As this chapter will make quite apparent, I'm not doing a Girl Who Waited AU. Imagine they turned up, found it was quarantine and weren't dumb enough to muck up the buttons, and left.
Now, more importantly, God Complex AU! This is one of my favourite episodes and it was a real joy to play with. Thanks for all the reviews/support so far, and enjoy the chapter!
(Guest review replies at the end of the chapter.)
"So, this does not look like the promised planet of really tall people where you have to talk to them in hot air balloons and the tourist information centre is made of a hat."
Jenny's comment, made as she and her parents peered down the staircase of the strange hotel they had ended up in instead of Ravenscala, raised a fair point.
"She's not wrong," Aliya said, but the Doctor was scarcely paying attention.
"Aliya, Jenny, this could be the most exciting thing I have ever seen," he exclaimed, beaming.
"What?"
Aliya narrowed her eyes at him. "When did your standards get so low? I know you like Earth, but this place is so monotonous I'm becoming worried it's going to make me boring just by being here."
"But this isn't Earth," he told them, his grin only widening, "This has just been made to look like Earth. The craftsmanship involved. Can you imagine?" His voice was awed, and Jenny and Aliya shared looks of confusion.
"But if this isn't Earth, where are we?" Jenny asked as they came back down the stairs to where the TARDIS was.
"And why would people copy some ugly Earth hotel?"
The Doctor snatched up an apple from a nearby glass bowl of apples. "Colonists, maybe, recreating a bit of home," he considered, "Like when ex-pats open English pubs in Majorca. No, whoever did this, I am shaking his/her hand/tentacle."
"Have you seen these?" Jenny asked them, having wandered over to where the walls behind them going down the stairs were covered in portraits. "Look at the labels underneath."
The Doctor and Aliya came over, the latter noting how there were various species depicted in the photographs, proving the Doctor correct in that it almost definitely wasn't on Earth.
"Commander Halke, defeat," Jenny read. The picture was of a Sontaran. She kept going. "Tim Heath, having his photo taken. Lady Silver-Tear, Daleks."
Aliya moved in to look at some of the others. "Paige Barnes, other people's socks. Tim Nelson, balloons. Novice Prin, saberwolves. Royston Luke Gold, Plymouth." She glanced at the Doctor. "What's a Plymouth?"
The Doctor frowned at her before shaking his head and apparently deciding not to answer that.
"Lucy Hayward, that brutal gorilla," Jenny continued. "Dad, what does it mean?"
"I don't know. Let's find out." They went down to reception and rang the bell on the desk. There was barely time to blink before three people rushed in. Two of them were waving objects like weapons and the other one was waving a white flag.
"Uh," Aliya said, blinking.
"Blimey, that was a bit quick!" The Doctor exclaimed with surprise.
"We surrender!" The one with the flag shouted, a humanoid alien with no hair and vaguely rodent-like features.
"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you," Jenny told him quickly.
"She's threatening me with a chair leg!" The Doctor realised, staring at the dark skinned woman in medical scrubs who was brandishing said object.
"Who are you?" She demanded.
An awkward brunet teenager with glasses next to her looked around them nervously. "Oh god, we're back in reception," he said, as if that was as concerning as it was surprising.
"We surrender!" The alien cried again.
"I've never been threatened with a chair leg before," the Doctor was still saying, flitting around Aliya and Jenny, "No, hang on, I tell a lie."
"Your rambling isn't helping!" Aliya told him, glaring.
"Okay, I need everyone to shut up, now!" The woman with the chair leg shouted, making them all quiet down and look to her expectantly.
"Rita, be careful, yeah?" The teenager asked.
She paid him little attention and took a few steps towards the group of travellers, examining them closely. "Their pupils are dilated," she observed, "They're as surprised as we are." She came back to stand with her two companions. "Besides which, if it's a trick, it'll tell us something."
"Oh, thank god, someone else with a brain," Aliya said, sighing with relief, "You're good. Doctor, with little respect, you're fired."
"What?!"
"Kidding," she added, but glanced back to Rita and mouthed we'll talk from behind her hand. The Doctor shook the comment off and clasped his hands as he took in everything they had learned from the brief period of utter chaos.
"I take it from the pathological compulsion to surrender, you're from Tivoli," he asked the alien.
He nodded nervously, but seemed glad to have someone know his origins. "Yes. The most invaded planet in the galaxy. Our anthem is called Glory to [Insert Name Here]."
"You with the face, Howie, you said you were surprised to be back in reception," the Doctor continued.
Howie nodded. "The walls move. Everything changes."
The Doctor just looked to Rita. "You, clever one, what's he talking about?"
"The corridors twist and stretch," Rita said slowly, "Rooms vanish and pop up somewhere else. It's like the hotel's alive."
Aliya made a face. "Alright, I'm withdrawing my previous comment about this place being boring and replacing it with creepy and vaguely terrifying. Let's not hang around if possible."
The Doctor turned off the annoying reception music. "That's quite enough of that."
"Yeah, and it's huge, with like, no way out," Howie told them.
"So the front door doesn't work, then?" Jenny asked.
"No," Rita said with mock seriousness, "In two days it never occurred to us to try the front door. Thank god you're here." Aliya laughed, liking her more with every second.
