A/N: I'm back with another chapter! Now, if you've been paying close enough attention, you might have noticed that I usually update once a week on Monday, next week is a half term holiday for moi and therefore I won't have school to keep me occupied. Hopefully I'll be getting two chapters in next week which will include the chapter that finally brings the old and new Who teams back together.

Thank you guys so much for your reviews and thank you superlc529 for pointing out a few of my mistakes. I have tried to correct them in this chapter, but I do believe I've probably missed out a few capitalisations here and there, so sorry if it makes you cringe! :) xx

I'm going to be daring and hope for 10 reviews this week; probably won't happen but I feel like I should have some kind of review aim or something... haha. And of course thank you so much to all of those who have reviewed and of course to all of those who are reading and supporting this story!

As always, I don't own Doctor Who.

Until next week

xx

Chapter 6

"Alright you big ship you, if there was any a better time to give us directions, now would be the time." Amy called up to the big ship as she and Rory practically dragged the Doctor down the hallway. The TARDIS whirred in response and for a moment, Amy thought that was all they were going to receive, then suddenly, the lights in the hallway flickered, urging them down a path.

Amy nodded, "alright, follow the lights," she said to Rory, her Scottish vigour all the more prominent in her determination.

Rory nodded in agreement with his wife as the two of them carefully balanced the Doctor's weight between them and guided him down the hallway, following the flickering lights.

By the time the three had reached the door, Amy was positive that the Doctor had managed to pass out. His legs were no longer moving in time with them, but simply being dragged with the momentum. Amy let out a sigh at the same time the TARDIS did. Obviously, the two women were in agreement on how badly the Doctor needed to rest.

As soon as the three were close enough, the door opened automatically, leaving the Doctor's bedroom in their wake. It was more or less how Amy had imagined it, the same décor as the main console room with about as many bookcases as the library along with bits of machinery that could honestly do anything. Amy rolled her eyes; it wasn't hard to believe that the Doctor was untidy. In fact the only thing that was well made up was the double bed that sat in the far corner, Amy wondered if it had even ever been used before. It hardly looked like it.

Still, with help from Rory, the couple managed to get the Doctor onto the bed and remove his shoes and jacket before Rory began to unfasten his bow tie.

Amy grimaced as she watched Rory remove it with the delicacy of performing a full-out operation; "He's gonna kill you when he comes 'round." Amy warned with the ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

Rory shrugged, "He'll thank me when he doesn't end up choking on it."

Amy rolled her eyes, "He'll still kill you."

Once the couple had done all they could do under the current circumstances to make the Time Lord comfy, Rory moved over to the door and nodded to his wife, "I'll raid the med-bay and see if I can find anything remotely useful."

Amy nodded to her husband before she pulled up a TARDIS blue leather chair that sat a few feet from the bed and sat herself there. She drew the covers over the Doctor gently and then placed her hand in his. "I'll stay here," she said solemnly, biting her lip as she watched over her raggedy man.

Under normal circumstances, Rory would have felt intimidated by the way Amy was so quick to instigate physical contact with the twelve hundred year old Time Lord, but now, looking at him lying there so weak, he didn't care. The Doctor had – of course – been Amy's imaginary friend since she was seven and before he had joined her on their adventures, the two had been inseparable. If it was taking a toll on Rory to see the Doctor so un-Doctor like then he could only imagine how it was hitting Amy. Still, she sat there as strong and determined as ever and tried to do everything in her power to make him feel better.

Amy quickly located an en-suite bathroom and whilst Rory was busy finding any form of medication, she began to wet a few cloths and place them on the Doctor's forehead and chest. It wasn't as awkward as she had previously imagined to unbutton her imaginary friend's shirt and place the wash cloth on his bare chest, but she didn't question it. Instead, she swabbed at the Doctor's skin whenever he looked like he was in discomfort and made sure to keep a hand on him at all times. Through a few unconscious coughs, the Doctor would occasionally mutter something in a different language, completely unaware of his doing so. Amy found it rather sweet, but disconcerting at the same time. She worried whether his fever was higher or too high. She didn't even know what the norm was for a Time Lord. Still, she kept dabbing the Doctor with the cloth repeatedly, hoping that it would make some kind of difference to his condition.

