I'll Keep You Safe No Matter What.
Chapter Three.
Night Whisper666

The Doctor was met by a hysterical girl with tears streaming don her face when he opened the steel vault door. He gathered her in his arms and let her sob against his shoulder for a long moment. Then, he gently pulled her away and looked at her with a steady smile.

"I told you I'd come for you, didn't I?"

Addison nodded silently and grinned through the trauma in her eyes. "I'm sorry I doubted you Doctor. I should have know you'd come up with some ingenious plan to get us out. But what are you gonna do with all these teenagers? They've been unconscious almost the whole time. The ones who did wake up don't know what's happened. I tried to reassure them the best I could, but they just drifted back to sleep. All except a few." She gestured with a hand to two boys sitting up against the left wall. The long black haired one with glasses looked up and waved. Addison motion him over and he walked to meet them swiftly.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow quizzically and she laughed. The boy came to a halt in front of them. "Doctor, this is Kyler. Kyler, meet the person who single handedly saved us all from slavery in the clutches of vicious aliens."

"So... this is your boyfriend?" The Doctor asked while crossing his arms. He wasn't jealous by any means, he just liked to know all he could. Knowledge was necessary in his branch of life.

Addison's face heated up, but she met his eyes fearlessly with a chuckle. Kyler just shuffled his feet and looked at the tips of his converse that were poking out from under his black jeans. "No. Kyler's been my best friend since grade school. We did everything together." Kyler put his head in his hand and sighed. Before Addison could figure out why, the Doctor commented dryly,

"Oh, so you're friends with benefits then?"

"Oh God no!" Addison hissed and dropped her forehead onto Kyler's shoulder. "He's gay Doctor. Kyler is gay."

The Doctor turned to her with a confused look. At first she thought he was going to come back with some wily comment or sharp retort, but he just asked, "Gay. What do you mean...gay?" Addison began to giggle at the piece of information she considered to be common knowledge. He must really not have understood because the frown lines deepened when she laughed. Kyler shifted beside her, and she could hear him snickering too.

"Being gay means that I like boys instead of girls." Kyler explained, somehow managing to pull a straight face. "And since Addison is in fact, a girl, I take no interest in her. Well, other than the fact that she's my best friend."

The Doctor looked from Addison to him, and then nodded as if deciding something. The more the merrier.
"Alright. You can stay too. Just don't cause trouble and don't wander off. Outer space is very big and it would be very difficult to find you if you floated down to some random planted cause you got..." The Doctor put up two fingers in air quotes, "Curious. Nine hundred years, and it's so hard to find a companion who knows how to stay put when I tell them too."

Kyler didn't ask questions or get overly excited about the prospect of going to explore the universe. He had always been calm and this time was no different. Instead of screaming or babbling on about how fun it would all be, he simply glowed in silence with a cheerful smile. The Doctor enjoyed the quiet. He loved to talk and joke around but it was nice to know he would have someone on board that knew when to be serious. A glance at the red-headed, spunky Addison confirmed it. He was definitely going to need someone with patience to balance her out.

"Now, about the rest of these kids. Most of them are asleep or unconscious, which is great because they most likely wont remember getting kidnapped. There is that one other boy who's awake. Do you know him: The Doctor pointed across the room to a boy with blonde hair who sat watching them with fearful eyes. Kyler shook his head and Addison mirrored him after a minuet of thought.

"Well he is obviously in the graduating class with us. I dunno, maybe his name is Alex or something."

"Well call him over here will you?We need to make sure he isn't going to tell anybody." The Doctor said to Kyler and he nodded. Addison looked at him mischievously when Kyler trotted off.

"What are you gonna do?" She asked and nudged him with her shoulder playfully. Not saying a word, the corners of his mouth pulled up.

A moment later, Kyler returned with the boy trailing behind him. He approached the small group warily, suspicion gleaming in his green eyes. They could hardly blame him, everyone was in a strange place where they were the only ones awake. He'd never seen the Doctor before, and anything different right now was bound to scare him. The Doctor grinned at him and shook his hand even thought he hadn't offered it.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor. It's wonderful to meet you. I wish it'd been under better circumstances. You are?" They boy visibly relaxed, letting his shoulders slump and his breathing's intake not as sharp. He made an effort now to shake the Doctor's hand and smile at Addison.

"I'm Alan. I thought you were coming to take us away or something. Sorry I don't mean to be rude." Alan spoke softly, obviously ashamed of himself for being afraid. The Doctor posed no threat, and the door was unlocked which must have meant they were free.

"Okay, Alan. I'm not going take you away. I'm bringing you home. Unfortunately, I can't let you remember anything about this experience. It could spread panic if you were to tell anyone." The Doctor grinned sympathetically and, much to everyones surprise, punched Alan in the face. Warm blood sprayed from his nose onto the Doctor's hand and Alan crumpled to the floor. Kyler's eyes flew open wide in shock and Addison laughed once before reminding herself that someone's pain was not funny. However, the Doctor dancing from one foot to the other, and holding his hand in anguish was.

He stopped and bent over double while clenching his teeth. Finally, he straightened up and let his face return to its normal goofy expression. "Wow! I haven't done that in a long time. I forgot how much it would hurt my own hand. Good God, I should really think before I do that next time."

Addison glared from Alan's motionless form to the Doctor. She threw her arms up in a 'duh' motion and turned away in obvious defeat. "Are you going to do that to us too? Just knock us out and leave us to spend the rest of our boring lives knowing about the stuff up here? Because I assure you I will never forget." Tears were threatening her again and she stared down at the floor so he couldn't see.

Kyler backed away a few steps, deciding it would be better to let them work it out on their own. The Doctor nodded to him, acknowledging his retreat with gratitude before grasping Addison's hand and forcing her to look up. "I thought I'd hinted enough to make it clear, but I guess I'll come straight out with it. My intention was for you, and Kyler, to come with me. Explore the stars and even beyond that. Did I mention that it's a time machine?" He grinned. She could always say no, but after how she had reacted to possibly being abandoned, he highly doubted she would.

Addison's face lit up with relief and complete joy. But after a moment, it fell. "My parents, an my education! How can I just leave all of that behind? I've worked so hard to get this far, and I wont even get my diploma..." The last thing she wanted to do was go back to that mundane routine day after day. And even if she could, she knew she would never stop looking at the stars. Never stop wondering what was out there waiting to pounce onto Earth's vulnerable surface. Never stop reliving every moment she'd been with the Doctor. She just couldn't do that to herself.

"If you come with me I'll teach you things you never dreamed possible. Who needs college when you've got a Doctor?" He wiggled his eyebrows and Addison laughed easily. There was no way she could give this up. She glanced at Kyler and he nodded vigorously.

Addison took a step back and placed her hands firmly on her hips in a stance of defense. "Well, I've consulted with my associate, and we feel that it would be beneficial to accompany you." The Doctor's eyes flashed with pleasure and he extended his hand again.

"So you'll come with me?" Addison reached forward and threaded her fingers with his.

"Of course I'll come with you."