I love how I said I'd have this up after finals. So here I am, FIVE WHOLE MONTHS LATER D: Sorry guys. Busy, busy, busy, that's me. But I'll shut up now, I'm sure no one wants to hear me talk XD;

Diclaimer: As long as I'm asking for the rights to Doctor Who, I'd also enjoy a pony.

A Million Miles From Nowhere, a Doctor Who Fanfic

Chapter 4 – Crowd Surfing

It was dark now. The night air felt heavy on Aixlana's shoulders as she carefully walked behind the Doctor. She glanced up into the warm, night sky, thousands of sparkling stars placed all throughout her view. Not a word was spoken between the two, their movements seemingly echoing off of the night itself. The sudden firm tug on her wrist every now and again reminded her that she needed to hurry up or else she would get left behind. She knew that she was lagging. It wasn't that she was having trouble keeping up (he was going at a crazy fast pace for such a skinny guy) – it was the fact that she still hadn't quite grasped the severity of their situation. He looked at her over his shoulder.

"You all right?" he whispered.

"Fine." she whispered back. "No worries."

"Who's worried? Certainly not me." he mumbled, walking forward again. His pace hadn't lessened. She matched it the best she could. The quiet resumed. It was beginning to get awkward, she thought to herself. Here they were, about to do something that was insane even to think about. Her and this...this extraordinarily impossible man. This extraordinarily impossible man who was going to risk his little alien life for a bunch of people he didn't even know. The least she could do was try to make some conversation to ease the tension.

"So...um..." she began. "You do this often?"

"Hmm?" he glanced towards her. "Oh. Yea, I guess I do. Sorta like a hobby of mine, you could say." He quirked the corner of his mouth up in a quick smile. "Why d'you ask? Nervous, are we?"

"Nope. Not at all. This is totally normal and all. I'm used to it." she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"If you're having second thoughts, I can take you back. I wouldn't make you do something like this."

"Yea, ok." she laughed softly. He stopped in his tracks. He turned around completely, facing her.

"I'm serious. I'll take you back to your apartment. I'll make sure you're safe, in anyway I can. You don't have to do this." She observed his tone was filled with...sadness. Like that of a man who had lost everything. She forced herself not to tremble under his deep gaze. She gulped before answering.

"D-don't talk stupid." was the best she could come up with at the moment. She cleared her throat, embarrassed. "And...um...by that I mean I'm happy to be of...help?" she sighed. "Okay, to be honest, I'm not quite sure what I should say about this. This whole situation is...weird. But I can assure you of one thing." she stared at him, a look of quiet determination on her face. "I'm not having second thoughts." He stared back at her silently. There was a look that flashed briefly across his face, one that made him look like he wished she had just agreed to go home. She took a step closer. "Look. I don't know who you've lost, or what has happened to you, and if you want to tell me about it later, that's cool. If not, that's cool, too, I won't nag at you to tell me or anything. Right now though, we've got business to take care of." She smiled half-heartedly at him. "Besides, now you've got me involved, and there's no way I'm letting you claim all the glory on this. So let's just focus on now, and worry about consequences later."

"You could die." he said, feigning indifference.

"Then I die."

"You don't care?"

"Of course I care. But if it happens, it was meant to happen. I met you for a reason, mister." she poked him lightly in the chest. "So quit being such a downer and tell me what happens next." He looked at her like she was a whackjob for another half a second before deciding that she had answered him satisfactorily enough. He pulled her to where the alleyway they were traversing through opened to the main street. He pressed his back against the brick wall, peering out at the throng of people proceeding down aforementioned street. Aixlana could practically hear the cogs of his head whirring in thought. He turned to her.

"All right then. Here's the plan."

"Oh, so we have a plan this time?" she smirked.

"Oi, we can do without the snarkiness, thanks."

"Anyways. Plan?"

"Right. Plan. We..." he gestured to the crowd before them. "...are going in there."

"In where?" she looked out into the congested street. She blinked. She looked back at him, a deadpan look on her face. "No."

"What's wrong?"

"You can't be serious."

"'Course I'm serious, I'd think this is a very good time to be serious, why wouldn't I be serious?"

"We're going into the possessed people. Really? Really?"

"Well, how else're we going to find where they're going?"

"We could follow them?" she offered.

"Too obvious. We'd stand out like sore thumbs. If we don't blend in, they'll find us out." They continued to stare before them. The Doctor's head turned slightly to face Aixlana. She was silent as she stared, her face blank. She looked up at him, pouting slightly.

"Do we have to? They're kinda creeping me out." He looked crossly at her. She sighed. "All right, all right, it was just a question, no need to give me that look...But..." she paused. "Won't they be able to tell that we're not one of them? Don't they have some way to tell?"

"Not if we act as they're acting." he said grimly. "No emotions, no excessive thoughts. We have to be...blank." he paused. "Do you think you can handle that?"

"Of course I can." she pishawed, waving her hand at him. "If I can act like a bubbly idiot, waiting on people hand and foot, I can act like that." she grinned. "Have a little faith in me, Doctor. I'm actually about as smart as I am pretty, which, as I'm sure you've noticed, makes me pretty freaking smart."

