Author's Note: For all of you who didn't realize, yesterday, the Narnia comment was a reference to my story, "Songs in the Dark", in which the Doctor actually does visit Narnia, and is imprisoned by the White Witch. In my mind, "Songs in the Dark" takes place right before "Don't Be."

Anyways... we've done the 'stuck in a closet together' cliche. Time for the 'food dosed with alien sex pollen' cliche.

(I'm pretty proud of what I did with that one. It's something I've honestly never seen before, but it's so Buffy and the Doctor!)

Enjoy!


Part II

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Buffy knew that the sun wasn't real. She knew the grass and the sky and all of it was fake. But the thing was, standing beside the Doctor, wandering through somewhere absolutely stunning and beautiful like this…

She glanced up at the Doctor, at his adorable freckled face, his shining eyes, those little dimples on his cheeks. The way his hair seemed to stick up all over the place, the way his entire visage seemed to be absorbed in thought, as if he were trying to weigh thousands of possibilities in his head.

Buffy took a deep breath, trying to compose herself, but she couldn't help herself from leaning in closer to him as she walked. She had an irrational desire to snatch him up in her arms and kiss him, to pull him close to her and never let him go.

And… what the hell was she thinking? She'd only just broken up with Riley, and she was definitely not the kind of person who just ran off to the next boy she found when she was alone. Riley had hurt something deep down inside of her. He'd taken her trust and betrayed every single piece of it. She wasn't going to let that happen again.

Besides, the Doctor was still kind of her enemy. In a very weird, not-completely-enemy kind of way. She had to remember that. She was only sticking to him like glue because she was watching him, making sure he didn't step out of line or kill her sister or anything.

(Oh, who was she kidding?)

Buffy forced her eyes towards the city surrounding them. A rich, jeweled city, filled with gleaming towers and streets that shone with gold. And the people! They were bright, shining, happy people, wandering down the streets with smiles on their faces and good cheer in their hearts. Everyone who passed by wished the Doctor and Buffy a very happy and very good afternoon, and hoped that they were well and that they had a wonderful day! Occasionally, the people even offered Buffy and the Doctor various different gifts — fruits, chocolates, ribbons, dresses, jeweled combs and fragrant perfumes, everything!

The Doctor pushed the gifts away, and led Buffy off. And it was only after he'd done this a number of times that Buffy noticed the seriously worried look that had affixed itself to his face.

Oh. The Doctor had found trouble.

"They're too happy?" Buffy guessed.

The Doctor considered this. "Well, possibly. Probably. But… no, that's not exactly what I was thinking."

Buffy thought a moment longer. "They're all human," she offered. "Or, I mean, I think they are. And that sign outside was written in alien, right? Which is weird."

"That," said the Doctor, "is actually a very, very good point. And one I really should have taken into more consideration." He frowned. "But at the moment, I'm a bit more worried about something else."

"What kind of something else?" Buffy asked.

The Doctor pointed at the empty building they'd been circling. "Well, if that's the school," he said, "then where are the children?"

"Probably at home doing their homework," said Buffy.

The Doctor glanced over at her. "We've walked across half this city," he said, "passing three schools, and I've seen no one under age 15."

Buffy frowned. That was actually… a really good point. And something she hadn't noticed at all. "Maybe they don't have kids," said Buffy. "They just, you know, clone themselves or something, and they all wind up as adults right away."

"Then why build the schools in the first place?" asked the Doctor.

Buffy thought about this. "A disease," she offered. "Something that made them… sterile or something. Like, 15 years ago. And no one's worked out what to do since."

The Doctor nodded over at the school. "That's far more than just 15 years of decay."

Buffy peered at the abandoned school. That was true. It looked like it was falling apart, crumbling to pieces. If there'd been no children for over 15 years, then how were there any 15 year olds at all? How were there any people here?

"And I'll tell you something else that's worrisome," said the Doctor. "We haven't been attacked, yet."

Buffy blinked. Okay, why hadn't she noticed that? That's the kind of thing that Buffy was really, really good at picking up on. But it was like… until the Doctor had pointed out that there was something wrong with this place, she'd been too caught up on him to notice anything else.

"I think there is some kind of mind control," said Buffy. "I should have noticed that."

The Doctor frowned, and sniffed the air. His eyes widened. "Ah."