It seemed to work as over time, the more she did it, the less the Doctor seemed to struggle in his sleep. At first, Amy had been almost positive he was having some kind of fever-induced nightmare due to his tossing and turning and frequent murmurs of things in other languages, however, on more than one occasion during the times when the Doctor's fleeting words remained in English, she caught a few names in the mix. Martha and Mickey, but also other people, someone called Jack, a woman called Donna and then very rarely and very weakly, the Doctor would mutter something under his breath about a rose.

He'd remained quiet for a while now and Amy was beginning to wonder whether that was a good or a bad thing. The Doctor's breathing was more relaxed, but she could easily hear the congestion through it. He'd rolled away from her, but Amy didn't mind. When the Doctor was peaceful, she just relaxed in the chair and watched him sleep. It was a rare if not almost non-existent privilege to see the Time Lord fully asleep after all. Maybe he really wasn't as alien as Amy had previously assumed.

Amy didn't know what was taking Rory so long with the medication, but as the minutes turned into hours, Amy began to feel a tad drowsy herself. She carefully brushed the sticky accumulation of hair from the Doctor's forehead and placed a hand there. He was still hot and sweaty, but even in his sleep, Amy could see him shivering. She began to think about all the places the Doctor had been, all the dangers, but even after being harmed in so many different physical ways, she'd never seen him ill.

Then she began to think about Mercy and how suddenly the Doctor's behaviour had changed. The moment he knew who Jex was, the Doctor turned so quickly to violence, as if there was no other option. For just a second, Amy saw the oncoming storm within the Doctor's ancient eyes. She saw the reason why armies turned and ran at the sight of him; she understood why in some languages Doctor was translated directly to warrior.

But that darkness wasn't him, not really. He was so much more than that. He was amazing and beautiful, a ball of fire and ice in a constant battle for dominance. But the fire was winning out.

Then she thought back to the apartment and remembered the Doctor's reaction to the psychic pollen. Her heart tightened just by thinking about him. The Dream Lord. And just by saying his name the Doctor had felt such revulsion, such rage. And then, it drained along with his energy and his Doctor personality.

She couldn't help but wonder, if not for just a second, was the Dream Lord causing this?

"You're right."

Amy almost yelped in surprise by the sound of the Doctor's voice. Once she had composed herself, she looked down and sure enough, the Doctor's hazy green eyes were looking up at her, almost expectantly. It took a moment for Amy to register what had just happened. She glanced at the Doctor, then at the hand that she had placed on his forehead and quickly whipped it away. "You read my mind." It wasn't a question, but the Doctor nodded very briskly anyway.

"Sorry," the Doctor murmured as he closed his eyes once more, the conversation tiring him out quite easily.

Amy rubbed her head and looked away, "No, I'm sorry. It's fine… it's fine."

The Doctor coughed dryly a few short times before returning his gaze back to Amy's, "You're right though," he croaked, "I was trying to figure it out, how the Dream Lord was stronger this time."

Amy nodded along, "And?" She urged.

"And…" the Doctor trailed off, gathering his thoughts before he was able to speak, "He's never been able to teleport people before, not from the real world and that's what we're assuming what happened." He paused for breath and closed his eyes before continuing, "I think he's stronger because he's feeding off of me." The Doctor opened his eyes once more, completely serious as he looked into Amy's gaze, "I gave him too much, now he wants more."

"Too much? Too much of what?" Amy asked, but she knew she wouldn't get an answer. The Doctor was already slipping back into unconsciousness, "Amy…" he managed to say ever so warily, "You have to… have to remember something," he scrunched his eyes up, confused by his own words. Amy wondered whether or not he was even coherent, but she cupped his flushed face in her cool fingers nonetheless, "What?" she asked, unable to keep the tears from spilling down her cheeks, "Doctor, what is it?" she pursed her lips, her eyes turning glassy, "Please."

The Doctor let out a sigh and opened his eyes. He smiled at her weakly and lifted a hand to place on hers, "Remember… he's in control now, anything can be his." The Doctor winked at her before he closed his eyes again and returned to his sleep-like state, as if he had never been awake in the first place.

"Doctor?" Amy asked, frowning. "Doctor, what do you mean, Doctor?" after she gained no reply she sighed in defeat and shakily pressed her lips against his forehead before withdrawing. What did she do now? The Doctor had moved from cold symptoms to something much worse. She needed Rory.

Where the Hell was he? Who takes two hours to find drugs in a med-bay? …It's hardly trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Her mind whirred with what she needed the most, some kind of distraction to get her mind off of the Doctor's eerie words.

