A Breath Away

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Previously, in chapter eight...

"You can't just go shutting down your bodily functions like that," the widow whispered with astonishment.

"Oh, but I can. I'm special. Very special. Not from around here, you might say. Loads of distinguishable things, anatomically. Of course, to do that I had to slip into a self-induced trance for a while, and, seeing as I still have my memories this go round, I'd say I was successful."

"Not quite," a voice growled from behind them. "I believed you had to be a different species; hearing your words only confirms this."

The women held up the umbrellas they carried defensively while the Time Lord bent sideways a little, peering around the gnarly man addressing him.

"Oh, what's that?" The Doctor pointed behind the tall being. "A magic door?"

"What's with this 'magic door' talk?" Gabrielle whispered to Rose.

"I'll explain it later," Rose replied quietly.

"Do you mind?" The Doctor asked, turning to face the women for a moment. "And put those parasols down. You could poke a person's eyes out with those, you know," he spoke with a reprimanding tone. He then returned his focus to the newest addition to their group. He seemed to study the hairy fellow, calmly quirking an inquiring eyebrow. "So, who are you, then? What do you call yourselves?"

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Chapter Nine

All Is Revealed

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"We are Blennorvian."

"Hmmm, I can't say that I've heard of you before. Could you be a little more specific?" the Time Lord asked almost cheerfully.

The creature leaned forward, looking him over appraisingly. "You are not from this world, Doctor."

"Yes? Well, it takes one to know one, doesn't it, Lord Lupus?" The Doctor looked back at Rose and Gabrielle, grinning at their combined gasps.

"Very clever," the creature nodded. "How did you know?"

"Your smell, for one. The first time Rose and I saw you in this form, I was suffering from a head injury and my senses were a bit off. This time however, I can actually recognize your sour scent, the same odor I noticed upstairs when I met you in your aged form. Very clever, parading around as an old invalid man. Must use a lot of energy, keeping yourselves looking all pink and human. The second clue is that you're still wearing that ruby ring. Not very clever, forgetting that."

Lupus twirled the ring on his finger, much as he had done that night in his wheelchair when he talked with the Time Lord. "It matters not. We will still do what we came to do."

"Then I will do what I have to do," the Doctor said evenly. "What is it that you came to do, by the way?"

"We came to take their souls."

"Oh yes, sounds very ominous. Just what exactly do you do with them?"

"We must take the last breath of our captives. It is how we live; how we survive. Their last essence sustains us," Lord Lupus replied.

"You can't just go around killing people," the Oncoming Storm growled, giving the beast a taste of things to come.

"It is our part in balancing the universes. Good and evil; darkness and light. We all have our purpose and place in evolution. You should know that, Time Lord."

"Oh, aren't you the clever one. Listening in on our private conversations when Rose and I stayed the night, then?"

"One must always know his enemies, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, yes I would." Hands in his pockets, the Doctor began searching them discreetly.

"You won't find your sonic device within your clothing. I've made sure of it," the creature sneered, holding the instrument in his hand to taunt the Time Lord. "Now then, you will be my guest of honor this evening. All of you will, in fact - one last time." He smiled, jagged, pointy teeth bared for his audience.

"I'm afraid we'll have to decline, Lord Lupus, or whatever your real name is. You see," the Doctor began pacing, "although I've never heard of your species, I have heard a greevalliharhar. You may not recognize the name that I know it by, but a greevalliharhar is, in the simplest terms, a sort of transformer. Helps one very cleverly appear to be something - or someone - else. Works on beings and buildings and, well, you get the idea. It would have to be centered in the location this person or persons, or," he grinned a bit evilly, "species needs the illusion to appear in, which would be preset within the mechanism. Would that be -" he leapt through the doorway the man had come in through, " in here?"

"Stop!" Lord Lupus yelled, running after the Time Lord.

"No, I think you should stop - right where you are - or I'll crush this machine and your lives," the Doctor spoke through gritted teeth. He stood beside the greevalliharhar, his hand balled into a fist and poised over the top of its glass dome. The man stood frozen in the doorway, his fear visible.

"What do you want?"

The Oncoming Storm looked into the eyes of this world's enemy. "Leave. Leave this place - these people - and never return. Only then will I spare your lives."

