Additional instrumental recommendation:
Impossible Choice - Doctor Who Series 5 Soundtrack (actually used in the original Dream Lord story hence why it works so well!)
Don't forget about the other two recommended in the previous A/N!
Warning that this chapter is a fairly high T for some fairly dark themes/implications.
I hear you callin and it's needles and pins (and pins)
I wanna hurt you just to hear you screaming my name
Don't wanna touch you, but you're under my skin (deep in)
I wanna kiss you, but your lips are venomous poison
Poison - Alice Cooper
"And as for you, Aliyanadevoralundar...I'm your worst nightmare."
The silence in the TARDIS was palpable. Aliya mulled over the near threat that the Dream Lord had presented her with, and glanced between him and the Doctor, whose jaw was fixed as he glared at the smaller man and took Aliya's hand pointedly in his own. Regardless of their confusion about where their friendship stood, in two out of the three places it was strong and he obviously didn't care for 'worst nightmare' comment at all.
"Oh, the silence game, is it?" The Dream Lord asked wryly. "Not like the two of you."
"You're pretty egotistical if you think you're my worst nightmare," Aliya said abruptly, narrowing her eyes at him, "You obviously don't know me like you seem to think you do if you don't know my nightmares, considering they're far from secrets."
"Oh yes, the Master and the Daleks," he said, waving his hand dismissively. She tried to disguise her slight surprise and the wary feeling that replaced it, "And with good reason. But no. This is far deeper. Much more...personal."
She couldn't be sure if it was the leering of his eyes or the cold certainty in his voice that had her blood running cold, but all the same she found herself becoming more unnerved by the second.
"Leave her alone," the Doctor demanded, his voice low and authoritative. The Dream Lord chuckled.
"Ooh, and there it is, the tall dark hero, protecting his companion. Even more impressive than with Amy. I wonder why that is?"
"And I wonder how you could possibly have possessed the Doctor," Aliya interrupted. "Time Lords aren't easily taken over. Doctor, do you believe him?"
"I don't know." The Doctor swallowed and shook his head. "I'd like to think he can't, I really would. But I...I can't assume. Not when it's our lives on the line."
"See? He's learning, learning that I'm stronger than he would ever have wanted to believe," the Dream Lord taunted, before turning to Aliya and clasping his hands together. "Now, Ali, fair's fair, time to tell you the rules. Dying in a dream will see you wake up in reality, or in the other dream. As for dying in reality-"
"That one hardly needs explanation, thank you," Aliya snapped. "Who are you? The Dream Lord might be a nice title that sounds mildly impressive but it means nothing. You know the Doctor, you know me...how?"
"Well, now that's the real thing, isn't it?" He grinned menacingly. "Your dear Doctor knows. All too well. Go on, Doctor, why don't you tell her? Not as frightening as the element of the unknown, but you'd never withhold information..."
"Doctor?"
To her shock and the Dream Lord's apparent lack of it, the Doctor again shook his head and remained silent, though looked ashamed to be doing so.
"No, you never would, you pathetic coward. And since you're not going to be sharing any meaningful truths, you two might as well pop off to sleep. Bored now."
The sound of birds filled Aliya's ears and she could tell from the Doctor's cringe that the same went for him. "We need to stick together!" She said loudly. "If it's the dream where we're not with River, come to Torchwood. 8th of July 2013, 2:15pm. By the tower."
She saw him nod before they both hit the floor.
"So much for that plan," the Doctor muttered as they woke up side by side.
River, who was already holding him firmly by the shoulders with an expression of pure relief on her face, asked, "What plan, sweetie?"
"River, we're not on Turran," he said, not quite answering her, "We're on the twin planet. Can't remember the name, but the animals here are lethal. We've got to get back to the TARDIS."
Aliya got up and brushed blue grass off her jeans. "You believe him, then?"
"Not necessarily, he's a world-class liar," the Doctor said the three of them began to head back the way they came, "But like I said, there should be a village here, and there's not. And Turran's twin planet does have dangerous wildlife, so we're not taking any chances."
"What are you two talking about?" River asked as she walked briskly alongside them. "Who's a liar? And what's happening to the two of you?"