"And modest. Don't forget modest."

"Shut up, you." she frowned. "So are we doing this or what? Sitting around and talking isn't going to accomplish anything. Move it or lose it, darling." she breathed, grabbing his hand. They shared a look, and he smiled, running his other hand through his spiky brown hair.

"I'm ready when you are."

"That's probably not the best idea, since I don't think I'm quite ready...but I get your meaning." she smiled back, squeezing his hand. "Count of three?"

"Sounds good to me." he squeezed her hand back.

"One." she shut her eyes tightly.

"Two." he stared determinedly ahead.

"Three." The two of them took a breath, releasing the others hand as they effortlessly joined the crowd.

It enveloped her. The nothingness. She knew that she was walking, could see her feet moving...but she couldn't feel it. It was as though she were floating, as if soothing, black waters had engulfed her, hungrily claiming her as its victim. She felt no fear, she felt nothing. It was somehow comforting to her. She didn't think. She didn't hear. She barely registered the form of the man in the tan coat walking steadily a few yards ahead of her, tawny eyes glazed over, locked onto his slim body. She couldn't even feel her heart beating. Her chest felt empty. Her whole body felt empty, though, so she didn't think much of it. She just kept walking forward as the emptiness embraced her, pulling her further under into a never-ending darkness…

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They walked for little less than 20 minutes, before the group started veering to the left, towards all the empty warehouses in the middle of town. Mainly used by local kids for parties and the like, they were all quietly abandoned, unusual for this time of night. Mechanically they moved as one, marching slowly like soldiers march into battle. They passed by several of the buildings before focusing in on one. As the rest of the group marched in through the opened front doors, the Doctor slowly inched to the right, moving away from the congregation. Aixlana caught a glimpse of him briefly, losing sight of him soon afterwards, but still following his lead. She reached the corner of the warehouse, walking calmly before swiftly turning the corner and pressing herself up against the building's wall. Her senses had come back to her and the darkness had faded away only to be replaced with abject terror. If only she hadn't been stupid enough to lose the Doctor... She took a few deep breaths to steady herself. She stayed as quiet as possible, tiptoeing behind some crates off to the side of the warehouse. She peered over to where she had just come from and walked backwards, facing in that direction so the crates could further hide her from view. 'Ok...' she thought to herself. 'Everything's going to be fine, Aixlana...You just have to find the Doctor, and everything will be just-" Something touched her back. She made to scream, but a strong hand clamped itself over her mouth. This was it.

She was going to die.

She thrashed around, struggling to get away from her attacker when -

"Shh, shh, shh! Aixlana! Aixlana, hush, it's only me!" The Doctor hissed. Her eyes darted madly, trying to look behind her. She saw unruly brown hair and a brilliantly red tie. Appeased, she quit moving around, and he let her go. She spun around, her long hair hitting him in the chest. She glared at him, before punching him in the shoulder. "Ow, what is with you and the hitting?!" he frowned.

"I don't know, what's with you and sneaking up on people?!" she seethed. He rubbed his arm and they scowled at each other. "So did you find a way in?" she queried, eyebrow raised.

"'Course I did." he scoffed, motioning for her to follow him. She glared at his back, sulking after him. Her glare began to soften as she glanced lower. And lower. And... "Aixlana!" he snapped over his shoulder, still moving.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." She grinned at him cutely. "Did you say something?"

"Maybe if you walked faster instead of gawking at my backside, we'd get there faster." he fumed.

"Aww, but it's comforting! It makes me feel better!" she smiled cheekily at him.

"Honestly, you're acting like you've never seen anything like it before." he rolled his eyes.

"Technically, since you're some weird kind of spaceman..."

He immediately stopped and turned to face her. "What is with you?" he stared at her intensely.

"Beg your pardon?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

"You're acting like this is nothing. You just found out that aliens are invading the planet, that I'm also an alien, and you think everything's hunky-dory?! It just doesn't make any sense!" he ran a hand through his hair. "You should be screaming! You shouldn't believe me, you shouldn't be…here. You should have shrugged me off as some weirdo and kicked me out, but you came with me. and to top it all off, you're being flip with me?" He grabbed her shoulders. "Why?"

"I…I…" she bit her lip and looked at the floor. "I'm not sure." She whispered. Her head shot up, but she still would not look at him. "I feel like I'm about to throw up. I'm so confused, I - nothing makes sense anymore! But it's like…like…" she tugged on a strand of hair. "Like if I don't kid around and dismiss what you're saying…" she grabbed a fistful of hair, yanking on it. "Th-That I'll fall apart. I'll just…unravel and then, nothing will be left of me…" she finally looked at him, her yellow eyes large and terrified. "I'm scared. I don't want to fade away.

"Oh…" he said, looking mildly uncomfortable. He took a step forward and moved to pat her on the shoulder, but she moved out of the way, shaking her head.

"Enough about me. I'm fine. It's ok." She took a deep breath. "Ready to go?" she smiled softly at him. He nodded in acknowledgement.

"There's no need."

"What? Why not?"

