children . . . as fodder. Just as the Daleks had done. But at least the Daleks never used their own kind against any's will. I knew this for a fact. If any Dalek was to be used in heartless means, at least the Daleks had value enough never to lie to each other. They had those willing to be mindlessly sacrificed.

The worst of the Council, Rassilon, made my blood boil. I watched in the timelines as he dismissed the very idea of trying to perform a rescue when it had been suggested. He had stated how 'It would be pointless and a waste of soldiers' time and energy that could be spent for the war.' He had dismissed the notion of anything coming from the experiments the Daleks performed on us. So arrogant in his beliefs that the Daleks would never be able to do anything meaningful with us children. That no child could ever possibly survive such trails. And the rest of the Council had gone along with Rassilon's orders. Never questioning them as they too believed it best we children just be forgotten about. What would they do with us once rescued anyway? Best the forgotten children be left as they were. Forgotten.

I sat there in my bed for days, unable to wrap this new information around my head. Then . . . anger began to build. It festered. Bubbling away at a slow boil. Then it burned. Into rage. Into hate. Into fury. I gripped my head as I screamed, seething from what I saw those Time Lords did. What they did not do. What they were still never doing. It was never even just me and the other Time Children. It was the rest of the universe as well.

We were all pawns to the Time Lords.

I continued to scream as memories flashed before my mind. No, not just my mind. Memories that became living and real before me. I saw all the children, from all these years, in the room with me. Bleeding, dying, screaming, pleading. Tina, my sister, on the floor, broken and defeated. My Shelly, dead by my hands. My hands that would have never hurt her if it were not because of the Time Lords. I see that now. They were the cause of all this. Not the Daleks. They were only doing what they must. To rid the universe of this evil, corrupt species and any others who wished to follow them.

The timelines scattered as my mind seemed to shatter. A blur of images went through my head, showing me of every cruel act of the Time Lords. All the people they had left to die. All the death and destruction that came because of them. Even the Doctor, a man who I considered an idol, was not free from these crimes. He too was just as corrupt as them. He too had death follow him wherever he went, and never once looked back to help those who he ruined. All these things could have been preventable. And yet, because of them, all horrors had happened by their doing. Their lacking.

"The Masters will see you now."

I looked up from my curled stature on the bed, staring at a Golem standing in my doorway. Standing up slowly, I followed the Golem out. I kept my gaze, locked ahead, awaiting whatever the Daleks wanted of me. The Daleks, all of them, have been right all along. I just never realized it until now. Too corrupt from what I been taught to believe in the past. Too naïve. The Time Lords were the true evil in this universe.

I walked into the main room of the Station. The very first place where I had been gathered to with all those children from my village. A room I had not been within since the day I arrived here. I saw the electronics in a buzz as different Golems started up whatever the Daleks had ordered them to. The large glass globe was still as impressive as before, with the Time Vortex energy swirling around as vicious as ever. I watched blankly as Dalek Thay came up to me.

"Your development progression has ceased," Dalek Thay stated strictly to me. "Prepare to be processed. Prepare to become our ultimate weapon."

I merely nodded, shifting my gaze back to the giant globe of golden mass. I listened as the Daleks discussed what must be done with me next. My powers had plateaued. It was time to reach the next level. To push my body to the limit for the final results they were looking for. The goal they had been trying to reach all this time with everything had been doing with the Time Children.

I felt the Golems push me towards the giant globe. Forcing me to step into a large glass box. Stepping into the box, the glass door snapped shut behind me, sealing me in. I turned back around, facing the room dully. I watched as the Golems and Daleks continued to set up equipment around me, seeming ready to start the processing operation. The Daleks then proceeded to turn to each other as they seemed to discuss something. I could hear them from within the glass case, but I hardly cared to listen in. I could tell it was Dalek Sec making some sort of monolog about how powerful the Daleks would become, etc. I hardly cared. Nothing mattered anymore.

Machines began to whirl to life, bringing me out of my stupor. I watched as the Golems worked hard, doing as their Masters told them to do. The golden light within the globe began to boil, swirling viciously in a chaotic mass. It moved around anxiously, with intent to launch itself out of its cage. I watched as the energy was sent down into tubes connecting to the glass case I stood within. Soon, the energy was surrounding me, spinning around me in a storm. I could no longer see the outside world. Only the golden light churning around and around my body. It was . . . beautiful.

