Chapter Three

The Doctor immediately knew something was wrong when Robyn's hand went limp. "Robyn," he said urgently, scooping the child into his arms. He could tell that she was fighting to stay awake; she was fighting a losing battle, but she was still fighting, and that was a good thing. "Robyn, listen to me. What do you hear? What's happening to you right now?"

"Birds," she managed weakly. "I can hear birds."

"And that's what you hear every time you go to sleep?"

Robyn nodded, still fighting to keep her eyes open. She yawned. "I don't want to go to sleep."

The Doctor pressed a kiss to the little girl's forehead. "I know you don't," he said, laying her gently on the ground. "But if I'm going to get inside your head, then you'll need to go to sleep for me. Can you do that?"

Amy snorted, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Well, she's not got any choice, has she?"

"Not now, Amy," the Doctor said sharply, kneeling by the child's side. It wasn't the time for jokes, or for harsh words, but he knew it was Amy's method of coping, so he would let it slide just this once. He turned his attentions back to Robyn, leaning in close to her. "Can you hear anything else, Robyn? Anything at all?"

"I can hear him," she said, yawning again. "He's making me fall asleep, but I don't want to." She blinked, keeping her eyes as open as she could. "I want to stay here... with you." She used what little energy she had left to look at the Doctor fearfully. "Will you be there when I wake up at... in the other place?"

The Doctor nodded. "I'll certainly try," he said, scooping her into his arms again. He turned to Amy. "We have to go back to the infirmary, it's better if she's in a bed than on the floor when she finally goes to sleep."

The hard look on Amy's face softened. She nodded in agreement, but still looked concerned. "What's that going to do?"

"Well, she'll be more comfortable in a bed, for a start," the Doctor began, pushing past her and heading down the corridor. Amy's reply was lost as he propelled himself through the winding halls, the pounding of his, and Amy's, footsteps ringing in his ears as he ran. With any luck, the noise would be enough to keep Robyn awake until he got her to the infirmary. "Stay with me, Robyn, don't go to sleep yet. Focus on my voice, and try to stay awake."

Robyn looked up at him, bleary-eyed, but said nothing.

The Doctor started to run faster, and Amy's footsteps faded momentarily as the distance between them increased. "I'm taking you back to the infirmary," he said, hoping that the little girl could still hear him, "and when we get there, I'm going to establish a psychic link between the two of us, so when you do fall asleep, I will too."

"What about Amy?" Robyn asked, letting out another yawn. "Will she fall asleep too?"

"No, actually," the Doctor replied, as the two of them made it to the infirmary. He quickly lay her down on the nearest bed, just as Amy sprinted into the room behind them. "Amy's going to stay out here," he continued, looking up at her as he knelt by Robyn's bedside, "because we need someone on the outside to monitor our vitals."

"Wait a minute," Amy protested. "Are you saying that I'm supposed just stay here and be your nurse maid?"

The Doctor nodded. As much as he wanted Amy there, it was better for both of them if she stayed in the waking world than be subjected to the Dream Lord's cruelty again. "You'll be our only link with the outside world, Amy," he told her. "And it's up to you, and the TARDIS, to keep Robyn and I safe. If what she told me about is true, then the next time she encounters it, whatever it is, she might not live to see the real world ever again."

"And we can't let that happen," Amy replied grimly.

"Exactly."

"I just hope you know what you're doing," she grumbled.

"Oh, I do," the Doctor assured her. "But we can't waste any more time arguing about it." He turned back to Robyn, and then gently rest his hands on her face, spreading his fingers onto her temples and the bridge of her nose. "I want you to close your eyes, Robyn," he said carefully, "but I want you to keep trying to stay awake. Don't go to sleep until I say you can, all right?" He felt his hands move as Robyn bobbed her head in reply, and he grinned. "Good girl." He closed his own eyes now, concentrating on establishing the psychic link between himself and the little girl. In his mind's eye, two thin threads reached out towards one another, then tied themselves into a strand connecting them both. The Doctor grinned again, pleased that Robyn trusted him enough to establish the connection cleanly. "Contact," he murmured. "That's very good, Robyn. That's very, very, good." Then the threads began to split apart, as Robyn began to lose consciousness. The Doctor shook her slightly. "Stay awake, Robyn, and don't go to sleep until I say you can. I almost lost our link."