The Dream Lord was in control because the Doctor had given him too much.

Too much of what?

"Please, help me!"

And that's when Amy's blood ran cold in her veins. A voice, oh such an impossible voice. Hadn't the Doctor promised her that she'd never hear that voice again?

Time lines are wibbly-wobbly, but that… that couldn't change. Could it?

Still, Amy turned around, much determined to face the voice that echoed from the hallway.

A little girl with dirty blonde curls and a pasty white face. She was afraid, because unlike most little girls, her monsters were real.

She leant against the doorframe with such agony in her little brown eyes; it hurt Amy too much to bear.

"Please," the girl begged again in the faintest twinge of an American accent as the first of many tears accumulated in her orbs, "Please save me from the spaceman."

The rain finally began to let up as Martha, Mickey and Jack made it to the end of the road.

"Is it just me, or has this taken longer than it should have?" Mickey grunted as he stared at the pavement's end as it bent round to the adjoining road. He tried to look for the post where the name of the road would have read, but there was nothing there.

"Probably because this world is playing like a dream, we could run as fast as we could but it might take the same time as crawling on our hands and knees." Jack said with a slight eye roll, "Doesn't matter though, it's all part of the game isn't it?"

Martha let out a sigh as they each in turn came to a stop at the new road. She squirmed uncomfortably for a moment before finally looking up to Jack with hopeful eyes, "Do you remember if the Dream Lord guy said anything to you… you know during…" she branched off, unable to finish. She could see Jack's eyes glisten with the pain of the memories that attacked him.

Jack shook his head, "He was surfacing so many memories…" Jack looked down to Martha, giving a grin that he hoped spelled 'I'm fine' across his face. Martha only saw pain, "I just don't remember, sorry."

Martha placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, "It's fine. We just need to figure this out."

"And how do we do that?" Mickey laughed sarcastically, "We're in a dream that isn't a dream, how do you get out of that?"

Martha was about to snap back at Mickey with some kind of 'think positively' speech when she was cut off by a very abrupt voice.

"Find."

Together, each companion shuddered. It was involuntary, like someone had run an ice cube down their spines at the exact same moment.

Martha was the first to recover, "Did you-"

"No." Jack cut Martha off, shaking his head back and forth, "That's…"

Martha wanted to say something to calm Jack, but she knew she couldn't. The fear that washed over his face was nothing she had ever seen. He was scared, but at the same time there was an air of relief to his features, like he was happy but he didn't exactly know why.

Jack stumbled backwards and Mickey and Martha both held their arms out to catch the immortal, they still didn't trust his mental strength entirely.

"Jack?" Mickey asked, a little urgently, "What was it?"

"I heard it once before," Jack said slowly, "Back when I was… I'd been… I was dead."

"You die a lot," Mickey reminded.

Jack shook his head, frowning "No… I mean the first time I died. I'd been exterminated by a Dalek and I was brought back to-"

"-Life by Rose!" Martha choked out the last of Jack's sentence, "The Doctor told me… she absorbed the time vortex, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she turned into a freaky glowing God," Mickey added gruffly, but there was an undertone of fear to his voice. He remembered when Rose had told him about what had happened. She'd absorbed the TARDIS' very soul and with it she could see everything. But she wasn't really her. She was a God amongst the Universe with the power of creation and destruction at her very fingertips.

But no creature could ever be that powerful, not even a Time Lord.

It had been the very reason the ninth Doctor had become the tenth.

"Seek."

The three friends shuddered once more, but this time they knew why. The voice was beautiful and sleek like nothing they had ever heard. It was indescribable. But at the same time, it was bad, very bad. The voice of a God.

The voice of the Bad Wolf.

Rose was unable to move, but the Bad Wolf had been kind enough to give her sight. She could see through her eyes but at the terrible cost of feeling the ever-burning presence of the Bad Wolf where she should have been. The pain was unbearable, every time she thought it was about to numb away, it turned up a notch to such an excruciating extent that her mind went blank and she would find herself waking up God knows how long later, once more in pain. She couldn't escape the pain.

"Seek."

The Bad Wolf was unaware of how long this Human vessel would last. The man called the Dream Lord had brought her here, but it did not mean that she favoured him. She could see that he was not right. He was not made up of the atoms in the air, he wasn't living. He simply didn't exist. This confused the Bad Wolf and she couldn't stand to be confused. She had to know everything, that was her purpose. To be God.

