Despite his words, Vanessa hid inside the Tardis in the fetal position for a good day. Until the lights went out, that is. She blinked in confusion and poked her head out of the door, only to see her three companions knocked out and on the ground.
She went back into her room and sat on the floor while closing her eyes, "Can you hear my voice?"
With the Doctor.
"Yeah. You're home. You're also dreaming. Trouble is, Rory, Amy, which is which? Are we flashing forwards… or backwards? Hold on tight. This is going be a tricky one." The Doctor ended and was about to walk to another part of the street when something began shimmering in front of him.
He stepped back and narrowed his eyes, "What is that?"
As if it were atom by atom, two legs materialized and soon the rest of the body appeared. Concealed by a bit of smoke, the individual looked at them, "Can you hear my voice?" She whispered, a hint of surprise in her voice.
"Yes. We can hear your voice, who are you?" The Doctor asked, closing the space between them.
"It seems my voice has morphed a little, Doctor. My appearance should be the same, however." The smoke whipped away to reveal Vanessa.
Her hair was now trailing down to her waist, and the reason of her voice change was due to a high-tech mask on her face. Her body glowed an ethereal blue as if she were a hologram, the look of such a thing appearing out of place.
"I have no control over my form and whoever has designed this place created this body to be mine. So naturally, I inhabit it." She walked over to them and her eyes narrowed at her surroundings.
"How are you in here?" Rory asked and she quickly looked at him.
"It's a form of dream projection. I am only authorized to activate this feature for a few minutes, but if my theory is correct, I can still communicate with the Doctor." She stated, looking around before walking to the Doctor with her finger outstretched.
"This is my theory-on what this place is." She quickly transferred the memory and stepped back, "Good luck, Doctor."
She shot him a wink before her body dematerialized into atoms. Amy looked at the Doctor who was processing what information Vanessa gave him.
"What did she tell you, Doctor?" Amy asked, and the Doctor smirked as he looked at her.
"She believes an outside presence has created a small area in time, in which that same presence has the power to control anyone in whatever way they want. It could be simply for entertainment, or they could be using it to kill the people inside of their bubble." He stated and Rory walked over to him.
"She thinks someone is using us as puppets?" He asked as the Doctor thought his words over.
"She did say something about puppets…"
Back with Vanessa.
She ran into the control room as her alarms went off wildly, "Dammit! Why a cold star now of all times?!"
Walking over the bodies of her three unconscious companions, she pulled up a hologram and began typing furiously as warning screens popped up around her. "Like I give a shit about warnings. We have under twenty minutes before that star eats us all up."
A minute later, the three woke up and the Doctor looked at her for an explanation, "I'm anchored to this reality, Doctor. All Time Agents are, if we aren't, how would we do our jobs?"
"Makes sense." He said and whirled around to a control panel.
"Why is it freezing in here?" Amy asked, and Vanessa looked at her with a grim frown.
"We are being drawn in by a Cold Star. Normally, they don't have enough power to drag something out of it's own part of the space time continuum, but because the power is out...It's dragging us to our death." Vanessa answered as more holographic panels surrounded her.
"Stars can't be cold!" Rory exclaimed, Vanessa shook her head at his naive answer.
"It isn't inherently cold, it's just so hot, it appears to be cold. In a way it resembles frostbite, only this is coming from a massive ball of unstable energy." She explained as the three heard birds chirping in the air.
"Here we go again." Amy mumbled.
The three suddenly fell back to the ground and Vanessa jumped ever-so slightly as a man formed in front of her. He was clearly a hologram, but he still managed to unnerve her.
"Hmm, seems I didn't take in the fact that you're part of the Dimensional Time Agency. Never seen one of you guys running about with a Time Lord in his little time box." The man said as he looked at her panels.
"Shut it. There is a lot you don't know about me and I plan on keeping it that way. Otherwise, I will figure out if you're real...and if you are I will throw you into a sun." She responded, dead serious as her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Feisty. Tell me, Time Agent why are your dreams all about the Doctor? If I didn't know better, I might think that you two-." Her fists clenched as she glared at him.
"Just, shut up! You don't know anything!" She shouted while resisting the urge to throw things around.
"What you dream about is so naughty, I would be blushing at the thought, if I could that is." A beep sounded from one of her panels and she grinned so widely, one might have considered it one of insanity.