Robyn stirred, and the two threads strengthened, tying themselves back together. The Doctor could feel himself grow drowsy, but he knew he wasn't ready to let Robyn, or himself, go to the fabled land of Nod just yet. "Amy," he said, letting out a yawn. "I need you to help me into the bed."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "What, with her?"

"Yes," the Doctor replied, yawning again. "I need to stay in close proximity to her so the link doesn't falter."

"Right." She frowned. "Although... how am I supposed to keep an eye on your vitals?"

The Doctor reached into his jacket pocket, took out the sonic screwdriver and pushed a few buttons, then handed it to her. "I've just set it up for you," he said. "All you need to do is push the button at the top, then point it at us."

"Okay."

"Now, you need to help me into the bed," he said, the strains of bird song reaching his ears. "I haven't got much time left."

Without a second thought, Amy moved over to the Time Lord and helped him into the bed. "Blimey," she muttered. "You're heavy when you're about to pass out, aren't you?"

"Amy," the Doctor warned.

"Well you are," Amy countered.

The Doctor's retort died in his throat as his head hit the pillow, and he knew what energy he had left was put to better use elsewhere, so he drew Robyn close until she was lying in his arms. "You can go to sleep now," he whispered in her ear, and then, unable to keep his eyes open any longer, he joined her in slumber.

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Robyn opened her eyes slowly, the pale pink of her bedroom wall swimming into view. She tried to move, then realised that she was not alone; someone was holding her in their arms. She could feel the scratchy tweed the arms were encased in, and instantly, she knew who it was. She craned her head around, and two pairs of grey-green eyes met. She grinned. "It worked," she murmured. "It worked!"

The Doctor grinned back at her. "It most certainly did," he replied, as both of them sat up. "And now, it's time we looked for this man in the bow-tie."

"Do we have to?" Robyn asked quietly. "Something about him scares me, and I can't put my finger on why."

"You want to figure out how to get rid of him, don't you?"

Robyn opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again. The Doctor had a point. She did want the man in the bow-tie to go away, that was the very point of having the Doctor there with her. He was supposed to be able to help her, and to suddenly turn around and say that she didn't want to confront the man in the bow-tie was the wrong thing to do. "Yeah, I want to get rid of him," she said at last. "And I want to get rid of this place too. It hurts too much to be here again when I know it's really gone."

The Doctor nodded, smiling sadly. "I know how you feel." He glanced around the room. "So this was your bedroom," he mused. "When your parents were still alive, I mean." He walked over to a child-sized desk in the corner of the room, and then flipped through the books lying on top of it. "These books are empty. They've got no writing in them what so ever. The man in the bow-tie can obviously replicate the covers well enough, but he doesn't know enough to replicate the contents."

"What's that got to do with anything?" asked Robyn.

"Maybe nothing, and maybe everything. You can never be too careful with these things."

"Why would someone go to all that trouble?"

The Doctor dropped the book he was holding back onto the desk, then strode over to Robyn purposefully, before kneeling in front of her. "To convince you that this is real."

Robyn rolled her eyes. "Well, it didn't work, did it?" she said. "I knew this wasn't real from the moment I saw my parents, and this house. I was never going to be convinced this was real in the first place."

"Exactly," the Doctor replied, tapping her on the head. "So why go to all the trouble in the first place?"

"Maybe it's to convince someone else this is real," Robyn suggested. "Like that creature?"

The Doctor grinned. "That's a good suggestion, and I think you might have the right idea there." He stood, then took Robyn by the hand. "Come on, I think it's time we started to unravel this mystery."

The two of them quickly left Robyn's bedroom behind, proceeding to explore the house for any other clues that might be of use to them. But this time, something about the house felt even more wrong than it usually did. Almost as if Robyn, and the Doctor, were the only ones there. There was no sign of Robyn's mother, or her father, not that she'd seen much of her father any of the other times she found herself in the dream world. This was bad, somehow she knew it, and she suspected that the Doctor knew as much as well.