"What?" asked Buffy.

The Doctor turned back to her, examining her, curiously. "You feeling all right?"

Buffy felt her heart skip a beat, as she yanked herself away from the Doctor. "It's a plague, isn't it?" she asked. "There's some crazy plague going through here, and it's gotten into me, and I'm dying and you're trying to be all supportive even though there's nothing you can—"

"There isn't a plague," said the Doctor. He went up to her, and gently tilted her face up to his, examining her carefully, as if he were studying something under a microscope. "Should be fine. No adverse reactions. I'll just… steer you clear of any potential triggers." He gave her a reassuring smile, then stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Not a plague, really. More… a way of keeping the population docile. Complacent. Euphoric."

"This place is called Euphoria," Buffy pointed out.

"Yes, with good reason," said the Doctor. His brow was creased in thought, and he was getting that shimmer in his eyes that was just so adorable that Buffy's heart melted at the sight. He stared off at the empty school. "So why the warning sign specifically targeted at aliens? Why the lack of children? What is really going on, here?"

"Maybe this is some kind of experiment on humans," said Buffy. "They lure us into this place, and then…"

"Oh, hello there!" the Doctor said — not to her — his eyes lighting up, a smile dancing across his lips as he hopped the fence around the school and ran towards the abandoned building.

Buffy frowned, and peered at where the Doctor was headed. He was running towards one of the empty buildings, buzzing at the window until it creaked open. Buffy thought she could see a flash of movement from inside when the Doctor opened the window.

"No, wait!" said the Doctor, lowering himself in through the window. "Don't be afraid. I'm here to help!"

Now, three years ago, before she met the Doctor, she'd have trudged along behind in this situation, grumbling about how she was the Slayer and this was some monster she had to get rid of, and life was stupid and unfair and she hated it. Two years ago, she'd have rushed into the school because if it was a monster, she had to get rid of it before it killed innocent people. And a few months ago, before this whole Dawn thing, she'd probably have darted after the Doctor just because it was the Doctor.

But now… as much as she hated to admit it… she was really curious as to what the Doctor had found. Really, really curious.

She leapt over the fence, and flipped herself inside the classroom, landing on her feet with a dusty "thump". If she spent any more time with the Doctor, she was going to wind up being the kind of person who walked right into traps, constantly improvised in strategizing against unbeatable odds, and went out looking for trouble.

She noted the footprints in the dust, and… huh, weird. Not just the Doctor's footprints, it seemed, but another two sets of what looked like barefoot human prints alongside his. Small human footprints, actually.

She ran after them, and heard the Doctor before she saw him.

"…you can trust me. I promise. I'm not going to harm you."

Buffy turned a corner and saw the Doctor trying to placate two clearly terrified kids trembling in the corner of the school. They looked about 10 and 8, respectively — an older boy and a younger girl, with pale skin, shrunken eyes, and clothes that had been worn so often they looked like little more than rags, now. They obviously didn't believe that the Doctor was there to help them. They obviously didn't trust him.

Buffy put on her least threatening face, and slowly paced forwards, towards the two little kids. "Hey," she said, as she approached. "I'm Buffy. He's the Doctor." She glanced at them, and noticed how starved they looked. Well, she had a picnic basket, didn't she? She reached in, and took out one of the sandwiches that Donna and Dawn had packed for them. "You want something to eat?"

The kids looked at one another, as if deciding if this was worth it, or if it was some kind of trap.

The Doctor seemed impressed. Honestly impressed. This was the kind of thing she never got from Riley! That feeling that she didn't have to hold back, that she could be herself without being threatening or intimidating or anything. That feeling that the most beautiful part of her was who she was inside.

But your power is rooted in darkness.

Buffy thrust the thought out of her mind. So the Slayer was an insane Time Lord who, if given the chance, would probably wind up destroying the world! But that didn't make her, Buffy Summers, evil. Not even if she was beginning to suspect that her Dalek-Timeline Alter-Ego hadn't exactly been the most good, virtuous person by the end.

"Come on," said Buffy, wiggling the sandwich out in front of the kids. "I won't bite! Have some food!"

The kids edged forwards, their hungry eyes fixed on the sandwich in her hands. Then the boy darted out and grabbed it from her, shuffling away the moment he had it in his hands, backing into the corner and crouching in on himself, so he could tear open the ziploc bag and wolf its contents down.