"That's the rift right now, and we will be outta here in a minute flat!" She declared and closed her eyes as her gear began glowing a beautiful blue, "For now, I have to go help them out, bastard."
He was in quite a tight spot, aliens that were living in old bodies were practically at his heels. His back touched a wall and he found himself staring back at the old people aliens.
He shook his head and looked away for a second, until the ringing of a bullet reached his ears. Standing in front of him was a woman with long orange hair. Vanessa.
"Hello, Doctor. Don't worry about the other reality, I opened a rift and we'll be away from the sun in a minute. Least I can do in this situation." She shot him a wink and kicked one of the aliens to the side before helping him up.
"I thought you couldn't come back in here." He stated, his eyes connecting with hers.
"I'm risking it, if I disappear suddenly, they got me. But I can't let you guys remain in here while that creep taunts me." She kicked the door down and ran out there, carrying some sort of AK-47. "I don't know who that man is...but he is definitely the puppeteer behind this dream. He wasn't able to control me because of my natural ability to block almost all mind control, that and my gear is designed to anchor me here." She stated as she shot a few aliens who were going after a young family.
"Ah, that means you're an Individual. Heard stories of your kind, you guys were the stuff of legends." The Doctor smirked and she raised an eyebrow with an amused look.
"You just know how to compliment me, don't ya?" She pulled out a pistol and shot one that was trying to get the Doctor from behind.
"What can I say? I have experience." He climbed into a bus and she flung herself into the passenger's seat.
"While most wouldn't see that as a good thing, Doctor...Maybe we can work something out here. I'm brand spankin' new and I might need someone...experienced, to show me the ropes." She said, a grin behind her mask.
"You're really flirty, you know that?" He asked as he stopped the bus to look at a building, where a whole horde of the old person aliens were trying to get in.
"Of course I know that, though...the injected hormones are probably the reason behind my vocal flirtiness." She said as he climbed through a window, "I gotta go, I can practically feel 'em coming for my body." She said, an annoyed look in her eyes as her body disappeared.
With Vanessa.
She opened her eyes and drew her guns in a flash and fired, the sound of a body hitting the ground while the second shadow blinked to a higher level.
He held out his arm to reveal a syringe with a bright pink liquid in it, "You're getting feisty off your medicine, aren't you, Vanessa."
Vanessa shot at him, but he teleported to another spot effortlessly, "Why are you all doing this? What's the point?"
"You know why we are doing this...If we obtain a hybrid, we will rule the multiverse, we don't need strength, we just need someone with enough mental capacity to run this operation." He said, unknowingly telling the Doctor, who was awake for a moment, their entire plan.
"Then why not control me? I have been having to lie, risk my life, and do all this crap for you shit heads." She teleported in front of him, dangerously close to his cloaked face, "And for what? Why do you need a goddamn hybrid?!"
Before she could say any more, the man injected the serum into her. She reeled back with a rather agitated look before charging and trying to punch him. "My work is done here, princess. If you don't wanna come back for your appointments, we'll come to you."
Her fist met the cloak and she fell forward onto the ground. The person was clearly gone, and whatever he had done was slowing her breathing patterns.
Her eyes were half-lidded as she tried to get up, "Greaat…" She mumbled as she collapsed into a deep sleep.
Dream.
Her eyes opened and she drew her guns, before dropping them in shock. She was standing on an invisible platform as several planets blew up before her.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice said from behind her.
It was the holographic man from before.
"So, you are a being that can control the dream world?" Vanessa asked quietly, her eyes brimming with tears.
"You finally get it." He smirked and her head fell.
She took a deep breath, "What about the world out there? Almost crashing into a Cold Star? Was that a dream?"
"While your companions are stuck within two separate dreams, I could only get you into one of them." He stated and she nodded in understanding.
"So, I am actually in one of your dream worlds." She said, looking at him for an explanation.
"This-" He gestured to the destruction surrounding them, "Is all you. Before you fell asleep-that was mine."
"Lovely. I've just dug myself a little deeper, doesn't make sense why you would allow those Time Agents in though." She raised an eyebrow and he shrugged.
"I can never figure out Time Agents." She sighed at his words at reached out to touch the air.
At her touch, a ripple effect occurred and three more planets blew up. A person materialized in front of her and she found herself staring at man. He had blue eyes that seemed to stare into her soul, and dark brown hair that appeared to have a little bit of orange in it.