"Does this house fell... empty... to you, Robyn?"

Robyn nodded slowly. "Yeah," she replied. "It's too quiet. Even though I knew they weren't real, I could always hear my parents doing things, to make me think that I wasn't here alone."

"Ahh, more things designed to make you think that this place is real."

"But I know it's not real," Robyn insisted. "I already told you that!"

"More proof that it doesn't work on you," the Doctor replied. "Which mustn't make the man in the bow-tie a very happy camper."

They went downstairs now, the search of the second floor proving unfruitful. Robyn led the Doctor into the kitchen, half expecting her not-mother to be there.

But she wasn't.

However the man in the bow-tie was, and he didn't seem surprised to see the Doctor.

Not in the slightest.

"Doctor!" the man in the bow-tie said, almost jovially. "I never expected to see you here." Of course, this was a lie.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. The Dream Lord had, unsurprisingly, not changed a bit since their last encounter. Every about him was the same, and he still wore the same clothes that he'd worn when he'd almost tricked them into living a dream world forever. He couldn't let him do the same to Robyn, or to anybody else. The only thing that didn't make sense about the Dream Lord's presence was the fact that he, the Doctor, hadn't even met Robyn until he got the message on the psychic paper. "What are you doing here, Dream Lord?" he said carefully. "How can you be here?" An unpleasant thought dawned on him."Unless you're here because Robyn meets me in the future!" He frowned. "And something happened to leave you, or rather, an imprint of you, behind."

The Dream Lord applauded. "Close, but no cigar," he taunted. "You're only half right."

"Yes, but which half?"

"You'll just have to figure it out, won't you?" the Dream Lord said with a sneer. "Put all your little tawdry quirks to use."

The Doctor was about to reply, but he stopped when he felt Robyn tug on the sleeve of his jacket. He looked down, and he realised that there was a very pronounced expression of fear on her face. His first thought was that she was afraid of the Dream Lord... except she wasn't looking at the Dream Lord at all... in fact she was looking in another direction entirely.

"I'd pay attention to your little friend, Doctor," said the Dream Lord. "She knows more than she lets on."

But before the Doctor could ask him what he meant, the Dream Lord vanished, leaving him alone with a very frightened child.

"Doctor, it's here again," said Robyn, looking up at him. "We have to run!" She pointed in the direction she'd been fixated upon. "It wants to eat me, and I don't know why!"

The Doctor turned, then saw what Robyn was talking about. He quickly took her by the hand. "In that case we better run then."

Wasting no time, the human child and the Time Lord turned and fled, the ravenous creature that had appeared behind them snapping and biting at their heels as it gave chase.

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Robyn and the Doctor had been running for quite some time now, and there seemed no way that they could get away from their pursuer at all. Of course, this was strange, because they both knew that they both should be waking up at that moment... and they weren't. They were both still in Robyn's nightmare world, running for their lives. So what was different this time? What was so different this time, that wasn't the previous times? There was something the Doctor was missing, and he needed a chance to think, but he knew they couldn't stop or the creature would catch up to them. Luckily, Robyn's nightmare world wasn't limited to her house, although the Doctor suspected that the Dream Lord might work things to the contrary, and confine them to the house, which would've made finding another place to go rather difficult.

"We'll need to find a place to hide," said the Doctor, panting heavily. "Until I can work out what it is, and how to get rid of it."

"How are we going to do that?" Robyn wheezed. "And besides, I'm usually awake by now!"

"I know," the Doctor replied. "So why aren't you this time?"

Robyn started to respond, then suddenly, with no warning at all, the Doctor pulled her out of the creature's path... and into an empty side street. The creature continued on its merry way, following the pre-existing scent, but she knew it wouldn't be fooled for long.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "There, that should by us some time to think."

"About how we're going to get rid of that thing?" asked Robyn, taking a moment to catch her breath.

