Chapter Five
It was Sunday, one of the Doctor's least favorite days. They'd all elected to just stay aboard the TARDIS and "wait it out" as Rory had put it. The three Veterans, Andrea jokingly called them, had regaled her with stories of past adventures as they passed through one dazzling Nebula after another.
She wasn't aware she'd dropped off to sleep until the Doctor shook her by the shoulder. She opened her eyes and saw she was still on the jump seat. She yawned widely and stood up. Amy and Rory were nowhere to be seen and she rightly assumed they'd gone on to bed.
"Doctor?" she asked softly.
"Yes, Andrea?"
"Do you think we might"-another yawn interrupted her- "go to Earth?"
"Sure. Why not? I like Earth," he said. He tried to sound casual, but she noticed the slight quiver in his voice, the uncertainty. She giggled tiredly.
"I'm not leaving you, Doctor," she said softly. He smiled, relieved, and steered her towards her bedroom.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. The TARDIS is home now."
"The door will always be open for you, Andrea," he said. He turned back towards the control room with a smile.
She closed the door of her room a minute later and flopped onto the bed. The next second she was asleep and dreaming peacefully. She dreamed like she had when she was little, of flying in the TARDIS with the Doctor and her parents and the other companions. But then it changed and she was alone in the dark, afraid.
A voice called to her and she turned, hoping it was someone she knew. She did. The man in red was coming towards her slowly, deliberately. And with each step he took, the darkness melted away and Andrea saw the TARDIS crumbling around them.
The Doctor lay face down in a pool of his own blood. Amy's and Rory's bodies were tangled together, as if they'd died protecting each other. Her father was trapped in electrified wires hanging from the ceiling. And her mother, her blonde hair covering her face, was pinned to the console by a chunk of the floor.
The man in red looked over his shoulder nonchalantly. He turned back to Andrea with a smile, reaching out to stroke her hair. Andrea screamed.
She woke with a jolt on the floor of her room. The covers were twisted round her like a straight-jacket. She struggled with them and realized she was starting to hyperventilate. She couldn't draw in enough breath. And when she finally did choke down enough air, she let out a blood curdling scream.
She scrambled back till her back was against her bed frame. She tried to calm down, but she couldn't stop shaking. She put her head on her knees, which she drew up to her chest, rocking back and forth.