The Doctor meanwhile had opened the front door only to be faced with plain white brick. "They're not doors, they're walls. Walls that look like doors. Door-walls, if you like, or dwalls. Woors even, though you'd probably got it when you said they're not doors. I mean, the windows are-" He threw the curtains open to reveal more wall. "-right, big day if you're a fan of walls."
"It's not just that," Rita told Aliya, apparently considering her more sane than her counterpart, which was a fair enough observation, "The rooms have things in them."
"Things? Hello!" The Doctor said excitedly. "What kind of things of things? Interesting things? I love things, ask anyone."
"Shush, you," Aliya told him crossly, not at all in the mood for his nonsense given the worrying nature of where they had landed and a creeping sense on the back of her neck that this was just the beginning.
"The rooms have bad dreams in them," Rita said in answer to his question. The group eyed each other with a new solemnity.
"Alright." Aliya gave their surroundings another look over. "If you can't get out, how did you get in?"
"I don't know," the other woman said, shrugging, "I'd just started my shift. I must have passed out, because suddenly I was here."
"I was blogging," Howie added, "Next thing, this."
The alien realised it was his turn and said, "Oh, I was at work. I'm in Town Planning. We're lining all the highways with trees so invading forces can march in the shade."
"Ah."
"Which is nice for them." Everyone was quick to nod and agree with him, if only because he seemed rather proud of it in a bashful sort of way.
"So, what have we got," the Doctor considered, "People snatched from their lives and dropped into an endless, shifting maze that looks like a 1980's hotel with bad dreams in the bedrooms." He took the Rubik's cube he had stolen from George's bedroom out of his pocket. "Well, apart from anything else, that's just rude."
"And a good enough reason to get us all out of here right now," Aliya said firmly, and he nodded.
"Definitely. This way, everyone!" He led them all back up the stairs to the first floor landing. "We'll pop back to the TARDIS, I'll do a planet-wide diagnostic sweep, and then we'll have a sing song."
The plan fell through the moment they got to the landing only to find it devoid of any large blue police box.
"Where's the TARDIS?" Jenny asked, frowning. "It was parked right there."
"What's a TARDIS?"
"It was our way out," Aliya muttered, "Emphasis on the was." Irritation mixed with fear was starting to simmer under her skin. The whole thing felt off. As if that wasn't bad enough, the music in the reception had started up again.
"Okay, this is bad," the Doctor said, "At the moment, I don't know how bad, but certainly we're three buses, a long walk and eight quid in a taxi from good." He considered the two humans and Tivolian. "Are there any more of you?"
"Joe," Rita answered, leaning on the railing, "But he's tied up right now."
"Doing what?"
"No, I mean he's tied up right now."
The Doctor found this incredibly interesting and asked to be taken to Joe. As the group walked, Aliya fell into step with Rita.
"I'm Aliya, by the way," she said, smiling at her, "And this is Jenny."
"It's nice to meet you," Rita said, smiling back, "It is a bit of a relief to see some other faces. Besides, you seem to be quite onto it, which is good to say the least." Her gaze shifted to where the Doctor was being led by Howie. "Your friend is…interesting."
"Dad's a bit weird, I know, but he's brilliant, trust me," Jenny told her, "He'll get us out of this. Trust me."
Rita blinked, looked at the Doctor, then frowned at her. "Sorry, did you just say Dad?" The girl nodded. "He can't be more than five years older than you."
"It's complicated," Aliya said, shooting Jenny a look that told her that now was not the time when she saw the girl open her mouth to argue, "Don't worry about it."
"I'm Gibbis," the alien said helpfully from behind them, "If we're doing introductions."
"Nice to meet you, Gibbis," Jenny replied, smiling at him with the unprejudiced friendliness she offered almost every stranger.
That was when they arrived at the restaurant of the hotel, which upon entering they saw was filled with laughing ventriloquist dummies that quickly fell silent. The Doctor pulled up a chair in front of Joe, who was a greasy-looking man who looked like he probably had a lot of money or wanted to, and was bound to a chair in the middle of the dummies.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor," the Time Lord said pleasantly.
"We're going to die here," Joe answered.
"Well, they certainly didn't mention that in the brochure," the Doctor muttered, "Is Joe there? Can I have a quick word?"
"Oh, it's still me, Doctor," Joe assured him, smiling with an unnerving glint in his eye, "But I've seen the light. I lived a blasphemous life, but he has forgiven my inconstancy, and soon he shall feast."
"You've been here for two days," Aliya said from the back of the room, "If anything was out to get you, surely it would have done so by now."
"We weren't ready," Joe replied, "We were still raw."
"But now you're what, cooked?"
Joe lifted an eyebrow, seeming to consider the term a simplification far beneath his level of understanding. "If you like. Soon you will be too. Be patient. First, find your room."
"My room," the Doctor repeated, frowning at him.
"There's a room here for everyone, Doctor. Even you."
"You said you'd seen the light now."
"Nothing else matters anymore," Joe said, "Only him. It's like these things." He nodded to the ventriloquist dummies. "I used to hate them. They make me laugh now. Gottle o'geer. Gottle o'geer." He laughed and so did the dummies, making Aliya's skin crawl.
There's a room here for everyone. Given that they knew the rooms held bad dreams - as Rita had called them - it was far from a pleasant thought.
"You should go," Joe told them, "He'll be here soon."
"I think you should come with me."
The Doctor slid a luggage trolley under Joe's chair so that they could wheel him back to reception and come up with plan away from the creepy laughing dummies.
"Why you four? That's what I don't understand."
