Chapter 5

"Gotcha!" Suddenly Amy found herself being dragged – roughly, mind you – backwards by the back of her jacket. She sloshed out with the water and into someone's arms. The experience seemed vaguely familiar...

The Doctor grinned delightedly as Amy's eyes snapped open and glared into Hoffman's sheepish blue ones. "Ah, Amy Pond is back in business...thank God the TARDIS stopped at the right Time for a change, a few seconds later –"

"You." Amy was still glaring at Hoffman.

"Ah," The Doctor sensed the tension in the air at last. "Now, Amy, before you overreact –"

"Overreact?" Amy struggled out of Hoffman's arms and fell in a sodden heap back onto the ground. "He put me in that thing, just 'cos I was getting too close to his 'hobby'!"

"One," Hoffman counted off. "It's not a hobby – I'm not here of my own choice. Two, it was Jill's plan, not mine. And three, I just helped save your life."

"Oh, and that makes everything better –" Amy stopped short and rounded on Rory, Jenny and the Doctor, who took a step backwards (Jill had decided to drive). "Wait, he did?"

"Yeah," Rory said grudgingly. "He did."

"To be honest," Jenny elaborated before the Doctor could say anything. "Without him, we wouldn't have got here in time."

Amy turned back to Hoffman, who half smiled. "Am I forgiven at all?"

Amy sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks." She took a step closer. "But there's just one thing that I really need to do..."

Hoffman cocked his head and smiled slyly. "Have you been thinking about what I said, then?"

Amy nodded slowly, moving her face closer to his so that their lips were in touching distance. "Well...I'd better get on with it then, hadn't I?"

"I like that idea." Hoffman leaned in those last few inches...

And then Amy slapped him open-palmed around the face.

"Oww!" Hoffman staggered backwards, the left side of his face turning red. "What –"

"Just 'cos I've forgiven you don't mean you don't deserve a good slap-fest." Amy advanced, one hand raised.

Rory grabbed her arm. "Amy, leave it, yeah? He only needs one slap from you – I find that gets the message across pretty well."

Amy sighed exasperatedly. "Fine." She pouted, stalking back to the Doctor and Jenny.

"Thanks mate." Hoffman breathed a sigh of relief, watching her go.

"Sorry, 'mate'," Rory grinned evilly. "You think it's all over, but the slap-fest has just begun."

"Wha –" Rory backhanded Hoffman on the other side of his face. This time the slap was so hard he was knocked over backwards. He glared up at Rory. "You bastard."

Rory laughed, helping him up. "Well, you did almost kill my wife – admit it, you deserved a lot more than that."

Hoffman didn't laugh. "Yeah, I know. Sorry."

"Cheer up." Rory punched him lightly in the shoulder. "You almost killed my wife, I had both the satisfaction of slapping you and watching you get slapped. Let's call it quits."

Hoffman shrugged and smiled, wincing a little. "Sounds good to me."

"Come on, you two!" The Doctor was starting to away from them, towards the door they had come through where the TARDIS was glowing its familiar blue light. "You can chat over a beer at the pub later...right now, I think it's time we met Mr John Kramer..."

xXx

"You." Jill stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening at the sight of the Doctor and his entourage heading towards her down the corridor.

"Yes, me." The Doctor said casually, continuing past her.

"And me too, you bitch." Amy spat as she walked past her. Hoffman, Rory and Jenny only acknowledged her with a glare.

"How – how did you get her out?" Jill had to break into a jog to keep up with them.

The Doctor waved the sonic screwdriver in the air. "Sonic interference with the plastic atoms caused them to break apart. In other words, at the right pitch the plastic shattered."

"Yeah, ok, but you've got her out now, problem solved." Jill panted – she made a mental note to go to the gym more often. "Can't you just – go?"

"I think I'd like to have a chat with your ex-husband first, thanks." The Doctor said lightly, but the hardness in his usually kind eyes promised that this would be a little more than just a 'chat'.

They suddenly emerged into the main room of the warehouse, the ceiling abruptly soaring above their heads, bright fluorescent lighting making all of them blink. Various tables lay around the room, traps in varying states of completion, deadliness and purpose crammed on every available space.

