Chapter Nine

The Doctor sipped his tea quietly while he stared off into space. After he had been forced out of Rose's mind, he had quickly tried to calm her fears only to find that she didn't remember a thing. Ian had erased the dream from her conscious memory once again and rather than make her remember it, the Doctor had quickly put his fingers back up to her temple and put her to sleep. He figured after everything that had happen she could use a rest and it would give him a chance to collect his thoughts and come up with a strategy. This was why he was currently sitting across from Jackie at her kitchen table.

After a long while, Jackie finally spoke up.

"Well?"

The Doctor focused his attention on her.

"Well, what?"

"What happened? Did you find out what is wrong with Rose?"

The Doctor sighed.

"Yeah, I did," he said.

"Well, what is it? What's wrong with her?"

The Doctor took a sip of tea.

"She's being possessed by a vampire who wants to make her his bride, and now he's after me too."

He glanced over at her and said nothing while she stared at him in silence.

"You have got to be kidding me," she said. "A vampire? You mean like Dracula?"

"No, not Dracula. This guy's name is Ian."

"And what's he gonna do then? Bite my daughter on the neck and drink her blood?"

"Either that, or he's gonna pull out a straw, stick it in her neck, and drink it that way," the Doctor said.

He coughed nervously when Jackie shot him a look.

"Sorry. Just under a lot of stress. I have to figure out how to break his hold on Rose's mind and so far I don't have very many options."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that he has control of Rose's mind, and if I don't do exactly what he wants and bring her to him at midnight, he's going to torment her until I comply. Unless I can figure out a way to get Rose out from under his mind control, I really can't fight him without endangering her."

He jumped when Jackie slammed her mug down on the table.

"I hope you do sort this out, so Rose can finally get away from you once and for all," she said. "My daughter's life has been nothing but Hell since the day she met you."

"The day I met your daughter, I saved her life. The Autons would have killed her if it wasn't for me. Since the day she walked into my TARDIS, I have done everything in my power to protect her and keep her safe. Not to mention the fact that I have shown her things she would never have seen if she had remained a bored little shop girl."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure when Rose was little, her dream was to go into outer space with an alien and get chased by monsters!"

"There are monsters everywhere you look, Jackie," The Doctor said. "There are monsters right here on planet Earth! They're called murderers and rapists, and Rose could just as conceivably walk out the door of this flat and be killed or raped by one of them. Life is filled with dangers, but smart people face the danger head on instead of cowering in a corner. Your daughter is a very, special girl, Jackie. Every time that TARDIS lands, she goes right out the front door without a second thought. She can be standing in the middle of a dangerous situation and still have a giggle about it all. To be honest, I have never seen anyone as brave as her in all my lives. Yes, it would have been much easier on her to remain here at home under mummy's watchful eye, but then she wouldn't have grown into the strong, confident woman she is today. She takes everything in stride and not once has she blamed me for exposing her to danger. She accepts it, Jackie, because she knows it comes with the territory and because all the good experiences she has have outweighed the bad ones and….because she loves me and knows that I love her and that I will fight tooth and nail to keep her safe and sound. She trusts me completely, and I will never betray that trust. I am going to free her from this bastard's influence, or so help me, Rassilon, I will die trying."

He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest.

"Now, if you want me to leave after all this, I will. But, you will let your daughter choose whether or not to go with me. She is a grown woman and entitled to make that decision of her own free will, just as she freely chose to travel with me. Because I guarantee you, Jackie, if you force her to leave me you will end up with a bitter, brokenhearted daughter and I don't think you want that."

Jackie stared at him in silence. She knew he was right about everything. Rose was twenty years old, and she had no right to tell her what to do anymore or where to go or who to love. She knew her daughter had plenty of opportunities to stay home, but she had always chosen to go with the Doctor, and she knew she would always go with him in the future.

"I'm just worried about her," she said.

The Doctor smiled.

"So am I, Jackie. That's why I'm sitting here desperately trying to come up with a plan. Every minute that passes sees him getting more of a grip on her mind. Pretty soon she'll be completely in his power and we'll be helpless to stop him."

"Wrong, my Doctor, you are already helpless to stop me."

The Doctor and Jackie looked over at Rose who was standing a few meters away from them.

"Rose?" Jackie said.

"No, it's not Rose. It's him. He's speaking through her," the Doctor said.

He stood up and fixed an angry stare on his possessed lover.

"Very good, Doctor. You are a clever little lad," Ian said.

Smirking, he walked over to the Doctor.

"Thinking up a plan to save your Rose?" he said. "Don't you realize how hopeless it is?"

"Nothing is ever hopeless," the Doctor said. "You underestimate Rose. She is a lot stronger than you think. If I can't break your hold on her, she will."

Ian chuckled.

"No, my Doctor, I'm afraid it's you who have underestimated her. Your love has blinded you to her weaknesses. You look at her and think that she is infallible. But even the strong fall, Doctor."