"Aside from all the other damn things you don't understand," Aliya snapped, annoyed by his lack of urgency but knowing it was stupid of her to have expected anything different. Besides, if he wasn't going to be worried, she had worry enough for all of them.
"What does it matter? Sooner or later, someone will come along to rescue us," Gibbis retorted, "Or enslave us."
"Everything matters," Aliya told him, "But escaping is definitely more of a priority at the moment. We need to find the TARDIS, it's our only real chance of getting out by the looks of things."
"Yes, good plan," the Doctor agreed, beaming at her, "Quick thing before we go. If you feel drawn to a particular room, do not go in, and make sure someone else can see you at all times."
"Yes, good point," she said, nodding, relieved he had come up with a suggestion that was for helping avoid the things in the rooms.
"Joe said, he will feast," Rita reminded them, "Is there something in here with us?"
"Something to add, Joe?" The Doctor asked him.
The man tied to the chair just sneered. "Here comes a candle to light you to bed. Here comes a chopper to chop off your head. Chop, chop, chop, chop-"
"Can we do something about him?" Howie exclaimed, looking as disturbed as Aliya felt.
"Agreed," Aliya said, and dug behind the reception desk until she found some tape that she used to tape Joe's mouth shut. "Much better. Now, TARDIS. Big blue box that says police on it. Let's find it and get the hell out of here."
They made their way to the first floor corridor to begin searching, with Gibbis wheeling the now silenced Joe along.
"Personally, I think you've got the right idea," the alien was saying to the deranged man, "Times like this, I think of my old school motto. Resistance Is Exhausting."
"I've worked out where we are," Howie said to Jenny, who had ended up beside him.
"Really?" Jenny asked, glancing at him with surprise and interest. "Where?"
"Norway."
"Norway?"
"You see," Howie explained, "The US government has entire cities hidden in the Norwegian mountains. You see, Earth is on a collision course with this other planet, and this is where they're going to send all the rich people when it kicks off."
Jenny just laughed. "Wow. That's impressive."
"It's all there on the internet."
"No, I'm impressed because somehow you've come up with something that makes even less sense than what's happening." There was a pause, before Jenny's voice asked, "Mum, it doesn't make sense, does it? Cities in the Norwegian mountains?"
Aliya snorted without even looking back at them. "How the hell would I know? I'm not even sure I know where Norway is, let alone what any government could be keeping there."
"But given the assortment of aliens who have turned up here in the past, it doesn't seem likely we're on Earth."
"No, we very likely aren't."
Rita regarded Aliya curiously. "Did she just call you Mum?"
"Yes."
"But you can't be her real mother."
"Well, no, technically I'm her adopted mother," Aliya said, shrugging, and for a moment Rita looked relieved, "The Doctor is, biologically speaking, her mother as well as her father."
Rita's expression shifted to complete scepticism. "Biologically speaking," she repeated flatly.
"She's the result of progenation," Aliya explained, "Artificial reproduction from a single organism. Take a sample of diploid cells, in this case some skin and blood from the Doctor's hand, split the diploid cells into haploids, and then recombine them into a different arrangement and grow the result."
Rita blinked at the scientific explanation. "But there's no way we have the technology for that to work so well."
"If by we you mean humans in the 21st century, then you'd be correct," Aliya said, smirking, "Jenny was born in a time that was able to grow the generated anomalies so quickly that she came out exactly as you see her now. She's not quite four years old."
"Watch it," Jenny warned from behind them, "I'd probably already be four if it weren't impossible to keep track of that sort of thing in the TARDIS."
"I have no idea if you're messing with me or not," Rita said, frowning deeply, "Unfortunately I'm getting the strangest feeling that you're telling the truth, or at least think you are."
They were then startled by a man in his underwear with a whistle around his neck stepping out of room 158.
"Hello," the Doctor said, surprised.
"Have you forgotten your PE kit again? Right, that's it, you're doing it in your pants!" He shouted, before doing back inside and leaving them all bewildered but otherwise unaffected. At least until Howie made for another room, opening the door of room 155 before the Doctor could stop him. It was full of very pretty girls, who smirked the moment they saw him.
"Oh look, girls, it's H-H-H-Howie!" A blonde one remarked cruelly.
"What's loser in K-K-K-Klingon?" One with brown hair teased.
Howie just stared for several moments, his eyes wide and filled with the pain of old memories. "Shut the d-d-d-door," he stammered, "This is just some m-m-messed up CIA stuff, I'm, I'm, I'm telling you."
The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder and flashed him a reassuring smile. "You're right. Keep telling yourself that. It's a CIA thing, nothing more."
The group continued and went up the stairs to the second floor corridor. Aliya realised the laces of her left converse had come undone and knelt to tie them back up, cursing under her breath about terrible timing. When she glanced up, she saw a sign labelled Fire Exit.
"Um, Doctor-"
"Dad, look at this." Jenny seemed to be showing the Doctor some pieces of paper, but he barely had time to glance at them before a roar sounded down the corridor. "Uh, is that real, or one of the bad dreams?"
"Probably not real," the Doctor said, "But just in case, let's run and hide anyway."
"Wait, I saw-" Aliya's shout went unnoticed as the others hurried into a nearby room, and when she looked back to the Fire Exit, a room with the number 219 was there instead. It left her no choice but to follow them into the room and be immediately faced with creatures she only knew by description. Weeping Angels.
