The creature was smaller than she was, but somehow much more terrifying than almost anything ever could be.

"I'm coming." Kaylee turned her head to look at the screen, across from the creature standing next to her. A man smiled at her, and suddenly, it was as though there was nothing wrong. There was nothing that could ever be wrong.

He pointed an object at the screen, and it vanished.

Kaylee turned, almost triumphantly, to the creature beside her.

But when she looked at it again, its single eye, held from its body by an eyestalk, narrowed on her, as though looking at her…

The scene changed, but the creature was still there, still watching her, singling her out in a crowd, a crowd that died in a blast of electricity moments later.

And then she was alone with the creature, the creature and the man who had been on the screen. The creature's metal casing was open, revealing a small blue blobby… thing, with tiny tentacles and a single eye. The man was standing behind her as she faced it, a large, strange-looking weapon in his hands.

"Give me orders…" The creature screeched out, somehow pathetically. "Order me to die…"

And the world went black.

Kaylee woke with a pounding headache. She groaned as a flame passed through her thoughts, pain being the only thing she could think.

"Morning, sunshine!" Leon's face was next to hers, tilting as he stared.

She giggled and pushed him. He fell backwards theatrically, purposefully ending up on the floor when he could just as easily regained his balance.

She laughed. "Get up you lamebrain." She extended a hand.

"Up?" He replied, indignant. "I'm the one who's up." He pulled her to the ground next to him. "You, my dear sister, you are upside down. How on earth did you manage that?"

He looked at her, his brown eyes wide and sparkling.

For a moment, Kaylee saw those brown eyes in a different area, staring at her through the dark of a thousand galaxies, a single tear running down his face as she waited for him to say something, to reply, but knowing somehow that it would be too late for him to speak, that he had used up his time and he would be gone forever…

She shook her head, trying to clear it as another flash of pain flared through her, sending red across her vision.

Leon looked at her in concern. "Kay? You alright?"

She smiled. "Fine. Fine, just a bit of a headache." She leapt up and helped him to his feet. "Come on. If you're staying here, you're going to be useful."

She led him to the kitchen, where she tried in vain to teach him to make eggs. Eventually, most of the food ended up on the floor or in the other's hair, and eventually the two had declared an all-out food fight, which Leon won after just five minutes and a devastating wreck on the kitchen.

Kaylee laughed and went to go and wash her face, which had definitely gotten the worst of the damage. She briefly wondered when he'd become so good at food fights, then remembered that he'd once been nominated the King of Food Throwing by his fellow students back in high school.

She finished her face, then proceeded to her hair, washing it in the sink to keep everything from getting too messy. When she finally finished, she toweled it off and walked back to the kitchen.

She was about to go into the room when she heard Leon talking.

"No, it's fine." He sighed heavily. "I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

He paused, and Kaylee realized he was talking on the phone.

"No, no, she's fine." He went on. "Yes, I'm fine too…" He bristled at something the other had said. "Am not... Ok, fine, so I'm a bad liar, doesn't mean anything. I'm fine, really."

There was another pause. "No." he sighed, a horrible sigh that seemed to come from the darkest parts of her brother. "No, it's not really her. It's… it's someone else. It's a long story."

There was another, much longer pause. "Don't you dare." He said warningly. "She's having enough trouble already; I think she's starting to remember. If you come, she may remember everything, and I really don't want to have to wipe it again… Martha, I'm not kidding. Stop it." His voice had gotten colder.

He listened, clearly not liking what he was hearing as he paced, trying to interrupt with, "Yes, but…"

Finally, he got his words in. "It's not that simple… Yes, her memory's lacking a few parts…" His voice lowered to a grumble. "No, she doesn't remember anything from… from then… no, she won't really remember you, she didn't meet you until then… Please, Martha, don't make this harder… She'll know you for what you are. She's been through too much not to. She'll see it, in your eyes, it's happened before…"

There was a moment where he remained absolutely silent. "Fine." He said heavily, consenting at last and seemingly against his will. "Fine, you can come. But no fighting. She doesn't even remember half of what happened… Yes, yes, I've missed you too." He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the wall. "But if I have to erase her memory again…"

There was a long pause, then, "Fine. See you soon."

Kaylee slowly cleared her throat and stepped into the room. Leon's face broke into a huge smile.

"Ah. There you are." He grinned. "An old friend of mine is going to stop by later."

Kaylee, pretending not to have heard the incredibly weird conversation her brother just had, replied with, "Oh?"

"Yeah. Name's Martha Jones. She's a nice girl; you two will get along famously."

"Sure." She tried to blow if off. "But if you're going to have anyone over, that kitchen needs to be clean."

He groaned. "Aw, come on, it's not like she's going to want a full tour of the house, we could just steer her away from it…"

"Clean." She insisted, handing him a mop. "Go on."

He smiled at her, but she couldn't return it. Her mind was too focused on what she had just heard. Her brother had been talking about erasing memories. That wasn't exactly your every-day conversation starter.

Who was this 'Martha'? Why had Kaylee never heard of her before?

Or had she?

"She doesn't remember."

Kaylee cried out as the words sparked memories in her mind. That voice, speaking again and again, a different time a different world…

He's called The Doctor. Something whispered to her.

She clutched her head. She heard someone screaming, a woman. It took a very long time for her to realize that the sound was coming from her lungs, from her lips, piercing the air around her instead of staying confined in her thoughts. She was screaming, crying out in agony as fire burned through her memories, twisting them, rearranging them.

"Doctor!" She screamed, long and drawn out. "Doctor!"

She barely noticed Leon at her side. "Kaylee, Kaylee, relax, please, you're safe, you're safe…" He held her against him, and she could feel a tear roll from his cheek and onto hers.

"What's my name?" She asked, her voice a soft, choking whisper. He stiffened and didn't reply.

"What's my name?" She asked again, the words coming out in an angry hiss.

"Rose Tyler." Leon replied, so softly that she had to strain her ears to hear him. "You're name is Rose Tyler."

The words flowed out almost subconsciously. Indeed, she was finding it hard to control them, and she found she didn't want to control them. For within those words came answers, and questions she hadn't known she had.

"Why all the lies, Doctor?" She asked painfully. "Why would you lie to me?"

"Rose…" He breathed.

But her vision was fading, as was the pain and the memories. The world blurred around her, and suddenly she was in a large, round room. The lights were blue-green, with a large, glass column in the center. Coral-like structures supported the roof.

Leon was coming towards her, something in his hand. He was muttering apologies, tears rolling down his cheeks.

He placed something on her forehead. "What…?" She croaked out, but she never got any further.

Her vision blackened again, and she found herself looking at Leon, standing in the same room. Someone else had entered; a woman, with dark skin and hair, her eyes intense and focused.

A part of her, a part that had a name, a name that she was slowly forgetting, knew in an instant what those eyes had seen. That part had seen the same; the wonder and the horror that this room contained.

"I'm sorry, Martha." Leon said, his voice distorted, as though it was traveling through water. "But I can't risk it. Her memories are too delicate as it is; I've already had to erase them twice, and each time it becomes less effective…"

The world turned to darkness.

There was no headache as she looked at the creature. It was a large, metal man, its face cold and emotionless, silver in color.

She watched it, no longer a part of the action around her. A few more of these metal men came up the stairs.

They spoke as the other stood in their way, speech which blurred and, surprisingly, had them shot by the metal man that stood, alone.

A single tear rolled down its face as the gun fired a bright, electric blue, its metallic voice talking slowly.

"I did my duty for queen and country. I did my duty for queen and country…"

Kaylee Smith opened her eyes.