"River, I'm sorry, but it's too complicated to explain and I don't even fully understand it myself," Aliya told her sincerely, "What you do need to know is that we're going to keep falling asleep. And that...for some reason...we're sharing dreams. We'll be waking up with new knowledge, new plans. You've got the hardest job, you've got to keep up."
"And protect us while we're out," the Doctor added.
River stared at them incredulously, but it was a credit to her love for both of them that she accepted it without another word of doubt. "Does this mean you're having to explain this to different versions of me? Why is it only affecting Time Lords? Or...or am I not in the dreams?"
"...spoilers, sort of," Aliya said, and River blinked, looking a little affronted.
"Seriously?"
"River, would I withhold information from you without good reason?"
"...alright, sweetie."
"As for why it's just the two of us, we don't know," the Doctor said, and while Aliya knew it wasn't strictly true, it also wasn't a complete lie. "Also, I think I'd feel better if we sped up." A minute after they did so, movement in the forest around them rang his words home. "I don't like the sound of that." Sure enough, the shapes of jaguars with cream coloured fur and nine inch fangs had begun to enter their sight in front of them and to their right.
"Left!" River yelled, yanking the two useless Time Lords as she changed direction and they sprinted away from the creatures that were advancing on them.
"The TARDIS is the other way!" Aliya reminded them. "I can't see this going well!"
"Unless you have another plan, shut up!" The Doctor practically snapped. It was certainly more harsh than necessary, and enough so that River gaped at him.
"Sweetie!" She reprimanded. "Since when do you talk to her like that?"
"It's alright River, don't worry about it," Aliya intervened. She knew the reason for his hostility, it was the influence of the dream where they had never resolved their fight. A third of his memories were telling him that he should hate her. Of course it was going to show. It was a miracle she hadn't done something similar.
That was when they realised there was a cliff face ahead of them that went for a distance too great to go around.
"Looks like we'll have to climb."
"Right, because climbing up a cliff face is a really safe activity to do when two of us could lose consciousness at any moment."
At that, the Doctor looked at Aliya with utter frustration in his eyes. "One more criticism from you without an alternative and I swear-"
"Save the threats for someone who gives a fuck," she said as they got to the bottom of the towering rock formation. "Now how are we doing this?"
"River, I'm going to go first, you help Aliya up and go after her, then I can trust you to try and catch her if we pass out," the Doctor said to his wife while ignoring his friend, who just rolled her eyes as he began to climb.
"You're one to talk about hypocrisy when you go from threatening me to protecting me in a matter of five seconds."
"Sorry, I didn't realise there was something wrong with me trying to save your life-"
"Cut it out! The pair of you!" River shouted. She gave Aliya a leg up and a few brief instructions on how to go about climbing before following just as the jaguars caught them up and tried to snap at her ankles. "This isn't the time for you to bicker."
Aliya fell silent and focussed on the job at hand for a minute or two before becoming aware of the dizziness starting to return along with faint birdsong. "It's coming."
"There's a ledge up here," the Doctor said, nearly having reached it. Once he was safely on it, he helped pull her up by the arm and the two of them lay back to ensure safety. "Sorry River, be back soon!" They fell asleep just as River pulled herself over the edge.
The Hub couch was comfortable and smelled faintly of pizza. Not that Aliya was complaining. It was a nice thing to wake up to.
"Jenny? Jack?" She asked as she opened her eyes and found herself alone. Her call didn't go unanswered though, as Jenny's head popped out from around the corner that led to Jack's office.
"Aliya! Thank god, we were so worried," the girl said, rushing to her side, "You've been out for at least twenty minutes. It's getting longer."
"Could just be a coincidence." Aliya got to her feet, knowing that the Doctor would be along as per their agreement. The very idea of seeing him made her stomach twist unpleasantly, but the more rational side of her brain knew it was necessary and reminded her instincts that there was a 66.6% chance that she didn't even have reason to detest him. "Anyway, I'm going up to the pass for some fresh air. I'll be back later."
"You can't, you could pass out again and hit your head on the concrete or something!"
"Just trust me, alright?"
"Right now, no, actually," Jenny insisted, and Aliya just walked past her to pull on her jacket over her mint sundress.