"No!"

"No?" the Time Lord seethed. "You have no choice. One chance - that's all I'm offering. It's that or nothing."

Lord Lupus dove forward, growling in anger as his talons appeared, aiming for the Doctor's throat. In one smooth move, the Doctor stepped sideways and the creature fell into the machine he was trying to protect. Sparks flew just before the greevalliharhar exploded into flames, sending the Doctor flying.

"Doctor!" Rose yelled as she ran through the smoke, finding the Time Lord dazed but alive, sliding slowly down the wall he'd landed against. "Doctor!" she shook him, trying to get him to focus.

He blinked several times as his companion began helping him up. "Rose - you all right?" he asked, recovering quickly as he looked around through the blinding smoke.

She began coughing. "Yeah. "You?"

"I'm all right. Come on," he grabbed her arm and led her into the other room, smoke following them both thickly. Immediately they were beside Gabrielle, who had apparently been thrown to the floor by the explosion. She was sitting up, awake and coughing as well. The Doctor and his companion each grabbed an arm and helped her to stand, then all three of them suddenly froze.

"What's that?" Rose asked, eyes wide as tremors began rocking the ground beneath them.

"It's time to go!" the Doctor urged, grabbing her arm and the widow's, pulling them out into the hallway.

"What's happening?" Gabrielle asked breathlessly.

"The image of Lord Lupus wasn't the only the only illusion in this house. Come on! Out-out-out-out!"

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Gabrielle, Rose, and the Doctor all sat beneath a tree, coughing and sputtering a bit, but safe. They became silent as the earth trembled below them, followed by a loud rumbling. Their eyes went to the source: The house from which they'd just narrowly escaped.

All three watched in awe-struck fascination as the large home began to crumble within itself.

"Doctor? What just happened?" Rose asked quietly.

"The basement was created by the greevalliharhar, and the lift, and perhaps a few other things as well. Probably little reminders of home for them, and the perfect place to have their rituals. Anyway, they programmed the machine to create these things, but once it was destroyed, the creations were destroyed as well. The foundation was literally rebuilt, then pulled from beneath it."

"And the Blenderians?" Gabrielle asked.

"Blennorvians," the Doctor corrected. "Lord Lupus, Estelle, Dr. Raddermore and probably those other two men Rose and I met our first night here. Their scents were all slightly sour, though not as concentrated as Lupus's. I should've realized ..."

"You were hurt," Rose offered.

"I suppose," he acknowledged. "Anyway, they're gone. They were physically and telepathically connected to the machine. Its destruction was ultimately their own."

"So," Gabrielle cleared her throat. "Aliens, you?" she asked, eyes darting between the Time Lord and his companion.

They both smiled at her. "Yep!"

"Wow," she grinned back.

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Epilogue

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The Doctor, Rose, and Gabrielle stood beside the TARDIS on the small hill, grass billowing nicely around them in the warm breeze as sunshine lightened their faces.

"You're sure you won't stay?" the widow asked. "You're both heroes in our little town now, and there are a lot of folks who'd love to meet you and say thanks."

"No, we're not really into all that," the Doctor began. "What exactly did you tell them, anyway?"

"I said Lord Lupus and his staff came to town and were the ones kidnapping people then killing them. That he really wasn't handicapped, merely faking it to lure people into a false sense of security around him."

"You didn't tell them they were aliens, then?" Rose asked, her tone a little teasing.

Gabrielle smiled. "Nope. Sort of forgot to mention that little detail," she grinned.

"Probably for the best," the Doctor nodded.

"I even got a job offer," she paused a bit dramatically, "working with the detectives here," she said seriously, then burst into giggles.

"You'd be good at it," Rose replied, her tone filled with praise.

"I think I'd rather tend to my house and the land. I've never been much for having servants, and there's enough work needing to be done to keep me busy for decades." She walked up to the Time Lord and his companion, hugging them both.

"Safe travels to you both. Take care."

"And you as well," the Doctor spoke as they hugged.

Rose stepped within the TARDIS as the Doctor watched Gabrielle walking down the hill. Taking a deep breath, he turned and entered his ship. He smiled when he saw Rose sitting there on the jump seat, grinning at him.

It was good to be home.

The End.

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