He smirked.

"But I understand your devotion to her. After all, she saved you, didn't she? I've been reading her mind and I know all about you now, Time Lord. You were devastated after the Time War left you alone in the universe. Then Rose came into your life like an angel of mercy and shone her light of love into the dark recesses of your soul and you clung to that light as an infant clings to its mother. You sit there and lecture her mother on allowing Rose to be free, and yet she is far from that. You keep her bound to you, Doctor, with chains of blind love because you can't stand the thought of being without her. She is your salvation, and so you lie to her and guilt her into staying because you have convinced her that if she leaves, you will fall apart completely and slip into madness. Isn't that it?"

"No!"

"But, even so, that is how Rose feels about you. Outwardly, she may claim to love you, but on the inside, she feels anger and hatred for you because you've been manipulating her all this time, so you can keep her a prisoner and fulfill your selfish needs."

"You lie. Rose doesn't think that."

"Are you sure? You said yourself that Rose is an exceptional woman. How do you know she isn't putting on an act and masking her true feelings for her whenever she's around you?"

The Doctor folded his arms over his chest.

"I want you to leave Rose's mind this instant," he said.

"Why? Because I speak the truth? Rose's thoughts don't lie."

"No, but you do. Therefore, I will say it again. Leave her mind now!"

Ian laughed.

"The pompous alien. So sure of everything and everyone. Convinced that an inferior human being could ever love him. But, the truth is, Doctor, no one will ever love you. You manipulate people to get what you want and Rose has been brainwashed by you into thinking that she loves you and that's why she left Mickey. Jackie is right. Everything was going great for Rose until you stumbled into her life with 10 lives worth of baggage."

"I said enough!" the Doctor said. "Get out of Rose now!"

"Make me, Doctor," Ian said.

He smirked while the Doctor stood by helplessly.

"You can't do anything," he said. "Not without hurting your beloved."

He inched closer to him.

"It would be a shame for you if Rose became a vegetable, wouldn't it, Doctor? How will she comfort you and heal your emotional scars when she's trapped in a brainless shell?"

Ian glanced down and saw the Doctor balling up his fists.

"You want to hit me, don't you?" he said. "But you can't because you'll be hitting her. And I doubt Rose will ever forgive you for messing up her pretty face."

He chuckled when the Doctor unclenched his fists and stepped back away from him.

"What's wrong, Doctor? Why are you backing away? Afraid you will lose control and fly into a blind rage? After all, that is what your famous for, isn't it? The Oncoming Storm that devastates everything in your path? Pity you actually do care about something for a change. It must frustrate you to have to bottle all your feelings up inside and pretend to be a happy, carefree clown when all you really want to do is take your anger out on a universe that hates you."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

"It must be hard hearing these words coming out of your lover's mouth too. But, all I'm doing is voicing the thoughts she's really thinking. The ones she's afraid to say because she's scared of hurting you."

"Rose! Fight him! I know you can do it! Resist him!"

Ian chuckled.

"She doesn't want to fight me, Doctor. She loves me. I'm offering her what she really wants. True freedom. With me, she can be free to say and do what she likes without being afraid of hurting the feelings of an alien basket case."

The Doctor gritted his teeth fighting to keep his emotions under control while Ian stared at him with glee.

"I will stop you from doing this," he said between clenched teeth. "I will free Rose and then I will stake your pathetic carcass to the ground and watch as the sunlight disintegrates you!"

"Oooo, painful. I'm afraid I have to pass though. I…"

Ian quickly ducked when Jackie tried to bring a frying pan down on his head. She gasped as he seized her wrist.

"And for the record, I knew you were going to do that. Your pathetic attempt to sneak up on me failed and now, Jackie Tyler, I bid you good night."

Without warning, Ian hit Jackie directly in the face. The Doctor yelled at him when Jackie's head snapped back, and she fell to the floor unconscious.

"You bastard!" the Doctor screamed at him.

Ian shrugged.

"Mortals. They can be so thick sometimes," he said. "Ah well, I guess she'll just have to try harder next time."

He looked at the Doctor and smirked when he saw it was taking everything he had not to rain blows down on Rose's body.

"Well, as much as I've enjoyed our little chat, I'm going to go for the moment. It's nearing sunset and I must prepare for your arrival. Remember, my Doctor, Rose must come to me by midnight, or else."

He walked over and kissed him on the lips.

"I'll see you later, my handsome Doctor," he said.

With one last chuckle, Ian receded back into Rose's subconscious. The Doctor gasped and caught Rose when she closed her eyes and slumped to the ground, unconscious. Tears fell from the Doctor's eyes as he gathered her into his embrace and held her tightly.

"Hold on, Rose. I won't fail you," he said.

Kissing her lips, he laid her gently on the floor and let her go while he turned his attention to Jackie.