"Funnily enough it actually makes no difference." She made her way to the invisible lift and got on while Jenny called out for Jack to get there and talk some sense in her, but the lift had already begun its ascent by the time he got there and shouted at her to not be an idiot.
Despite it being the middle of summer, Cardiff appeared to be on the brink of a storm, with thick grey clouds coating the sky and a cold wind whipping at her. The damp air felt like it was about to be filled with rain and she buttoned her jacket up to keep the mild cold at bay.
Sure enough, it was only ten seconds after she stepped off the lift step that the police box began to appear, with the noise that was simultaneously something she longed for and had grown to hate. As much as she wanted to run as far from it and its owner as she possibly could, to keep herself independent, to run from the turmoil of hate and fury and betrayal and reluctant sentiment, it was necessary to keep her feet firmly planted. (Also, there were those pesky other sets of memories that had her wanting to do the opposite.) When the Doctor stepped from the box with a matching reservation and estrangement in his eyes, she couldn't be sure if she was relieved or secretly disheartened. None of her emotions felt solid because for each one there was at least one memory to contradict it. She hated it - her emotions and her memories were all she had. And this Dream Lord - whoever he was - was toying with them. Luckily the urge to have her self-agency back was something that gave her the strength to face the Doctor.
"Hey," he said to her, not quite smiling.
"Hey." She folded her arms in front of her for a reason that had little to do with the cold.
"Do you want to take this inside, or…?"
When he gestured minutely to the TARDIS, she was quick to shake her head. "No. Really, no. Let's just...sit." She lowered herself onto the pavestone next to the one that carried the perception filter and patted the one on her other side. "So...how did you choose between the dreams last time?" It was easier to get straight to 'business' than to attempt small talk in their state of tension.
After a moment of frowning and unfathomably staring at her, he sat next to her and sighed. "Well, it was Amy, really. Rory...Rory died in one of the dreams. She decided that killing ourselves in that world was her only chance of seeing him again."
Before their fight, she might have gasped, and possibly covered her mouth with her hand, but she'd had months to toughen up while dealing with his absence and a life on her own. She just blew out a long puff of air even as the thought pulled on her heartstrings.
"Shit."
"Yeah. Anyway, by then I'd worked out that the Dream Lord had no control over reality, so when we woke up in the TARDIS, I blew it up. Then we woke up in reality and it was fine."
"But this time one of them is real, supposedly, so that won't work," she said, sighing and biting one of her nails anxiously, "And dying isn't preferable, and neither of us would be so...drastic as to need to kill ourselves if the other met an unfortunate end. So...we're going to have to think of something else."
The Doctor shut his eyes for a moment. "He was never going to make this easy."
Before she could stop herself, Aliya found herself saying, "You look tired."
"So do you."
"Ironic, given the circumstances." He actually chuckled at that, albeit while looking at the passing humans instead of her and with only a touch of actual humour. She then was hit with a strange nostalgia and bitterness all at once. "How did we get into this mess?" She didn't know if she meant their lack of resolution for their fight or the situation with the Dream Lord or just everything. He gave her a solemn look that told her that regardless of the ambiguity he understood and was wondering the same thing.
"Look at the pair of you," a familiar snide voice said, and they glanced up to see the Dream Lord standing over them, "You call yourselves Time Lords? All I can see are self-pitying idiots who could only dream of a backbone. Or a real brain."
Aliya was about to spring to her feet and yell at him when someone stepped off the lift step. Jenny, cloaked by the perception filter, had risen to the pass level without their notice.
"We saw the TARDIS on the CCTV," the girl said, eyeing them both with disbelief. "What the hell is going on? You two would never speak to each other again in a million years. You've both told me. Any time Dad comes to see me you make sure you're on the other side of the city, Aliya, but this time…" She trailed off, apparently without words to convey her lack of understanding.
"Jenny, we really don't have time to explain anything," Aliya said, not bothering to get up, "Right now something a lot more serious could be going on. Get back down there and get Esther to scan the area around the planet. We've got reason to believe that there's a Dalek invasion on the way."
Jenny froze. "What are you talking about?"