A young woman with long dark brown hair was working on one of them, her deep red t-shirt hitching at the waist as she reached up to tighten a screw in the contraption. On hearing them enter she whipped round, her dark eyes widening as she took in the group. Amy was shocked: she didn't only look young, she looked way too fragile to be doing this.

At least, that was the impression that she got before the girl opened her mouth.

"Mark, what the fuck?" She turned on the detective, revealing an inner core of iron.

"Nice to see you too, Amanda." Hoffman said, turning to the others. "Everyone, meet Amanda Young. And yes, she really is this much of a bitch."

"Did someone slap you, Hoffman?" Amanda asked sweetly, ignoring Hoffman's insult. "Your face is all red."

"That would've been me." Amy piped up. "Amy Pond, nice to meet you."

"HA!" Amanda laughed once, grinning like a maniac. "Mark Hoffman, detective – slapped by a girl!"

"Amanda young, ex-junkie – hit by a falling trap."

"Wha –" The trap behind her collapsed – the screw clearly hadn't been tightened enough. Hoffman laughed at Amanda's expression. "This. Isn't. Funny."

"Geez, ego hurt much?" Hoffman smirked.

"Not as badly as yours!"

"Sorry, my ego's too big to ever be deflated."

"It shows..." Amanda muttered, turning back to her work.

Hoffman laughed again, but quieter. "Come on, John's this way."

"I'll take them, if you don't mind." Jill said coldly. "He is my ex-husband, after all. You stay here and help Amanda."

"Yay." Said Hoffman, his face blank. "What fun."

"The feeling's mutual, you bastard." Amanda said, her back turned to him.

Jill sighed. "Come on, just leave them to it."

As they left, the two of them started up again.

"Hoffman, no the screw doesn't go there!"

"Excuse me, in your badly-drawn blueprint it says a screw should go here!"

"You're holding it upside down, you moron!"

"Well it makes a lot more sense holding it this way than it ever will if I hold it the right way!"

Amy smiled. She remembered all those times with Rory when they'd been jumping lightly on each other's egos all the time, trying to see whose would deflate first. She'd always won, of course, but she'd always had more spirit than him, everyone had said so –

Wait. Amy stopped short. She thought back to when she'd first met Mark Hoffman. 'I like a woman with spirit' he'd said. Was it possible...?

"Come on Amy!" The Doctor called. She snapped back to reality and realised that everyone had gone through a door with plastic strips hanging over it like a curtain.

The first person she noticed was the blond man in what appeared to be a Doctor's coat who looked up as they all trooped in. He was young and cleanly shaved, and as his eyes met Amy's she had to look away: they were blue and contained just as much sadness as Hoffman's – how many people had he lost, she wondered.

The second person she noticed was just as imposing – if more than – as the blond man. He was standing as well, but he looked older, his hair white and his body thin. But the eyes – although the same colour as the other man's – were bright with intelligence and as sharp as the mind within. It reminded her of a venomous snake she'd seen at the London Zoo as a kid: its still looks were deceiving, but if you looked closer the eyes had exactly the same brightness and sharpness. Of course, the mouse put in its exhibit wouldn't have time to notice this before the snake moved like lightning and swallowed it whole.

It was this that made Amy sure she was looking at John Kramer, usually known as the Jigsaw Killer.

"Actually Amy," Amy was glad of a distraction from John's piercing gaze and looked at the Doctor. "This could take some time...maybe you should wait outside."

"Yeah, sure." Amy said, relieved. "Nice to meet you, Mr Kramer." She said to the sharp-eyed man, flushing when she remembered they hadn't actually been introduced. Embarrassed, she walked as fast as she could back the way she had come.

She'd rather bear Hoffman and Amanda's bickering than have to spend an unspecified time in that room.

xXx

"She's intimidated by me." John observed as Amy's footsteps died away.

The blond man snorted. "You think? Glaring at her like that wasn't exactly helping, was it?"

John glared at him. "I wasn't glaring at her."

"Well, to be honest I can't really tell your normal looking at someone to your glaring at someone." He turned to the Doctor and shook his hand. "I'm guessing we're the same profession. I'm Lawrence Gordon; I used to be a doctor."

"And I am the Doctor." The Doctor said cheerfully, shaking his hand. "No first name and no real profession. So why the past tense?"

"Him." Lawrence pointed at John, glaring.