The girl looked like she was about to cry.

"No, no, it's okay!" said Buffy. She rooted around the picnic basket, again, avoiding the sword and other weapons she'd hidden inside (probably not good things to show scared little kids), and pulled out the second sandwich. "See? There's another one. All for you!"

The girl's eyes lit up, and she grabbed the sandwich from Buffy, not even retreating before she started eating.

"You are brilliant, you know that?" the Doctor muttered to her, taking the picnic basket out of her hands. He peeked inside, then raised an eyebrow at her, mouthing, "A sword?"

Buffy pasted her best innocent look on her face, as if she had no idea why there was a sword in there, because of course she hadn't brought any weapons, she'd been good, just like he'd asked.

The Doctor gave her a look that said he clearly wasn't buying any of that.

So Buffy turned back to the kids. "Feeling better, now?"

They nodded. They were still trembling, but less so.

Buffy smiled at them. "Good! So, yeah. I'm Buffy. He's the Doctor. We're here to fight off the vampires, demons and forces of…" she trailed off, as she realized the familiar mantra was probably not the best way to introduce herself to terrified kids. "I mean, we're here to help! And fight evil monsters. And slay vampires. But mostly help!"

Now the kids were starting to back away from Buffy, again. Great. So much for her being the super-duper-nice-guy.

"What are your names?" the Doctor tried.

"Annie," the little girl muttered. She glanced back at the boy. "He's Fred."

"Annie and Fred," the Doctor mused. "Good names. Very good. So, Annie and Fred, seeing as there's a great big world out there where people are giving away food and clothing and fine jewels, the question is, why are you two hiding away down here?"

Annie shuffled back towards the boy. "They're… coming for us," she whispered.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "They," he muttered. "I see."

"No one comes back," Fred told them. "They get taken, and no one comes back."

"What do they look like?" asked Buffy. "Are we talking full-scale demon, here, or some kind of shape-shifter, or…"

She trailed off, as she noticed that Annie was curling over, her entire body convulsing, her breath growing gaspy and faint.

"Annie?" asked Buffy. She rushed over. "Annie, what's wrong?"

The Doctor looked on at the scene before him, his eyes growing cold, ancient. "At a guess, I'd say she's been poisoned."

Fred's eyes widened in fear and betrayal. He tried to run away, but found himself collapsing onto the floor, panting for breath.

"Wait, no, that doesn't… that food was for us!" Buffy said. "It couldn't have possibly…" She trailed off, as she realized that, on second thought, there were kind of a lot of people who'd want to poison the Doctor and herself. A lot of people. "But… Dawn and Donna packed our lunch!"

The Doctor opened the picnic basket, and pulled out an apple. He analyzed it, carefully, then sniffed it. Then gave it a very tentative lick. His eyes widened.

"Oh, that's not good."

"What?" asked Buffy. "Is this… Glory? Did she get in, somehow, and poison everything without our knowing?"

"No, I can safely put this one down to your sister and Donna," said the Doctor, shoving the picnic basket aside. "And… it's not poison, exactly. But it's something that should definitely never be given to children."

"What do you—?"

"Thing is," said the Doctor, jumping to his feet, "this is a school, and there should be a chemistry lab round here, somewhere. And if I'm very, very clever, I'll be able to work out the antidote."

The Doctor spun around, and raced off down the hall. Buffy sighed, and collected the picnic basket containing her sword, tucking it beneath her arm. Then she turned to the two children. "Come on," she urged. "We're going to fix this. We promise."

And she couldn't help but think that if it hadn't been for her screwing things up in the first place, there might not be anything she needed to fix.


A short ways away, at the top of a gleaming tower, a peasant stormed into the room, and prostrated himself on the ground.

"Your Lordship!" said the peasant. "There are strangers in the city. A man and a woman, both clothed in strange garb and donning a basket made of a substance the likes of which I've never seen. They're in the forbidden zone."

"Really?" said the Lord High Priest. "How intriguing. Are they human?"

The peasant faltered. "I… don't know, your Lordship. They looked human."

The Lord High Priest considered for a long moment. "Oh, send the troops after them!" he decided. "It's worth a look, isn't it? After all, we can't take any chances that they might be aliens. If they were, we'd have to kill them."