The Doctor looked at his daughter with an apology in his eyes. "Jenny, there isn't time-"
"But-"
"Jenny!" Aliya spoke sharply, with a hard expression that she knew would make the girl see how serious she was. "Tell them to not worry about us at the moment, we'll be down in a while to help. But first we need to know what we're dealing with."
"Okay," the other blonde whispered, eyes wide as she stepped back onto the stone and slowly disappeared from sight.
"She couldn't see you," Aliya said to the Dream Lord, who had silently watched the exchange with a face that was impossible to read.
"Of course not, I have no control over reality, I'm not really here. I can only make myself be perceived."
"Piss off, will you?" She asked, scowling at him. "We're trying to have a conversation."
"Just for that, you can sleep," the little man said, and the two Time Lords fell asleep in a near instant.
They woke in the TARDIS. The Dream Lord still stood over them, so they scrambled to their feet to gain the height advantage, since it was the only one they currently had.
"See, you might have been having a conversation, but there's so much else to talk about. Still, Doctor, it's not hard to see why you like her so much. So much fire, not unlike your lovely wife. Now there's a woman. All curves and hair and guns, and a riot in the bedroom, isn't she, Doctor?" The Dream Lord just twisted his hands together when the Doctor scowled. "The way she can move, the way she feels-"
"Shut up," Aliya snarled, "Stop talking about her like that, it's disgusting. And as if you would know."
"Oh, but I do," the Dream Lord retorted, "Even the intergalactic wag here knows it. Notice how quiet he is?"
Aliya realised he was right, and stared at the Doctor with horror and bemusement. "What? I don't understand. This doesn't make sense, any of it!"
"And it won't, until he tells you the truth, but he's too proud, he never will." The Dream Lord shifted his gaze to her and the look of a predator returned to him. "Of course, River Song isn't his only exceptional choice for companionship. Aliyanadevoralundar, last of the Time Ladies, though far from the best representation they could have had. That cousin of yours, Romanadvoratrelundar, so much more extraordinary in almost every way. But you're more fun, aren't you? I know the things you've done in the dark, Ali, the things that would make her mouth drop in shock. I know who I'd rather be alone and locked in with."
How was it possible he knew anything about her past, much less intimate encounters that she never spoke of? With each word out of his mouth, she understood less. "Shut up," she said, with less confidence than she'd hoped for and intended.
"I've told you once before, and I won't tell you again," the Doctor said darkly to the Dream Lord, "Leave. Her. Alone."
"You know you don't scare me, Doctor. You couldn't even at your worst, and you know why," the Dream Lord said, just smirking at him, "Besides, I think it's time your lovely companion and I got the chance to be alone. We have so much to...discuss."
"No," the Doctor protested, but Aliya could already see his eyelids drooping and she hurried to help him gently lower himself to the floor as he grew more drowsy.
"No, don't leave me here with him, please," she whispered as her fingers knotted in jacket, and his eyes met hers.
"I'm sorry."
The fresh alien air of Turran's twin planet filled his nostrils when the Doctor took his next breath, and he sat up quickly on the ledge to see that sure enough, Aliya remained still next to him. River occupied the rest of the space on the small platform of rock. She seemed wary but surprisingly calm about the bizarre situation, but then, she'd always been rather unflappable. It was one of the things he loved about her.
Or had loved about her, a voice in the back of his mind said. The reminder that there was only a 33% chance of River actually being alive, of her not being one of the Dream Lord's temptations, was not pleasant. But currently it was the other woman in his life he had to worry about.
"Why isn't she waking up too?" River asked after a good twenty seconds of complete silence and inactivity passed. "And why aren't you saying anything?"
"He split us up," the Doctor said quietly, "The one who's doing all this, he's got her in a different dream. I don't trust him with her. He's - he's non-corporeal but he's got words that could break her. So...so easily." He touched Aliya's face, just for a moment, detesting the stillness he could remember admiring in a church not so long ago (if that had even really happened). "She's fragile."
"Aliya?" River snorted. "She's one of the strongest people I know."