I felt no fear in that moment. For the first time in a long time, I felt at peace. I heard it whisper to me as it moved about, as though it were taking in my presence. Observing my very being. The whisper branched off into a thousand voices. All barely breathing in their light murmurs. I knew this energy would kill me. Surely as it had killed all others who the Daleks had subjected to this power. And I welcomed it. I closed my eyes as the voices increased, as the images began to rapid fire through my mind. I embraced it like an old friend. Unflinching as the energy shot into me, forcing its way inside of me. It kept coming, overwhelming everything that I was, will, and could be. My entire being was on fire from it. Bombarding me with a fury.

Soon, the energy calmed. It became soothing as it too welcomed me. Then, it began to sing. A song meant for only me. A song explaining . . . everything to me. What it was. What I was. And what we were both meant to accomplish in this life. I felt myself removed from the rest of the universe . . . as the universe itself entered my mind. Showing me its pain. Its torment. It was screaming in pain from all this chaos and destruction. The wars that ravaged through it for so many centuries. It never wanted this. Any of this. It had only ever wanted the lives it created to live in happiness and harmony. Now it wanted nothing more than for it all to stop.

And so, I would do just that.

As the energy and I became one, I began to see myself as separate from the rest. Separate the Time Lords, the Daleks, the Golems, and from anything else living in the universe. I was alone. An isolated being who watched all these creatures, these . . . insects, crawling around behind the glass I observed them from. I was the being who monitored them, watching how they scurried around, struggling to survive and repopulate. As well as fighting in a needless bloodbath day in and day out. And I was the one being, able to shake the entire glass jar they all lived in. Making everything start over again from scratch, hoping for a change in the next rebuild of the universe these creatures desired to live in. I realize that the Daleks choose this name of mine for a reason, even if they themselves did not even begin to understand what the universe has been planning all along. For I was Alpha. The one above them all. The one, and only, who could hear the universe's call, and it wanted me for its doing. I saw it now. What the Time Lords had meant to become in the beginning. They were meant to be what I was now. A being ready to do as the universe wanted. To be there, ready to undo any havoc done to the universe by the other occupants. However, the evolution had gone wrong, making the Time Lords unable to hear what the universe wanted from them. Unable to do as the universe wanted. Unable to help in its anguish for peace. But I . . . I could be its . . . weapon.

As the golden light turned into a gentle white glow, I felt myself move from the glass case, taking my first steps into my new life. I stared around the room, seeing how the Daleks all observed me. Seeing how the Golems stared at me as though wary. As much as blank stares could convey being wary. They all appeared to be uncertain about me, taking in the sight of me as I stood in front of them. I glanced down at myself, seeing the fading white light recede from me. Staring back at the Daleks, Dalek Sec moved closer to me, addressing their Alpha weapon.

"Process completed," stated Dalek Sec in victory. "Subject Alpha, are you ready to fulfill your creation? Are you prepared to win us the war and help the Dalek supremacy?"

I blinked slowly, staring at them all carefully. The timelines swirled within my sight, showing me of my path. "Yes."

"Alpha, as protocol Delta-Five of war actions orders, you will initiate!" cried Dalek Sec, seeming pleased by my response. "You will destroy all life forms! The corrupt of the universe! The inferior!"

I took in the sight of them. These Daleks who had controlled me since my youth. Who had shaped me into what I was today. Their orders processed and calculated within my mind, showing me their logic. The universe agreed. Slowly, I nodded and bowed to them.

"Yes, my Masters."

XxXxXxXx

Well, there we have it. The story and life of Alpha. Was it good? Just okay? Absolutely awful? Please let me know in a review if you have the time. :) Because remember, the reviews are just not for the writer, but for other fellow readers as well.

Reviewers:

Guest(a): Yep! I hope you enjoyed the change in perspective. :)

TheGirlWhoWept: Oh yes. Especially for this chapter I think. :( I hope that you enjoyed the read at least. Even while on board the feels train.

Authora97: Woo! I'm so happy that you enjoyed the read. :) Yep, Shelly and Tina were always real. Memories locked away, waiting to be remembered again. You're exactly right. Wanda needed the good memories of Shelly and Tina to be who she is and be happy. Really hope that you enjoyed the newest chapter! Until next time!