"Among other things," the Doctor replied. "We also need to work out why the Dream Lord is here, terrorising you."

Robyn frowned. "Yeah, about that... why do you call him the 'Dream Lord', and how on earth does he know you?"

The Doctor grimaced. "I'll explain later," he said, evading the question. "That's not our highest priority right now. Sorting you out, on the other hand, is."

"Which brings me back to my first question. How are we supposed to do that?"

"I don't know."

Robyn rolled her eyes. "Fat lot of good you are then."

"Well, I can't help you when you don't give me anything to work with."

"Tell me how the man in the bow-tie knows you, and maybe I'll think of something!"

The Doctor gave her a cold, hard, stare. He really didn't want to tell her who the Dream Lord was, but it was becoming clear that he would have no choice, not if he wanted to save the girl. He really needed more time to explain, but time wasn't something he had in abundance, not while that creature was still lurking about. "All right," he said at last. "I'll tell you, but you have to promise me one thing, just one small thing."

"Like what?"

"That you'll trust me."

"You think I don't?"

"After I tell you who the Dream Lord really is, you might not."

Robyn folded her arms across her chest, then leaned against the nearest wall. "Try me."

"TheDreamLordisme," the Doctor said quickly, trying to tell her without her actually hearing anything he said.

Robyn shook her head. "I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked. "Can you slow down?"

The Doctor sighed, shaking his head. "The Dream Lord is me. The reason he knows me, and was able to tell you so much about me, and the TARDIS, is because he is me. He's the darkness in me."

Robyn's eyes widened, and she stared at the Doctor, completely gobsmacked by what she was hearing. Did that mean the Doctor really couldn't help her? Was the Dream Lord lying to her this whole time? Why had the Doctor kept this from her for so long? Why had she trusted him in the first place? "Tell me you're lying," she said, her bottom lip quivering as she fought back tears. "Tell me that's not true, because if it is, then it means you're the one hurting me, not helping me."

"Robyn..." The Doctor knelt in front of her. "I'm not lying, but I can help you. I can stop him, if you let me." He drew her into his arms and held her tightly, letting her cry into his shoulder. "But you have to tell me what you know."

"What do you mean?" Robyn asked, between sobs. "I don't know anything."

The Doctor pulled away, and looked her straight in the eye. "The Dream Lord seems to think you do, and anything he thinks, I tend to think too, but not for the same reasons."

Robyn shook her head. "I really don't know, I mean, I'm just a little girl!"

"A little girl who's spent all her life alone, with only dreams and fairy tales to keep her company. I'd say there's something special about you. Something only you, and the Dream Lord, know about."

"If I'm so special, then why is all of this happening to me?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Who knows, but it's still happening, so it still needs to be dealt with."

"And there's that creature," Robyn reminded him. "The Dream Lord sends it after me. I think it wants to eat me, or it wants to eat my dreams."

Upon hearing this, the Doctor's eyes widened, and he smacked himself on the forehead. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that before!" he exclaimed. He looked down at Robyn and grinned. "I know what that creature is now; what it is, and how to get rid of it!"

"Really?"

"Really, but you're going to need to trust me, especially when we find it again."

Robyn yelped. "When we find it again?" she asked. "I thought we were trying to get away from it, not go looking for it!"

"And we will," the Doctor replied, taking her by the hand. "But we have to find it so I can work my magic and get rid of it for you. That's what I'm here for, after all."

But Robyn realised that after getting rid of the creature, the Doctor and Amy would go away, never to come back, and she wouldn't see them again. Another person would leave her. They all did eventually. "What is it?" she asked hesitantly, trying hard to keep her emotions in check. A tall order for a young girl.

"It's a Menolissian Wolverine," said the Doctor, scratching his chin. "Well, that's the only way to describe it." He frowned. "The problem is," he continued, "Menolissian Wolverines have been extinct for millennia, and the only way anyone could know about them was if they read about them or..."

"They were you," said Robyn, finishing his thought.

The Doctor nodded. "Or if they were me," he echoed.

"So how do we get rid of a Menolissian Wolverine?"

"We don't."

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