"Yeah, she is," he agreed, "And she's fragile. She's...both, somehow." He glanced back to his wife, who was crouched and ready to go. "We need to keep moving, we can't wait for her. Need another route back to the TARDIS. Jaguars aren't the only predators on this planet, I can recall some very aggressive eagles that we are currently in the perfect place to tempt." He undid his bowtie and held it out to River before taking Aliya by the arms and carefully draping her limp form across his back, being sure not to lose balance and send both of them toppling to the ground. "River, I need you to bind her hands where they are in front of me, tight as possible. Then I can keep climbing and not need to hold onto her."
"It's not going to be pretty," River said as she took Aliya's hands and wound the fabric around them to begin a complex but rock solid militant knot. "This will at best bruise her wrists, or at worst dislocate them, because I can't risk a softer knot. And you'll have her entire body weight pressing down on your chest and neck."
"Not really any alternatives. I can manage, and so can she. Better than being eaten." Once the knot was done, he shifted to ensure her bound wrists were tucked neatly under his chin. "Okay...let's go. That bit up there, that'll fit all of us, just. We'll aim for that."
River nodded and was about to start climbing when he leaned in to kiss her quickly. She grinned at him and kissed him back, for a fraction longer. Then with a brief lift of her eyebrows, she began her ascent with him following close behind despite the added weight and uncomfortable pressure.
"Doctor," Aliya pleaded, one last time, but to no avail. He was in one of the other dreams and completely out of her reach. She was alone, yet at the same time not nearly alone enough.
"Well, now, this is nicer, isn't it?" The Dream Lord asked her.
"Go to hell," she muttered. Remembering his comment about sabotage and them heading for a star, she got to her feet and moved to the scanner, which upon activation showed a glowing red star in the distance. Now that she thought about it, the temperature in the ship had risen slightly since they had fallen asleep and woken again. That was only going to get worse.
"It was a cold star, last time," he said in her ear, "This one's a lot more believable, and besides...why would I want you putting on layers?"
The tone of his voice made her shiver and she hugged herself tightly while taking a step or two away from him. "You might as well let me sleep and join the Doctor. I don't have anything to say to you."
"But I have so much to say to you," he insisted, thankfully making no move closer as he spread his hands wide. "There's so much you don't know about him. Don't you want to know what he really thinks of you?"
"As if you would know," Aliya retorted, leaning back against the console as she watched him smirk, "And I'm not so insecure as to need to fish for compliments from him or whatever it is that you think I want."
"I know everything there is to know. Oh, if you knew the things inside his head." The Dream Lord grinned at her, and it was malicious and cold. "He gets so furious with you. So angry that he shakes."
"Old news."
"Of course, anger isn't the only thing that has him shaking when it comes to you."
As with most things that came out of his mouth, she didn't care for his tone. "What do you mean?"
"Do you realise how much he wants you?"
"Wants me?" She repeated. It took a moment for her to take his meaning and then shake her head adamantly. "Do you even hear yourself?"
"Oh, he keeps it well hidden, that's his speciality, our repressive Doctor," the Dream Lord said, smirking and making her skin crawl for the umpteenth time. He took several steps forward and planted his hands on the console either side of her body, trapping her despite her knowledge that she could move straight through him if she wished. "Sometimes he wants you so badly that he can't move, because he's afraid that if he does, he won't be able to stop himself."
Aliya tried to remember how to breathe but the knowledge escaped her. The words that left his lips were suffocating and tore into her confused and conflicted mind. All she could do was shake her head. "No. You're wrong."
"I know him better than you ever will."
"I seriously doubt it." She stared back at him evenly, doing all she could to not display the turmoil raging inside her. "The Doctor doesn't want me. Hasn't in a long time. For sanity's sake, in one of these dreams he has his wife, he has River! If that's our reality, how can you expect me to believe you?"
"Oh, but even with River, the urge is there, just buried. He doesn't know it himself, with her distracting him from you," he said, "But believe me, Aliyanadevoralundar, one way or another, he desires you. Deeply. Passionately. And in ways that make him shudder and despise himself. Oh, you'd be terrified of him if you knew some of the things he-"
"Shut up!" She yelled, hating what the words implied about the Doctor and what they implied about her. She thought she could feel tears in the corners of her eyes. "Just shut up!" When he just smirked at her, she pushed away from the console and through his ghost-like form, which had been only pretending to be capable of herding her.
"I'm going to leave you with that to think about," the Dream Lord said, "But I'll be seeing you soon."