But now the Bad Wolf had found the vessel's friends. This was good; she could see reality with the floating atoms nearby. The world around her was nothing more than a virtual map, but the Bad Wolf could feel the individual heartbeats of the three real things in this world. She locked on to that sound and used it as a way of navigation. She had to fix the world, but she had to use these three to do it.

"Rose!" Mickey and Jack said together.

Martha fell speechless. She hadn't been there the day Rose had absorbed the vortex and though Mickey and Jack hadn't seen it personally, they reacted as if they had seen it all before.

Martha stepped back in shock. It was her time to fall to the ground now. She'd seen so much beauty in the Universe and so much pain, but that… the glowing form of Rose Tyler, her skin luminescent and her body radiating time itself… she was encased in the Universe. Martha couldn't even tell if she was breathing. It was too much to bear. She was in the presence of a real-life God.

"Rose?" Jack asked unsurely as he approached the Bad Wolf. Even as he did so, he had to force himself not to recoil. Her power was so strong, it felt like an invisible force was inching its way inside of Jack and tearing him apart. But he refused to give in. He had to know.

Rose's eyes were absorbed in a golden light, completely blank of emotion. A single golden tear shimmered from her cheek, but that was the only pain the Bad Wolf would show. Not her pain of course, but the vessel's.

"I seek to fix."

Jack knew from the gasps behind him that he wasn't the only one having trouble listening to such a radiant, pure voice. This wasn't Rose, this was the Bad Wolf.

But Jack didn't give up, "Rose, if you can hear me, give me a sign."

Rose screamed from within the Bad Wolf. She wanted to reach out and touch Jack, but with the power of a God, she feared that trying to signal him would end up destroying him.

"Please," Rose begged from within, trying so hard to communicate with the being inside of her, "Please, let me speak."

"Vessel is weak."

Jack frowned, "what?" he asked.

"Vessel is weak, must be preserved."

"No!" Rose begged from inside, forcing it out into the Bad Wolf, she had to be heard. The Bad Wolf had no morals, no use of human sympathy; she would do whatever she saw fit to benefit herself, to right the world that she knew to be wrong.

"Jack!" She yelled, "Run!"

"Jack!" Jack blinked in surprise as Rose's voice suddenly bled through the Bad Wolf. Though the Bad Wolf didn't change, didn't show emotion, the voice was no longer hers. That was Rose, he'd know her voice from anywhere.

"Run!"

The Bad Wolf quickly halted the vessel from talking. She could feel the energy slowly draining from the Rose girl and she knew that was bad. The Bad Wolf had to be inside flesh and blood to control the world around her; otherwise she was a simple spirit, nothing more than an observer. She needed Rose alive, however these three friends… the ones the vessel communicated with… they were strong enough to use as guides. Perhaps they would be of use too.

Except for the one called Jack that stood in front of her. The Bad Wolf felt it even when she had been out of sight. Jack Harkness was wrong.

He stood there so proudly, so sure of himself, but the Bad Wolf knew the reasons for his strength. The Bad Wolf could see the past, present and futures of any living creature, especially humans. They were delightfully easy to read. This man was from the fifty first century, she could see his childhood, his family, his brother that was now lost to the world. She saw his workings, his establishments, Torchwood and his escapades with the Doctor and Rose Tyler. However, the Bad Wolf was missing a piece of key information. This man, this impossible man that stood before her was an immortal. He was human, but he was fixed. A physical and biological fixed point in time and space.

Impossible.

This made the Bad Wolf angry.

Rose could feel the sudden burst of rage from within the Bad Wolf and she knew that it wouldn't end well. Jack wasn't moving, even though she knew he had heard her scream for him to run. Same old Jack, his flirting skills kept him slow. He cared for Rose and he wouldn't abandon her, even if she was the Bad Wolf. Rose wanted to cry, but she knew the Bad Wolf wouldn't let her. Instead, she wept internally as she both felt and heard the thoughts the Bad Wolf was currently running through.

The Bad Wolf had come to a conclusion. The timeless, impossible man in front of her was a creation of her own. A mistake that had been created when her vessel had possessed free will. But Rose Tyler, the Bad Wolf's vessel had only been human. She had sought to do what her emotions had told her and as a result she had brought a person back from death. Permanently. But Rose Tyler was no longer in control. The Bad Wolf knew this. There was only one logical thing to do.

Captain Jack Harkness had to die.