"Whose room is this?" She asked the Doctor.
"I don't know, but don't blink!"
"What?" Howie, with no context, plainly couldn't see how that was going to help them against creepy stone angels.
The lights flickered and the darkness made Aliya clench her fists and bit down on her lip. She knew it was a serious error in her priorities to be more worried about the dark than the angels that had advanced through it, but it wasn't something she had control over.
"Jenny, get back," the Doctor told his daughter, yanking her back by her shoulder only to then frown, "Why haven't they got us yet?" He inched forward and tentatively reached out his hand to try and touch one of the angels. His hand passed through it, betraying it as some kind of projection. "They're not real. They should have got us by now."
"Are they even for us?" Aliya wondered, but somewhat had her own question answered when she glanced to her left and saw Gibbis hiding in the wardrobe, utter terrified and the apparent 'owner' of the room.
Outside in the corridor, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed, making them all go very still. The Doctor approached the door, and upon receiving a few urgent inquiries as to what he was intending to do, he explained he just wanted to see what they were dealing with.
"Oh, look at you," he breathed as he stared through the peep hole at whatever was out there, "Oh, you are beautiful." There was a pause. "Oh, dear. I think it's going after Joe." When everything went quiet, the Doctor stepped out into the corridor, only to shout and take off after having seen something.
Aliya remained with the others as they slowly came back out into the corridor, where Rita was already standing, looking worried as she stared at where the Doctor and presumably Joe had disappeared.
"Gibbis," Aliya asked, glancing at the Tivolian curiously, "The Weeping Angels. Are they what you fear the most? Was that definitely your room?"
Gibbis blinked at her, and hesitated, but gave the briefest of nods.
Despair flooded through her. If these rooms held people's worst fears, then she knew exactly what – or more accurately, who – was going to be in hers. And she couldn't be sure if facing it alone would be worse than having the others exposed to it.
"Are you alright?" Rita asked, frowning at her.
"Not particularly," Aliya answered honestly, snapping from her thoughts to look at the pretty human woman, "Are you?" Rita just shrugged. It seemed like there was something she wasn't saying, but Aliya was a little too preoccupied with her own worries to press her.
"I don't think I've ever seen you this nervous," Jenny told Aliya, who just wrapped her arms around herself and let out a long sigh.
"I know what my room will be," Aliya said quietly, "And I want nothing more than to be able to get out of here before I end up inside it."
The generated anomaly gave her a small smile. "Dad will get us out, you know he will, he always thinks of something. Try not to worry."
That proved to be quite hard to do when the Doctor returned less than five minutes later with a lifeless Joe in his arms. The dead man's eyes were as wide open as ever and it was beyond disconcerting.
"Back to the restaurant," was all the Doctor said as he walked past them and began to lead the way. His face was very solemn. Someone had died. The bumbling idiot Doctor was gone and had been replaced by the one who meant business.
When they got to the restaurant, Rita boiled a kettle while the Doctor laid Joe down and began to scan him.
"Help yourself to tea," Rita told the group, "Guys, tea over here."
Aliya watched Jenny sit down next to Gibbis, who was especially twitchy. The girl offered him a sympathetic smile and patted him on the hand.
"Those Weeping Angels you're scared of must be really terrible," she said kindly, "Because my dad meets monsters every day and the moment he saw them he went white as a sheet."
"Joe was right," Gibbis replied, "Whatever it is in here, it actually wants to kill us. Not oppress us or enslave us, kill us!" It seemed to be a bit of an abstract and alarming concept to the Trivolian.
"Hey, it's okay," Jenny told him firmly, "Like I said, Dad meets monsters every day. He basically saves people for a living. There's no mess he can't get out of. Last week, the three of us ended up on this planet where we got taken for spies from their brother world, and we were stuck in a cell for three days straight, and then they wanted to execute me and Aliya to try and get Dad to talk. And it was pretty close. But before they could light the fire, he came in and saved us like something out of a movie. I've seen him convince two species who had been fighting for their entire lives lay down arms just by showing them something beautiful. He can do anything." Then she made a face. "But maybe don't tell him I said that. I think Aliya's right in saying he's got a big enough ego as it is."
Gibbis paused, considering her words. "Still, if the Weeping Angels were mine, then that means your room is still out there somewhere."
Aliya frowned, both at Jenny's blind faith in her father and Gibbis' sinister reply, before moving to stand next to the Doctor just as Rita handed him a cup of tea.
"What exactly happened to him?" The human asked, her eyes moving to Joe's body before snapping back to the Doctor.
"He died," he replied.
Rita's eyes narrowed. "You are a medical doctor, aren't you? You haven't just got a degree in cheese-making or something."
"No!" He protested, before considering it and saying, "Well, yes, both, actually. I mean, there is no cause. All his vital organs simply stopped, as if the simple spark of life, his loves and hates, his faiths and fears were just taken-" He sipped from the cup she had given him and his eyebrows shot up. "And this is a cup of tea!"
"Of course," Rita said, smiling at them, "I'm British, it's how we cope with trauma. That and tutting." Aliya grinned at her at the same time that the Doctor asked how she was able to make it, apparently awed. "All hotels should have a well-stocked kitchen, even alien fake ones." Aliya and the Doctor exchanged a surprised look. "I heard you talking when you arrived." The human shrugged. "Look, it's no more ridiculous than Howie's CIA theory, or…mine."
