The Doctor was troubled.

He was currently in the TARDIS' extensive library, laying in a chair, his head on one armrest and his legs hanging over the other. A long forgotten book - he wasn't even sure what the title was - was laying open on his chest, forsaken for the deep thoughts buzzing in the Time Lord's busy brain. He wasn't sure why, but something felt off, and he couldn't put his finger on what.

Finally giving up to his thoughts, he sat up with a sigh and hunched over, sitting in the middle of the couch. He glanced around the room, breaking the silence with another sigh.

Wait. Breaking the silence?

The Doctor jumped to his feet. The TARDIS' normal humming was gone, and nothing was in its place. He hurried over to the closest wall, pressing his ear to it. Nothing. He frowned, stroking the wall with one hand. "What's wrong, girl?" he whispered softly, turning his hand and dragging his nails gently across the wall. The TARDIS did nothing.

"Come on, Sexy. Cheer up." The Doctor's eyes brightened with the beginnings of an idea as he pushed himself off the wall and flew across the room. One hand grabbed the book off the floor whilst the other made gestures while he spoke. "I know! I'll go and pretend to fix the chameleon circuit again. You like that, don't you?" He slipped the book onto a shelf just as the lights flickered.

"Well, that's odd..." The Doctor muttered. "You don't want me to mess with your wires? Not even a little?"

He was answered by a small door appearing into the library wall. A little skeptical about what was awaiting him, the Doctor walked across the room and opened the door, poking his head out to survey his surroundings before he walked in.

He was in the console room. Something certainly sounded unusual. There was a light sniffling coming from one end of the room, and the Doctor's eyes turned to fall upon the curled up figure of Rory, still sitting with his back to the wall.

"Rory?"

The concerned Gallifreyan started to walk towards the man, an eyebrow lifted in confusion. Rory didn't respond; his face remained buried in his arms. There was no change as the Doctor drew closer and kneeled in front of him. However, when he reached out and put a hand on Rory's shoulder, he pulled away, his head snapping upright. Tears continued to fall from his red, swollen eyes.

"Get away..." he murmured, edging away from the Doctor. "Not tonight...please, not tonight..." He bit his lip, and nestled his face in his arms once more.

"Rory..." The Doctor was extremely perplexed, but he moved closer, determined to discover the root of Rory's pain. He reached out again.

"No!" The Doctor jumped backwards, hurt by Rory's sharp retort. "Don't hurt me! Not again! Please...Leave me alone..." As Rory's head fell forward again, his crying grew louder. The Doctor, feeling a surge of confidence, wrapped his arms around the lanky human. Rory didn't pull away, didn't even flinch. After a few moments, he buried his face into the Doctor's shoulder, hands twisting in the trademark tweed jacket as his sobs became screams.

"Leave me alone..." Rory repeated the plea over and over, rocking back and forth in the Doctor's arms. "Leave me alone...House..."

The Doctor started, pulling away so he could look down at Rory. "What did House do?" he asked, his voice soft and quiet. "What did he do?" But Rory couldn't respond. He continued to rock back and forth, crying until he fell unconcious from pure exhaustion. The Doctor didn't move, his thoughts wandering to Amy's narrative of the time in the House-infested TARDIS.

"Every single night. They come for me and they hurt me..."


A short little update on this fic, since some of you seemed to have enjoyed it^^. I will continue this, I promise! Chapter three is already in the works. It may be three, it may be four. Dunno yet. Reviews are love!