Guest(b): lol I'm just so happy that you're enjoyed it so much! Can't wait for you to read the new one. :)

N7SpaceHamster: Aww, thank you! That means so much to me. :) Though I know I can always still be better as a writer. Don't mind me. I always worry when I don't see readers around for a while. I'm just a worry-wart at heart. lol ;) I know what you mean. I've been very busy lately as well. Truthfully, most of it is all in my head for what I had planned. But I did make a timeline first thing and a character chart to help myself along. I also did a ton of research on the show lore and I would watch every episode while writing as well as watching the episodes again while editing. Just to be double sure I was doing everything correctly. It also helps writing the first two parts in advanced before actually posting them on the site itself. :) No problem! I'm always happy to answer reviews! It's also no problem for long reviews. I just love being able to interact with you and other readers. I really do like your process. It helps me know exactly what you're talking about for each chapter, and is also fun seeing your thoughts before you've reached certain parts because I'll secretly go "oh, just wait til they get to that part" haha ;) Yep, the Doctor and companions are witnessing all of this. But that'll be something to be explained in the next chapter to come. Truly, war is a terrible thing. Especially for the innocent. :( Well, as we saw from this chapter, the Master, as well as the High Council, know exactly what happened to Alpha and the others. They simply did not care. Tina and Shelly are what truly helped shape Alpha through the years. Before it all went downhill, of course. I think you might be right there. ;) I'm sorry. It's going to be a long time before we reach happy chapters again. :( Exactly. The Doctor knowing how horrible of a life Alpha/Wanda had before, it truly makes him want everyone to see the true person she is. Not as the weapon she had been forced to become. I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. Even if it was terribly sad. Can't wait for you to see the next chapter! Until next time and take care!

swimmjacket: Sorry again about the mishap with the notifications. Though I do like to spoil all of you. ;) Well, more of Alpha's backstory, but yes you could see it that way. Both Alpha and Wanda deserve to be snuggled. Even if one would not like that much. haha. I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter! Take care!

Momochan77: Yep, much longer. She lost both of those who she loved. A sister and one she loved with all her hearts. Spoiler for now about remembering names. ;) It was truly horrible what had been done to those children. Just as I think all wars do to the innocent. Hope you liked the new chapter. Until next time!

bored411: It only gets rougher in this chapter, unfortunately. :( Yes, he has to watch all of this. Though he has already seen this before as he mentioned. To relive it twice is just so sad. Can't wait to see what you think of the new chapter. :) Hope you enjoyed!

heroherondaletotherescue: Sorry. No fluff for us. Not for a while at least. :( I'm sorry. I hope it was still a good read at least. I promise there will be fluff later. But it might take a while.

All The Stories Are True 24601: Woo! I'm just happy that you enjoyed it! :D

Whovianeverlark17: Oh, yes. Very, very sad. :( I hope it was still a good read, though.

NerdWithAPencil: I'm there with you. I secretly love to suffer sometimes. haha. Yep, they're watching all of this unfold. But that will be explained in the next chapter. The Doctor has already seen all of this before, though it will be so hard for him to see it all twice. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

Isanxd: I know. Things like this are just . . . unimaginable. I did plan it all from the beginning if you can believe that. From day one I sat down and made out timelines and character charts to follow. I also did tons of research on the show lore, would watch every episode while writing and editing, and I wrote out both parts one and two before posting them on the site. But quite a lot I just have all in my head. That's why I kept reassuring everyone that it would all work out in the end and that not everything as what it seems while reading it. :) Oh, I'm sorry I annoyed you with that. I just wanted a way to help readers not only interact with me but with each other as well. I feel like many forget that reviews are not just for the writer, but for fellow readers as well. Plus, I wanted to bring in more of a community feeling to the story. So that way we all felt like family while on the journey through the story of Wanda. :) If there's ever a time you would like a quicker response through a PM, though, just let me know! I love to always talk with all readers. :) I hope you have a wonderful day/night! Take care!

normandy1701: I actually never thought of it that way. The fact I never thought of how two are alike makes me feel like an idiot. haha. I hope this chapter was just as good. Even if it was sad to read. Please, have an amazing day/night. Take care!

Thank you all so, so much for everything! I love you all and only wish for the best in your lives. :)

~Tinker~