Aliya tilted her head slightly. "What's yours?"
"This is Jahannam."
"You're a Muslim," the Doctor remarked, delighted.
"Don't be frightened," Rita said, sounding like she was joking, but there was something more serious in her eyes.
"Why would we be frightened?" Aliya asked, not even knowing what a Muslim was. "And what's Jahannam?"
"She thinks this is Hell," the Doctor explained, making Aliya blink with surprise. She had pegged Rita as someone too sensible for religion.
"The whole 80's hotel thing took me by surprise, though," Rita admitted.
The Doctor got off the amplifier he had been sitting on and came to stand taller than both of them once again. "And all these fears and phobias wandering about, most are completely unconnected to us, so why are they still here?"
"Maybe the cleaners have gone on strike."
The Doctor and Aliya laughed. "Ha! I like you," the former said, "You're a right clever clogs."
"And being able to keep your sense of humour is important in these sort of situations," Aliya told Rita, who lifted an eyebrow at her.
"You make it sound like you do this sort of thing every other day."
Aliya shared a secretive smile with the Doctor. "Well, not alien hotels with fears inside the rooms, but we do seem to find ourselves in some sort of trouble almost constantly."
"I see," Rita said, seeming unsure of whether she was concerned or amused by that.
"This isn't Hell, Rita, don't worry," Aliya tried to tell her, but Rita shook her head.
"You don't understand," she said, her gaze even, "I say that without fear. Jahannam will play its tricks, and there'll be times when I want to run and scream, but I've tried to live a good life, and that knowledge keeps me sane, despite the monsters and the bonkers rooms." Just as the Doctor stopped to gurgle his tea, she asked, "Gibbis…is an alien, isn't he?"
"Yes," Aliya replied, giving her a sympathetic smile.
"Okay," Rita said slowly, "I'm going to file that under Freak Out About Later."
That made the blonde grin. "Efficient of you. I've never mastered compartmentalisation myself, even if I probably should have."
"Dad," Jenny called, hurrying over to them, "I totally forgot, but I found this in the corridor earlier."
Aliya, who had seen her pick it up but also forgotten about it, grabbed the offered pieces of paper before the Doctor could take them. Without another word, she began to read it out loud. "My name is Lucy Hayward and I'm the last one left."
That was enough to give her a lump of fear in her throat that almost swallowed her voice, but she pressed on despite how her words shook.
"It took Luke first. It got him on his first day, almost as soon as we arrived. It's funny. You don't know what's going to be in your room until you see it, then you realise it could never have been anything else." Aliya wasn't sure she could agree with that, since she definitely knew what hers held and could not see how anything else could compare. "I just saw mine. It was a gorilla from a book I'd read as a kid. My god, that thing used to terrify me. The gaps between my worships are getting shorter, like contractions. This is what happened to the others, and how lucky they were. It's all so clear now." She hesitated, frowning at the disturbing turn it had taken. "I'm so happy. Praise him. Praise him."
"Praise him," Howie echoed, and for a second the group thought nothing of it, before they all snapped to look at him with horror.
"What did you just say?" The Doctor asked.
"Nothing," Howie said quickly, and couldn't quite cover his mouth before he let out, "Praise him!"
"This is what happened to Joe!" Gibbis exclaimed, which Aliya had more or less suspected, but hearing and seeing the proof that another person was falling victim to the force at work was so much worse than just thinking about it.
"God, it's going to come for me now."
"You'll lead it right here."
"I won't leave you," the Doctor promised Howie, "I promise you. You have my word on that."
"I don't want to get eaten."
"You know that we'll do everything we can to stop that from happening," Aliya told the young man, but even if Jenny was meanwhile saying something about how the Doctor would make sure Howie was alright, it was hard to calm him when Gibbis knew how to do nothing but panic.
"He's going to lead the creature right here!" The Tivolian cried.
"Hold it!" The Doctor shouted, using his sonic screwdriver to create enough noise to surprise the chaotic group into complete silence. "Thank you."
"Don't you see?" Gibbis asked. "He'll lead it right here."
"What do you suggest?" Rita asked, exasperated.
Gibbis shrugged. "Look, whatever it is out there, it's obviously chosen Howard as its next course. Now, tragic though that is, this is no time for sentiment." He paused, apparently reluctant but also sure of his opinion. "I'm saying if it were to find him, it may be satisfied and let the rest of us go." When everyone stared at him with disbelief in their eyes, he threw his hands up and sank into the nearest chair. "All I want to do is go home and be conquered and oppressed, is that too much to ask?!"
"It's okay," Rita said quietly, looking at the Doctor and Aliya, "I'll stay with Howie. You two take the others and go."
"No," the Doctor said, voice firm, "We stay together." He went over to where Gibbis sat and leaned over him so that his personal space was compromised and their faces were inches apart. When he spoke again, it was in his lower register that warned of danger. "Your civilisation is one of the oldest in the galaxy," he told the nervous alien, "Now I see why. Your cowardice isn't quaint, it's sly, aggressive. It's how that gene of gutlessness has survived while so many others have perished. Well, not today. No one else dies today. Right?" Gibbis hurried to nod. "Brilliant."
Aliya always enjoyed listening to the Doctor's speeches, finding his way with words always captivated her as much as whoever else was listening. But when he spoke in that low tone, it was distracting in an entirely different way, making her hyperaware of how much she was physically drawn to him and reminding her of times when he had spoken to her like that in, well, other situations.