"We're here." he stopped in front of a ladder leading up to the roof. The golden-eyed girl looked up it, and looked indignantly back at him.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"It's the only way in where we won't be spotted." he shrugged. Aixlana groaned, grasping the frame of the ladder with both hands, and setting a foot on the first rung.

"You are so lucky I'm wearing jeans, or I would be flashing you right now. And then I'd have to beat the living tar out of you." she said calmly as she began to climb.

"Says the girl who was studying my rear end like a textbook on exam day." he retorted, starting to climb once she had gotten some feet up.

"That's completely different."

"Not even in the slightest." They continued bickering like that back and forth until they reached the top. Aixlana hoisted herself up and offered a hand to the Doctor. He grabbed it, and within moments the two were standing on the roof. Well, Aixlana was standing, and the Doctor was pacing around, searching for something.

"You looking for Waldo or something?" she smirked.

"You're awful giddy for someone in a life or death situation." he mumbled, gazing around the rooftop floor.

"Defense mechanism, or something, I guess." she shrugged with a smile. "Well? What are you looking for? Drop something?"

"No, I'm - Ah, there it is." he fell to his knees, taking out his glowing...stick thing. What WAS that thing anyway, some kind of pen or something? She considered all the possible things it could be, from letter opener to some sleek type of firearm, before settling on it being a pen. He moved it around in a square motion until she heard a click. She blinked in the dark, looking where he knelt. Suddenly, he lifted up the piece of roof, and it swung open on its hinges.

'Huh.' she mused silently. 'Fancy pen.' He lowered himself down and disappeared into the roof. She scurried over to where he'd gone through and arrived at the opening just as he popped his head back up. "Well? You coming, or what?" She didn't respond, but sat on the edge of the trapdoor, waving a hand for him to move, and slid through. He grabbed her by the waist to help her down, and as she fell through, she stumbled, wrapping her arms around his neck to steady herself.

"My hero." she said, smirking.

"Just doin' my job." he winked, letting her go.

"So what, being the 'hero' is your job, now?" she asked, brushing herself off as she leaned against the mess of boxes cluttering the room. "I thought you said it was just a hobby." she pushed off the box, placing a hand on her hips and awaiting an answer.

"Well, who said it couldn't be both?" he glanced over at her. She noticed again just how much wisdom his deep, brown eyes held. It seemed to catch her off guard that a man so young could seemingly know so much. But then again, he was from space. Maybe everyone from space had eyes like that. She had no more time to think about it, however. He had whipped out his fancy pen again, and was studying it closely. Its tip flashed blue and he shuffled from side to side impatiently.

"Now is probably not the best time to need to use a restroom." Aixlana lifted an eyebrow at him. He shot a nasty look at her.

"You're just bursting with quips today, aren't you?"

"Yes." she smiled, pleased. He rolled his eyes and inched closer to one of the larger crates.

'I've picked up a reading. All of the infected citizens are stuffed into a room. Just the one."

"Which one?"

"This one." he motioned for her to come closer, and they both looked around the crate to see a metal railing. They stayed low but continued onwards until they reached a box in front of the railing and looked over it. Aixlana let out a gasp. "The one right below us." he finished, staring out into the masses. Never had Aixlana seen so many people packed into such a small place, not even during the workday lunch rush back at the cafe. They all looked like a bunch of sardines, one right after other, jumbled together like the toys inside a child's toy chest. The Doctor held out his device, pointing it below them, one hand over the tip to shield its flashing light. As if on cue, all of the people on the bottom floor turned to face the back of the warehouse, where a mountain of shipping boxes were stacked together. "Oh..." the Doctor mused. "That explains it."

"What? What explains what?" she asked him, a sudden sense of dread washing over her.

"This. It explains everything." he stared at the top of the stack of crates in the middle. She noted that that's where all the others were looking as well. Aixlana blinked, her eyes focusing in the darkness. She could vaguely make out a silhouette, short, slim: more than likely female.

"What's that?" she turned to face him, the dread growing more irrepressible as she spoke. "Out over there...in the darkness...Doctor, what is it?"

"That, Aixlana..." he began to answer her, eyes unmoving. "...is the top dog, the big boss man. The head Labo. And he's about to address his subjects." The Doctor finished grimly. A light flickered into life and started to aim itself at the box where the Head Labo was standing. The Doctor grabbed Aixlana by the shoulder yanking her down as the light grazed over the top of their box. The massive spotlight rested at the front of that highest, middle box, the Head still surrounded in shadow. The two hiding behind the box on the floor above peeked their heads out again.

Moments passed.

Finally, it moved closer. Ever so slowly, the head of the Labos stepped into the light. Aixlana felt a jolt of horror course through her body. She began to tremble. The Doctor's head snapped towards her, curious as to what the problem was.

"Not 'he', Doctor..." Aixlana whispered, each word shaking with her body. "'She...'" she was frozen, staring out at the stack of boxes.

Angie stood before the crowd, an unnaturally malicious smile spread across her face.

To Be Continued

And thus ends chapter 4. Chapter 5 will probably at the earliest be up in June. School's taking up too much of my time right now. :c

--Roxas-Uke