When he disappeared right in front of her, she let out a noise that was half a scream and half a gasp, and one that had her squeezing her eyes shut for a moment in her fight to keep down the rising nausea that she couldn't be sure was just in her head.
"He's a manipulative liar, the Doctor even said so," she told herself as she headed for the wardrobe and got changed into a pair of small shorts and a black crop top. It was only practical to dress for a rising temperature while she had the chance, as she had no idea what was going to happen down the track and the heat was already getting noticeable and to the point of uncomfortable in her blouse and jeans.
But even as she left the room in her new attire, she found herself remembering the Dream Lord's words. Why would I want you putting on layers?
With a disgusted scowl, she continued on her way back to the console room.
The Doctor woke up in Cardiff to find Aliya still asleep on his shoulder. Any malice or hesitation he had held due to the circumstances of this particular dream evaporated just at the thought of her being alone in the other dream, with the manifestation of his dark side.
The Dream Lord was right, of course. He was too much of a coward to tell her the truth, that the man who so clearly unsettled her was an amalgamation of everything in himself he worked so hard to keep buried. He didn't think he would be able to take the horror that would fill her face and the fear her eyes would hold. He was far too weak to face that.
And until he could be sure that she was okay, he lacked the strength to face Torchwood just yet. So he scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the TARDIS to set her gently on the jump seat. If only he had some way of knowing what was happening in her dream, of what horrible probable truths the Dream Lord was telling his closest friend in the hopes of scaring her or turning her against him.
He was so caught up in staring at her and thinking up possibilities that were all more terrible than the last, that he failed to notice the presence behind him.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" The Dream Lord said, stepping forward to stand next to him, his eyes also regarding the slumbering Time Lady, who was drooling a little on her jacket. "Doesn't it make you want to break her?"
"No," the Doctor snarled.
"Except that's not so true, is it? Because I do, which means that somewhere deep down-"
"I would never hurt her-"
His darker self actually laughed at that. "Ooh, you big fibber. There's no use arguing with me, Doctor, it's only a deeper state of denial."
"What have you been saying to her?"
"Nothing that isn't true. I enlightened her as to how much you desire her."
Two thirds of him ardently denied any such attraction, while the other third was barely accepting of it. The three sets of completely conflicting memories turned his mind and hearts into roaring infernos of emotion that could not be put into any form of order. "If River is still alive, then she is the only one I want," the Doctor said firmly, "And if she's not, then I might think of Aliya in that way, but you had no right to mention it to her when it's only in one of the dreams that it's true."
"Even with River, Doctor, it's still there," the Dream Lord said, so casually that they might have been discussing something completely opposite to his indecision over which woman he was in love with. "Aliya and yourself share something that can't ever be erased, not completely. Not even by River Song."
"I love River."
"Yes, you do," the other man agreed, before pulling a face. "Or, you did. That's the real question, isn't it? Which one?"
"You would know."
"But you should know, Doctor, because it's obvious."
The Doctor felt his mouth drop. "Obvious?" He scowled. "Do us a favour and shut up, will you?"
"I even gave you a hint," the Dream Lord continued, ignoring him, "Last time it was about Amy. Now it's about you. You need to be asking why. Why would I do all of this?" He spread his hands. "What is it going to achieve?"
"Messing with me, and Aliya. Hurting us, putting a wedge between us."
"Is that what you think I want? Is that what you want?" The Doctor clamped his mouth shut, too unsure and confused to say anything that would come out sounding intelligent. His other self nodded. "Good, keep quiet, because we really do need to talk about Aliya. Or rather, your newfound realisation, in the world she's in now, that you love her so very much. It's rather sweet, actually, in a delusional sort of way."
"My delusion was not seeing before," the Doctor said, more to himself, but then anything he said to the Dream Lord was to himself, so it hardly mattered.
"Your delusion is thinking that you deserve her," the Dream Lord corrected him sharply, his hardened eyes blatantly flashing with hatred. "For all her faults, and she's got so many...she is better than you."
"You don't need to tell me that I don't deserve her. That's one thing I'm not denying."
"And if she's stupid enough to still want you? And that world is in fact real?"