While she shook her mind of that train of thought (though it had been a welcome if brief distraction from the situation at hand), the Doctor pulled up a chair opposite Howie.
"Howie, any second, it's going to possess you again," he told the young man, "When it does, I'm going to ask you some questions. Please try to answer them."
"I hope my mum's alright," Howie worried absently, "She's going to be w-worried." Everyone else followed the Doctor's lead and grabbed chairs so they could sit down for the interrogation.
"Howie?" Right after the Doctor spoke, something shifted in Howie's expression. His eyes glazed over and he started giggling, regarding them all as if they were silly and entirely clueless. "Howie, you're next. We're all dead jealous. So, tell us. How do we get a piece of the action? Why isn't he possessing all of us?"
"You guys have got all these distractions, all these obstacles," Howie replied, more confidence in his voice than they had ever heard. "It'd be so much easier if you just let it go, you know?" He flapped his hands dismissively to make his point. "Clear the path."
"You're talking like you want it to find you," Aliya said, frowning.
"Are you kidding?" Howie laughed. "He's going to kill us all. How cool is that?"
The group got up from their chairs, leaving Howie where he was and moving so that they could speak more privately.
"It's as I thought. It feeds on fear," the Doctor told them, "Everything - the rooms, Lucy's note, even the pictures in reception - has been put here to frighten us. So we have to resist it. Do whatever you have to. Cross your fingers, sing a song, say a prayer, think of a basket of kittens. But do not give in to the fear."
"But what's your plan? What are we going to do?" Jenny asked.
"We're going to catch ourselves a monster."
It wasn't too difficult to set up the trap. Mirrors were positioned in the Pasiphae Spa to give the Doctor a chance to see and talk to the monster without directly revealing himself, and they strapped Howie to the chair and took him to reception. From there, they could use the sonic to broadcast his delusional rambling through a speaker placed inside the spa, which was the perfect way to lure the monster in.
Jenny and Rita resolved to hide in one of the rooms near the main spa entrance while Aliya hid near a more secondary one on her own. Gibbis was given the job of watching over Howie back at reception.
When they were ready, Howie's voice started to come through over the intercom. "Bring me death! Bring me glory! My master, my lord, I'm here! Come to me. I'm waiting here for you. He has promised me a glorious death. Give it to me now. I want him to know my devotion. Praise him."
Aliya could hear stomping, but it wasn't near her. It sounded like the monster was using the main entrance to get into the spa.
"Praise him."
Then she could hear doors slamming.
"Aliya, he's in!" Jenny shouted, and Aliya rushed to shut her own door and shove the mop she had been holding through the handle to prevent it from opening.
"Let his name be the last thing I hear. Let his breath on my skin be the last thing I feel. I was lost in shadows, but he found me. His love was a beacon that led me from darkness to light, and now I am blinded by his majesty. Humbled by his glory! Praise-"
Howie's voice cut out abruptly, leading Aliya to think the Doctor had broken the speaker connection. Voices could be heard inside the spa, or rather, the register of the Doctor's voice and some growls from the monster she couldn't interpret but knew the Doctor likely could.
After a minute or two, Aliya heard a shout from somewhere nearby. "My master, my lord. I'm here!"
Howie was apparently out.
"No, no, no, no, no! Aliya, watch out!"
It was too late. There was a smashing of glass, and then another smash as the Minotaur's arm broke through the glass of the door and yanked out the mop she had put through the handle. Before Aliya could get out of the way, the huge creature had used the same arm to slam her into the wall and turn her world black.
When she came to, about half a minute later, Rita and Jenny were shaking her awake.
"Aliya, are you alright?" The former asked, worried.
"My head hurts like a bitch, but yeah, I think so," Aliya said, doing her best to sit up. "Let's hope that the Doctor learned something, or else this whole thing really was a terrible idea."
"I couldn't hear the monster speaking, though," Rita mentioned, "How could he have learned anything if it didn't speak?"
"I'm fairly sure it was speaking, just not in a language we recognised. The Doctor's good with languages. I'd wager they were able to communicate just fine."
Aliya got to her feet with Rita's help, head still aching but feeling better with every second that passed. That was when she realised she couldn't see Jenny, who had definitely been there a few moments earlier.
"Jenny?" She asked, panic in her voice. "Jenny!" It only took a second for her to sprint down the corridor and see Jenny down the corridor to her left, standing frozen in an open doorway. "Jenny, no!"
When she got to Jenny's side and was able to see into the dim room, her hearts skipped a beat when she saw what was inside.
Mari's familiar silhouette was immediately recognisable, but her eyes were cold and without mercy, while her smile was that of the psychopath she had been shaped to be. Blood dripped from her hands, and Aliya saw two lifeless humanoid forms on the floor that looked suspiciously like herself and the Doctor.
"Oh, Jenny," Aliya breathed, but before the girl could reply, the door was slammed shut and they both jumped and turned to see Rita with her hand on the handle.
"You shouldn't have done that," she said, and looked at Jenny, "Was that your room?"
Jenny had gone white. "Yeah."
Aliya grabbed by the shoulder so that the girl was looking her right in the eye. "You know that will never happen," she said firmly, "You saved her from that. You. She's okay now. She's getting better." Jenny nodded quickly, looking like she knew it to be true but as if she had to physically shove the image from her mind.