"It's rude to point." John said calmly. He nodded at the Doctor. "I'm presuming you know who I am."

"Yep, that's good isn't it?" The Doctor said cheerfully. "No need for introductions."

"Uh...hello?" Jenny and Rory looked daggers at him.

"Oh, right. Apart from these two: Jenny is my daughter and Rory is Amy Pond's husband." The Doctor's smile faded away. "Which was sort of the reason I came here..."

"Told you this would happen..." Lawrence rolled his eyes, and then busied himself with a tray of medication.

"Actually, before we get to that subject," The Doctor looked John up and down. "Why are you standing up? You should be almost dead of colon cancer by now, with –"

"With an inoperable brain tumour, you think I'd forget something like that?" He shrugged. "It went."

"You what?"

"It went. Don't ask me how, it just showed up on tests done by Dr Gordon here."

"And they're not incorrect." Lawrence didn't turn round. "I ran the checks three times."

"But that's impossible!" Jenny frowned. "Cancer doesn't go away just like that, and even when it does that technology won't be invented until three centuries from now!"

"Well, there is a more simple explanation." The Doctor turned to her. "Jenny, were you searching for me to tell me that the Nightmare Children were back?"

"Yes, but...you said once that it was the Nightmare Child – there's only one of them."

The Doctor met her gaze levelly. "That's what I thought. I was wrong."

"I'm sorry," John interrupted. "But how does this have any relevance to what we're talking about?"

"Oh, it has a lot of relevance to what we're talking about." The Doctor spun to face him. "They're keeping you alive because you're the closest thing they've got to their key to re-opening the Void."

xXx

"Soooo," Amy smirked at Hoffman, leaning over the table top. "I take it you get along with Amanda really well."

"Shut up." Hoffman said bluntly, his attention fixated on the trap in front of him. Amanda had stormed out of the room muttering about finding 'more equipment' after the trap had fallen apart for a third time. In this time Hoffman and Amanda had been arguing so much that Amy had half a mind to walk back into the other room and ask for some aspirin.

But at times through the time she'd been there watching them, she was almost certain that they were having a laugh. And that made her certain that she had to get the two of them together, no matter what.

"Well, I think that you like her, at least." Amy said slyly, propping her head up on her hands.

That got Hoffman's attention. He glared down at her, folding his arms across his chest. "And I think you don't catch onto things very quickly."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Well, she hates me."

"And you hate her?"

"Finally, you're getting there!"

"You haven't actually said that you agree with my statement..."

"And you haven't actually said where this is going, so spit it out now or don't say anything at all!"

That shut her up. He was just about to go back to what he was doing, when she said: "Storge, Philia, Eros or Agape?"

"For God's sake!" He snapped, finally catching on. "I don't love Amanda!"

"Ahh," Amy stood up and sauntered over to him. "So you understand what I was talking about?"

"We learnt about it in RS when I was at school..." He shook his head. "Forget it; I am not getting involved in this conversation anymore." He turned away.

"Well, Storge is out of the question because that's a love of objects, and you'd have to be really sexist to view a woman as an object," Amy continued, watching carefully for a reaction. "Philia is a love of friends and family, and as you've made very plain, she's not exactly your friend."

"Exactly." Hoffman picked up a screwdriver. "So can we drop this?"

"No, there's still two other options!" Amy heard him sigh in exasperation, and quickly kept going. "Then there's Eros, and that's a possibility because it means sexual love, and you've got to admit that Amanda is pretty nice for the eyes."

"I haven't noticed." Hoffman snapped, but Amy noted that he had stopped working and, although he had his back to her, he was starting to listen.

"And last but not least there's Agape: unconditional love. She could hurt you a thousand times but you wouldn't stop loving her because she means way too much to you to ever give her up." Amy paused to let him speak. Silence. "So which one of those four is it?"

He still had his back to her. "I thought you said Storge and Philia didn't count in this case."

"Well, the first time I met you didn't exactly fill me with confidence for your anti-sexism tactics." He snorted. "And Philia...well, the whole hate-each-other act doesn't exactly cover the fact that you do sort of care about each other: brothers and sisters fight all the time, believe me, and at times – stop me if I'm wrong – it did seem like you were verging on being on friendly terms with each other." He didn't stop her.