"Then I'll let myself get what I want, won't I?" The Doctor snapped. "Because I'm selfish and even if I don't deserve her, if she's deluded enough to think that I'm what she wants then I'll do it."
"Of course you would. You want her, and you want her to be happy. But she's hurt you, hasn't she? So many times. And you can't tell me that there's isn't a part of you that wants to hurt her to even the scales. To make her feel the pain you felt. Secretly, you dream of her screams." The Dream Lord's sinister smile chilled the Doctor. His words were not something he could ever accept as his own. He didn't want to hurt Aliya, the very thought of it made him feel sick. He loved her, either as a friend or as something else altogether, and whichever it was, she was precious to him. "Goodness me, you really are in denial about this one. You're so sanctimonious, Doctor, always having to be bloodless, never at fault, never anything but the perfect hero."
"I'm not perfect," he said, quietly but with an edge in his voice, "I never have been. But I could never hurt Aliya."
"Yes you could!" His double insisted. "And you just might."
Something about that made the Doctor freeze and his gaze flick from him back to Aliya. "What do you mean?"
"How much power do you think I have? I could control you in this dream or the other in an instant. I could have you conscious and trapped in your own mind and take away almost everything but the instincts. The instincts to have her and to hurt her," the Dream Lord taunted, his eyes alight with sadistic delight, "I'd have you watch and feel yourself doing the most unspeakable things to her, and she'd be broken and never able to look at you again even when you came back. Even as you hated yourself and begged for forgiveness."
The Doctor could only stare at him with horror as his stomach twisted and churned. His hands shook at very thought. "Not even you're that sick."
"You might like to think so, but there's darkness in you, Doctor, urges you could never admit to yourself except in your lowest moments, and you do want her so very badly."
"Please." His voice came out hoarse, such was his desperation. "Torture me, send me to my death, anything you want, but leave her alone. Don't hurt her. Don't...don't make me hurt her. It would destroy her. And I'd never be able to - please."
"Give me one good reason," the Dream Lord sneered.
"You love her," the Doctor said, softly, and the other man's face became impossible to decipher. "If you're me, then you love her. You might hate me, and you might even hate her, but you love her, more than you hate her, so much more, and deep down you can't want to hurt her like that. I can't."
"I suppose you'll see. Time to make you a spectator while I take the steering wheel for a change."
Aliya had ducked under the console to try and work on the damaged TARDIS, in hopes of getting it working before the heat roasted the ship and its inhabitants. It was a faint groaning that had her sliding out and seeing the Doctor getting to his feet. His eyes immediately went to her clothing, and she found herself flushing, though it may have just been the heat.
"I had to get practical," she said, privately thinking she'd never consciously worn anything in front of him that bared her stomach or so much of her legs. Not that mattered. "You might want to consider doing the same." She gestured to where sweat patches were clearly visible on his shirt.
"Ah. Right." He considered them for a moment before quickly undoing his bowtie, letting his suspenders fall to his sides before he quickly unbuttoned his shirt and threw it over the railing.
She swallowed and tried to keep her eyes from his bare chest, given that it was far from an appropriate time and his wife was still waiting for them on a stone ledge somewhere. "Been up to anything fun?"
His mouth quirked. "Yeah, fun." He tilted his head at her, analysing. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she murmured, faking a small smile that she knew couldn't be convincing, "The Dream Lord just...just said some things that got to me a bit, I suppose. He claims to know you so well, to know what's in your head. Does he?"
"Yes."
The simple acceptance threw her and put a stone in her stomach. "Wait...really? So anything he said-"
"Would likely have been true."
Aliya let herself fall back against the console as she bit down on her lip, hard. "How? You said he was a liar."
"No. He doesn't need to lie. Because the truth is always more terrible." The Doctor approached her. The focus in his eyes as he did so was downright odd, and there was something else there that just didn't fit. "Let me guess..." His hands covered hers where they rested on the console edge. "He told you how much I want you."
For several seconds she just gaped at him with complete shock. Even if the words had held any amount of truth, the Doctor would never admit it so blatantly. Would he? "Yes, but, there's no way that can be true," she made herself say.