"Yeah." The younger blonde straightened up. New determination filled her eyes. "Come on, we should find Dad."
By the time they did find the Doctor, he was crouched next to Howie's body, which was leaning against the wall of the corridor with the legs tucked underneath the torso. Just as the Doctor stood up, Gibbis appeared at the opposite end of the corridor.
"He got free," the alien said, "He overpowered me. It might leave us alone now. Maybe now we'll be safe."
Aliya found herself sure that he had released Howie of his own free will – though no doubt with some persuasion on the possessed boy's part – and felt her stomach become more uneasy than ever. She wanted out. And she wanted out now.
They ended up returning to the stairwell landing that held the portraits of those who had been taken by the monster. Howie's was now there, and Aliya and the Doctor stood in front of it, not quite able to look away.
"Have you found your room yet?" He asked her.
"No," she replied, frowning, "Which is strange. I suppose it's only a matter of time."
"Were you anyone else, I'd wonder if it meant you're not scared of anything," the Doctor said, looking at her curiously, "But…well."
She laughed. "I know. Here I am losing my mind because I don't want to see the person I know will be in my room, and nothing's happened. You'd think a creature that feeds off fear would want me first in line."
"Yeah, you'd think."
"Jenny found her room," she said, sobering abruptly, and before he could say anything she added, "It was Mari. The way they had wanted her to be. Us dead at her feet."
The Doctor ran his hand over his face. "Of course. She's only been alive for four years. Aside from the hostile aliens she's met, what else is there for her to be scared of?"
Aliya just sighed. "We need to get out of here before anyone else dies. Jenny and Gibbis have seen their rooms, and Rita might have too even if she's keeping quiet about it. That means any of them could be next, and so could we if we end up finding our rooms."
"I know." He put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him so that he could rest his head on top of hers for a moment. "We'll get them out. No one else dies today."
She didn't mention how he had said that before they had lost Howie. Instead, she mentioned the other thing that could matter.
"Doctor, I think I saw a fire exit, before. But then it was just another room. What do you think that means?"
He let go of her and blinked with surprise. "I don't know. There's a number of things it could mean, I suppose. Interesting, though. Do you think it wanted you to leave?"
"Why would it, when I've got exactly what it wants?"
The Doctor made a face, certainly agreeing with her on that. "Just when I start thinking this makes sense, something about you seems to be breaking the pattern."
"Unless we have the wrong pattern." Aliya glanced at Howie's portrait again and was reminded of the two people left that they had to save. Her thoughts lingered on one. "Doctor, can I ask you something?"
"No, totally out of line, of course you can't," he replied, and when she shot him a confused look, he laughed. "What sort of question is that? It's me, Aliya, you know you can always ask me anything."
Aliya flushed, feeling like an idiot. "Right. Well, I suppose I was just wondering how you picked your companions. Do you just…ask whoever seems like they'd like travelling, and be good at it? Is it just the first person you find whenever you're on your own and you're lonely? What is it?"
The Doctor eyed her with interest. "Why ask me this now?" When she didn't reply, he just shrugged. "I'm not sure, maybe I've thought it was those things, but honestly, I think it's deeper than that. Like I look at them and I just know. I remember when Rose turned me down. She did, you know, at first."
She had still not learned as much about Rose as her curiosity would have liked, because he didn't like talking about her. But this piece of information surprised her.
"How did you change her mind?"
"Something in my gut told me that I couldn't just fly away from her. I left, for a while, but then I came back, only a few seconds after I'd left. I told her it travelled in time as well as space, and she came without another hesitation." He shook his head, having gotten a slightly distant look in his eyes. "Point is, I knew. It's like a feeling in my gut. Why?"
Aliya, feeling embarrassed, just shrugged. "I suppose I was just wondering if any new companions would still just be yours, since I'm really a companion myself, and therefore can't really have a companion of my own-"
"You want Rita to come with us," the Doctor guessed, smiling at her in the way that told her that he knew exactly what she was trying to say, "You've got that feeling about her, don't you?"
She nodded. "She seems like she's had to work hard her whole life. Like seeing a few wonders of the universe and being able to relax and just travel could be really good for her. And she's smart, and kind, and can keep her head and sense of humour under pressure-"
"Aliya, you don't need to explain yourself," he said, chuckling, "I know. I'm with you on this. We'll offer, once we're all out of here."
Aliya beamed and hugged him excitedly. "Thank you!" He hugged her back tightly.
"The more the merrier, you should know that by now," he told her. When he let go and started going down the stairs, Aliya followed when she realised Rita was coming up them. "Rita! Brilliant! How are you? Not panicking, are you?" Rita just shook her head. "Good, good. Because I am literally an otter's toenail away from getting us out of here."
"Why?" Rita asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Why what?" Aliya inquired as she rested her hand on the bannister.
"Why is it up to you to save us, Doctor? That's quite a God complex you have there." It was an interesting point that Aliya realised more people they encountered on their travels should probably bring up. It also only made Aliya more sure that she would be good for the Doctor and suited to travelling with them.
Downstairs, they could see Jenny watching the fish in the fish bowl with a sort of innocent and lazy curiosity. The Doctor's eyes lingered on her, plainly worried.
"I brought her here," he said, "She'd say it was her choice, but offer a child full of sweets and they'll take it. Offer someone all of time and space and they'll take that too. Which is why you shouldn't." He sighed heavily. "Which is why grown-ups were invented. Like Aliya, but she's not much good at it."
