Author's Note: Alright, we're coming to the end! One more chapter after this! Thanks for following me this far and I hope you enjoyed it. :D
Chapter 11
Rey and Edward skidded to a stop as Allison tumbled backward with a little shriek, landing on the concrete road with a smack that sounded as if it should have hurt her. Rey dashed forward, her arms around her, helping her slowly to her feet. It was her—she was solid, and real. Not the timestream ghost. Not the frightened almost-person. Allison.
Edward as at her side in an instant, his hands on her shoulders. "Ally—"
She looked around, her eyes wide like a frightened deer, her gaze flickering here and there and not focusing on anything. "Laila….Laila?" Finally her eye seemed to focus. Her voice was dazed, a bit faint. Rey put a supporting arm around her and turned, following her gaze.
She drew in a sharp breath. "Laila!"
The girl stood before them in the dusky half-light—and she was flickering.
Allison took a stumbling step forward, reaching out a hand. "Laila—"
"No—no." Rey pulled her gently back. "You'll get caught—"
"She can't die." Allison's voice was confused, a bit distant, as if she wasn't fully aware of what she was saying. "I knew her. When she was older. I knew her—" She pressed her hands to her head and groaned a little, her eyes shifting back into their unfocused, blind stare. "I saw the future. And the past. All of it. At once. It's fading—"
"That's good." Rey put her hands on the woman's shoulders and tried to catch her gaze. "You aren't supposed to see that. No one's supposed to see that—"
A familiar warping sound surrounded them and Rey started and looked up, expecting to see the TARDIS materializing in front of them, bright blue in the dusk. But she saw the ceiling of the console room above her instead, growing clearer and clearer until she was standing—inside. The two Doctors stood at either side of the console, and they both turned as if in sync to grin at the newcomers.
All four of them.
Rey sucked in a sharp breath. Laila stood in the center of the room, blinking. Laila. The real, solid Laila.
"Well?" The older Doctor leaned against the console, his arms crossed. "Isn't anyone going to complement my materializing skills?"
And then she was running forward, and Allison was running forward, and they were laughing, hugging, laughing some more, asking what had happened in a jumble and tangle of words.
"I—I saw everything." Laila looked around, her eyes wide and unfocussed. "All of time—and then—something tugged at me. And I was here—"
"That'd be me." Her Doctor grinned. "Now—I know exactly where to go."
A moment later, the TARDIS settled into place with a thump, and the two Doctors were at the door in an instant, pushing it open and stepped out in front of Laila's house.
Rey followed the Doctors, Laila, Allison, and Edward at her heels. Laila skidded to a stop outside the door, staring.
"Wait…." She ran forward, pressing her hand against the side of the TARDIS. "Wait….that's…."
"Bigger on the inside?" Both Doctors spoke at once. Her Doctor nodded.
"Yep, that's what they usually say. Now." He nodded towards the door of the house. "I believe there's some people in there—"
"Joylynn. My wife." Edward's voice sounded a bit strangled, and then he was running forward, throwing open the door, Allison at his heels. Rey and Laila looked at each other, then followed slowly.
The house was dusky in the early evening, draped with shadows. As they stepped through the living room, Rey could almost catch a glimpse of what it would be in the future—the dusty, abandoned ruin filled with echoes of memories. She pulled the screwdriver from her pocket, turning it over in her fingers absently as she stepped into the hallway. It fell to the floor with a clatter, rolling—
And coming to a stop just inside the little room at her side.
She froze, staring at it.
She had kicked it halfway across the floor, dust flying up in a cloud around it—leaned down and picked it up—
She took a step backwards, stumbling a bit, her head spinning at the idea of it. She would find it here. In the future. Laying in the dust—
She turned away quickly. She couldn't think about it. It nearly made her dizzy. Dully, she followed Laila down the hallway, coming to a stop in the doorway.
Edward stood at the foot of the ladder, his arms around the woman she had seen in the attic, her head buried in his shoulder and her thick brown hair spilling onto his arm.
She looked at Laila, and they both smiled a little.
"Now." The Doctor leaned against the edge of the TARDIS, his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. "That thing spit out a TARDIS-full of time energy and it's going to spread quickly. Allison and Edward—I'm putting you in charge of evacuating the town. Get the people out as quickly as possible, because you're going to be faced with a town of messed up timelines in a matter of a few days."
Allison nodded quickly. "Alright." She smiled a little. "It's not as if I'm going to save the world, but saving the town's enough, right?" She glanced at her brother, who stood in the doorway, surrounded by the people from the attic, his wife still leaning on his shoulder. Allison grinned. "I'll let him know as soon as he can tear himself away from her. Laila…." She turned to the girl who stood beside her and smiled mischievously. "I think we should tell him, shouldn't we?"
Laila grinned at her. "Yeah. Now where was that picture of me….?"
The Doctor turned to his past self as the two women walked towards the little group of people in the doorway. "So." He raised an eyebrow. "Where are we then? Have you met Rose—wait. You said you'd lost her—oh. Oooh. She said no, didn't she?"
"Rose?" Rey looked at the two Doctors, and smiled a little. "So that was her name."
The other Doctor nodded, and his voice was laced with a dark sort of sadness. "So I left."
The Doctor held up a finger. "Okay, rule number one. Don't do that. Rule number two—actually there isn't any rule number two. But." He took a step closer to the other Doctor. "If you remember anything about this whole experience, remember this. Go back and ask her. Go back to that exact same spot, and ask her again. And I think you'll like the answer." He turned to Rey. "Now. I think I owe you another trip, wouldn't you say?"