He chuckled into her ear, and it wasn't the warm sound she was used to. It was quite the opposite. "Oh Aliya...the things I've imagined...because I do want you, you know, more than you could know." One of his hands came up to touch her hair, tugging on a wavy strand and winding it around his finger. "It's like you're the only thing in my head sometimes. At my mercy. And screaming. Not from pleasure, though. Because you have caused me so much grief and pain, and made me hate you with all your stupid, pointless words."
"Doctor, stop it," Aliya said, pushing at his chest to make it clear she wanted him to back off, but he was surprisingly solid and wouldn't budge. "Really."
"No," he said simply, and then smirked, "Really." His hand came to grasp the top of her neck, just under her chin. Panicked, she clutched at the hand to try and dislodge it, because it was restricting her air supply. But it wouldn't budge, and he only tightened his grip when she struggled.
"Doctor-" She choked, feeling tears in her eyes. "This isn't you."
"It really is." His eyes were dark and cold, and that chilled her more than any of his words or actions had. "I want you to feel the pain you've caused over the years. I want to see your skin bruised everywhere, like I've painted you with my bare hands-" As he spoke, his free left hand slipped down to splay across her revealed stomach. "I want to see all there is to see and then break every piece of you." He leaned in, keeping her face dead still and ghosting his lips to the corner of her mouth as he lowered his voice to a mere whisper. "I wonder if deep down, you want it too. To break or be broken. We could find out, you know, together-"
Before he could do or say anything else she drove her knee up. He doubled over and loosened his grip long enough for her to kick him in the stomach, and punch him hard enough in the head that he was completely knocked out.
Despite his claims, she couldn't believe that had been the Doctor, and a more rational part of her guessed that it was probably the Dream Lord possessing him again as she knew he apparently could do.
But it had been the Doctor's face and voice and eyes and hands...and that alone made it fucked up beyond her ability to cope. Just as she was ready to completely lose the grain of composure she had clung to, she felt herself falling asleep.
Aliya found herself on the cliff with River, and her hands were tied and looped around the Doctor's neck of all things. With a quick adjustment so that her hands lifted over his head and were free of him, she sat back against the stone wall and let herself shed the tears she hadn't the chance to let out in the other dream. Her chest heaved with shallow gasping breaths as she tilted her head to the sky and wondered how it had all gone so wrong.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?!" River asked. "Is the Doctor okay?"
"He's fine," she managed to get out, before sobbing into her bound hands that ached for reasons she didn't currently want to know. Upon seeing her distress, River shuffled closer and wrapped her arms around Aliya, pulling her into her soft and comforting body and letting Aliya cry into her shoulder.
"Well, what is it, then?"
"I...I can't say, I'm sorry." Aliya held her bound hands to her chest and let River hold her because she couldn't help feeling deserted and betrayed by the Doctor, even if it wasn't strictly true, and being alone never tended to help her in dire emotional circumstances. "Oh, River, I hope this is real. We need you. We both need you so much."
River's hand stroked her hair as she rocked them slightly. "Shh, sweetie, it's going to be okay, I promise. Whatever's happening, we'll all get through it, just like we always do. Back in that underwater city, we didn't think we would, we thought it was impossible, but we made it, didn't we?"
"Yes, yes we did," Aliya whispered, "But this is so much bigger, River. I don't even know what's real, what the truth is. Right now you feel more real than...than any of it. And...and I need this world to be real, because you're the only thing I'm sure about anymore."
"Thank you, I think," River said wryly, and when the Time Lady made a funny laughing noise in her throat, River kissed her temple. "There, now that's the Aliya I like having around."
"What, do you mean you don't like having clingy crying Aliya to look after?" Aliya asked, in a similar tone, and the two of them laughed a little atop the cliff and held each other a little tighter.
I will be VERY interested to know the thoughts you guys have on this undeniably rather screwed up chapter. But I do see the Doctor as having a very potent dark side and therefore having the Dream Lord around is going to show that in the extreme.
Let me know your thoughts in a review! Give me your theories, which world is real, why the Dream Lord says it is obvious and what the Dream Lord wants! I'd love to hear them.
It's also safe to say that this arc is going to need four chapters as opposed to three to do it justice, so things will not all be resolved next chapter.
Thanks for reading, love you all,
-MayFairy :)