Aliya just rolled her eyes.
"All of time and space, eh?" Rita repeated, lifting an eyebrow at them.
"Oh, yeah."
Aliya smiled at Rita. "And when we're out of here, we can show you too, if you want." She desperately hoped that Rita would want to come, but the young woman seemed more bemused than anything.
"I don't know what you two are talking about, but whatever it was, I have a feeling you just did it again."
The Doctor had spotted something, and pointed in the direction of a CCTV camera looking down on them and the landing they had just left. "Right down to the smallest detail. Got you, Mister Minotaur."
He ran off, leaving the two women alone.
"I should probably go and check on Jenny," Aliya said, "Make sure she hasn't started worshipping or gotten any urges to run off and find the Minotaur." She began to go down the stairs too, but turned back. "Did you find your room?"
Rita's pointed silence served as an answer. Aliya did her best to ignore the worry clawing at her hearts and plastered on a reassuring smile.
"Stay close then, yeah? Don't need you wandering off either."
Rita gave a tiny nod and went up the stairs while Aliya moved in the opposite direction. She found Jenny still absently watching the fish for lack of anything else to do.
"How are you feeling?" Aliya asked her, coming to lean against the wall next to her.
Jenny smiled. "Fine, actually. No weirdness yet."
"Well, that's something."
"So, have you not found your room?"
"No, which is a stroke of luck, because it's the last thing I need at the moment."
Jenny frowned at her. "You're talking like you know what would be in it. I never even considered Mari being in mine."
"Trust me," Aliya said darkly, "I know what's in mine."
"What?"
Aliya just shook her head and put her arm around the girl's shoulders. "It's not really something I talk about. And certainly not something you need to worry over." She hesitated, and glanced back to the stairs. "Where did Rita go?"
She ran up the stairs only to find the landing empty. No matter how many times she called Rita's name, she got no reply. Dread crept up on her and she grabbed Jenny's hand before running to find the security room, which had to have been where the Doctor headed.
When they burst in, the Doctor had a phone in his hand, and Aliya saw Rita on one of the CCTV screens with a phone too.
"What's going on?"
"You started to praise it, didn't you?" The Doctor asked Rita, who just nodded.
Aliya, her hearts pounding, snatched the phone out of his hand and held it to her own ear. "Rita, come back," she said, having to use all her self-control not to shout it, "We can stop this, but you need to get back here right now before it find you."
"No, I need to get as far away from you all as possible," Rita replied, her voice wobbling.
"No one else here is praising it, so I'm sorry but that's bullshit. We won't be in any more danger than we already are so get back here!"
"And then you'll put yourselves in its way."
Aliya felt her control and calm evaporate in a second. "I'm not just going to let you die!" She snapped. "I'm coming to get you right now, so you start making your way back to us, alright? If you hold onto your belief and keep the fear at bay it should be okay."
Rita adamantly shook her head. "The hotel will keep us apart. I could be fifty miles away by now." Her eyes looked wet, but her determination didn't waver. "I want you to do me one last favour, Aliya. I can feel the rapture approaching, like a wave. I don't want you to witness this. I want you to remember me the way I was."
Panic constricted Aliya's throat and tears prickled at her eyes. "Rita, no," she said, fighting to keep her voice and mind coherent, "Rita, you're strong, you can fight this. Let us find you."
"You stay where you are," Rita said, her voice cracking, "Please, let me be robbed of my faith in private."
The Doctor leaned in next to Aliya so that he could speak into the receiver. "Look, Rita. Rita. Go into the room. Lock the door."
Rita just gave them a brave smile. "I'm not frightened. I'm blessed, Doctor." She leaned against the wall she had crouched by, and briefly shut her eyes. "I'm at peace. I'm going to hang up."
"No!" Aliya shouted desperately. "Rita, don't you dare!"
"Goodbye, Aliya. Doctor."
"Rita, no!"
"Thank you for trying."
"Rita, please!" Aliya pleaded. "Please!" The dial tone came through as Rita hung up the phone and put it down on the floor of the corridor. She then stood calmly and spread her arms, her eyes shining as a shadow started to fall over her.
The Doctor used the sonic to shut the monitor off a second before Aliya let out a scream of defeat and fell to the floor of the security room, her sobs the only sound in room.
The end was so upsetting to write, honestly. I love Rita so much and wanted to save her (originally planned to, a long time ago, I think) but it just wasn't going to work unfortunately. Next chapter will finish the storyline and deal with the aftermath. Yes, you should probably be worried.
Feedback is always appreciated and cherished!
-MayFairy :)
Guest Review Replies:
Guest - Thanks so much! Yeah, the moment I rewatched the episode in preparation for the AU of Night Terrors, Alex's line really struck me and I knew I had to have Aliya take it to heart because there was no way she wouldn't. That doesn't mean she's now intending on giving Mari a bear hug or anything next time she sees her, but she definitely wants to try a bit harder with her as well as keeping the Doctor safe. Protectiveness is definitely her thing, as her title was intended.
EvenEth13 - Thank you so much! Hearing that you've been rereading really makes me happy. I'm sorry that there isn't a Girl Who Waited AU since you were looking forward to that, but hopefully the God Complex one will satisfy you. I just honestly couldn't see these three getting themselves into that mess with the quarantine and there is enough other stuff in this story to cover. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!