Her hand landed on his chest and he smirked, "Only one heart…" He said, and she stared at him for a few more seconds before he disappeared.
"What did he mean?" She whispered as another planet exploded.
"Remember this dream and perhaps you'll figure it out later." The man said with a laugh before disappearing as well.
She fell to her knees while covering her ears, as a piercing scream echoed throughout 'space'. Tears streamed down her face as she tried desperately to block out the sound.
"Vanessa…" A voice echoed and she shook her head. "Vanessa, it's okay-Wake up."
However, as time went on, she felt her hands fall to her sides, "Wake up-We're safe now-"
Dream end!
"Wake up!"
Vanessa moaned softly as tears continued to stream down her face, "No-No...Make it stop.." She mumbled.
The Doctor went over to her and Amy stepped away, although her eyes shone in concern, "What's wrong with her?"
"She's having a nightmare. Quite a bad one it seems." He said to himself.
All of a sudden, Vanessa awoke in a panic. She skidded back wildly as she shook her head, "No...Not another one! They're innocent!"
She slammed her hands over her ears, and the Doctor ran to her side while checking her eyes, "What's going on Vanessa?" He asked and she looked at him.
Her eyes widened proportionally while they shifted erratically, "Stop them! They're killing them, Doctor!"
He blinked in realization, "She's in a trance, one of the people who were after her injected her with something. Either they meant to do this, or this is a side-effect." He said, staring into the woman's eyes.
It looked as if she had just seen her world blown to smithereens. Her pupils were so small, it was hard to see if she had actually had any to begin with.
"Vanessa, wake up. Everything is alright, we're safe." He said, eyes locking onto hers. His voice seemed to do something to her and she slowly stopped shaking.
Her bottom lip quivered as her pupils began to return to normal, a sign that she was coming out of her trance. She let out a small whimper while looking at him, "Their screams...they were horrible."
"Do you know what they could've injected you with?" He asked, holding her shoulders and pulling her closer.
"...Yes. It's a drug to prepare the body for...the experiment." She answered quietly, eyes looking into his.
"What is it really for?" He asked, and she jumped in surprise at the sudden telepathy message.
"It's...a drug to…" She found it hard to say the next part as her cheeks heated up, "Well, they describe it as forcing the body to go into...heat."
He suddenly smiled and she tilted her head in question, before she jawdropped, "No! You are not gonna do that!" She exclaimed and stood up rather abruptly.
"I didn't even say what I was thinking-." He was cut off as she put her hand over his mouth.
"I already know, and my answer is a big fat no." Her eyes spoke differently, however, and they were shrunken like before. "At least not right now. If you honestly want to do that, let's do it later."
"Figured you would say that." His smirk caused her to sigh.
"You're gonna give me a migraine." She said, slightly stumbling and holding onto the handrail.
He looked confused for a second before promptly helping her, "Ah, we should get you to lay down then."
"I don't need a concussion to add onto my mess of problems." She muttered in annoyance.
Hours later.
Outfitted in a pair of navy blue shorts and an unbuttoned black striped shirt, she was spread out lazily on the bed. She stared at the ceiling as she heard someone enter the room. Unbothered by the fact that one slip-up could reveal her breasts, she continued to ignore them.
Minutes passed until the other person finally sighed loudly, obviously annoyed by her actions, or lack thereof.
She rolled onto her side and smirked at the man, "Ah, finally give?"
The Doctor walked over to her, returning the smirk as he stared at her outfit, "Maybe. What's up with the outfit?"
The orangette shrugged, "What can I say? I love the feeling of freedom. Just me and the ladies thinking about when I might be kidnapped. Not that important though, what are you doing in here?"
"Just checking on you-what was that about kidnapping?" He asked, suddenly realising the kidnapping part, and she laughed into her hand.
"That drug they gave me...I'm probably on the last few steps, to finish the experiment I would need to be back at the base." She said, unusually calm despite her words.
Her finger landed on the inner part of her neck and a choker appeared. Quickly pressing a button, she looked back at him, "Whenever it does happen, you now have a signal. No other way to find it, not really easy to get there in the first place."
"Do you know when it will happen?" His eyes met hers and she nodded, completely captivated by them.
"Any time. Right now, in a minute, or even in an hour. Any time they choose."
Her words seemed almost humorous if not for the situation she was in, they only sounded like pieces of a puzzle.
Not the edge pieces either. The ones that someone struggles with.