"And also, you said you 'liked women with spirit'." She quoted his words with an innocent smile. "I think Miss Amanda Young is pretty spirited enough for you, so..." She tried to catch his eye. "Which one is it?"

"Honest answer?" Hoffman turned to look at her, and Amy could tell that he found the truth hard to come to terms with. "I don't know."

"HA! I was right!" Amy grinned triumphantly.

"Amy..."

"You really loooove her, you want to kiiiiss her, la la la laaaa la –"

"Amy, quit it!"

"Sorry." Amy tried to keep a straight face. "I'm just glad I'm right for a change."

"Well, just don't go on about it, 'kay?"

"Fine..." Hoffman was about to turn back to the trap when she had a sudden thought. "Hang on; you ever tried to find out her feelings for you?"

Hoffman groaned. "Didn't we already go over this? Let me say this slowly so you can understand: she...hates...me!"

"Uh, that's the impression you've been trying to give," Amy winked. "Who's to say she's not been trying to send out that impression too?"

"Amy, you can stop meddling now..."

"Please? I'll bring it up in conversation; I'm good at that kind of thing..." She saw that he was not convinced and put her hands together. "Pleeeeaaaaasssseeee...?"

Hoffman sighed. "Alright, alright. But trust me: hopes aren't very high."

"Oh, but you're getting yours up!"

"No I'm not."

"Oh, let's not go into the whole 'I'm right-you're wrong routune'...'sides, you know that I'll win – like last time!"

"Shut up!" He yelled after her as she rounded the corner. But he was smiling.

xXx

"Uh..." Rory looked confused. "Nightmare Children? Void? What...?"

"Ok, explanation needed," The Doctor took a deep breath and started talking. "The Nightmare Children were made by the Daleks in the Time War. They were meant to be their big, unstoppable weapon that would win the war for them, but they turned on their creators, and the Daleks ended up fighting them and us."

"'Us'?" John asked, raising a cynical eyebrow.

"Time Lords." The Doctor said abruptly. "Don't worry, I ended it: sealed them all in a time bubble – nothing can get in or out."

"Including your race." John noted.

"Yeah. Anyway, I had no idea of their numbers until recently: it turns out there were millions, thousands of millions, all doing the same thing."

"And that was?"

"The Nightmare Children are a unique race in one aspect: they don't need much to stay alive. They don't have to take on a form, they don't need light or dark or food or water. But one thing they do need – what they 'feed' on, if you like – is suffering. Pain, anger, sadness, sickness, all negative emotions. They could amplify it a little if they wanted for 'extra nutrition', but with millions dying every second...it didn't matter what species, they just latched on and stuffed themselves like parasites while whole families mourned."

"They should've been trapped in the Time bubble," Jenny chipped in. "But they found a rip in Space and Time and travelled through before it was sealed off. But when they reached the other side, there was less negative energy to feed on. True there was still quite a lot, but not enough to sustain a race of what had become billions."

"So they began to die out," The Doctor continued. "And their numbers decreased from billions to just over a thousand, and yet they were still dying. But then they discovered their powers to amplify the negative emotions. They discovered that they could take temporary forms, although this wasted needed energy. With these two discoveries in mind they began to manipulate the bereaved into causing hurt to someone else, and so they have sustained themselves for all these years."

"And how exactly is this linked to me?" John asked coldly.

"They saw that your methods could cause pain not only to the person in the trap, but people outside of it later on; it was like having two meals in one. But then, of course, they discovered that if they got out of the trap they were allowed to go free..."

"...Which is why they've been making up 'games' of their own!" Rory realised.

"Exactly! And it doesn't end there..." The Doctor paced, getting excited as he gabbled the words out with barely time to breathe. "The Void is formless, colourless, nothingness – what you would call 'hell'. I closed it with armies of Daleks and Cybermen trapped inside – thousands of them. If they're ever released, the whole universe is threatened. Millions would die...and the numbers of Nightmare Children would begin to grow once again."

"How do they mean to re-open the Void?" Lawrence looked a little shell-shocked: Rory sympathised, he'd been exactly the same when the Doctor had come into his life.

"...That bit I don't know." The Doctor looked sheepish. "But I promise you, I will find out. Now then," The Doctor looked at John. "Back to what I wanted to talk to you about: why did you put Amy in that trap?"

John looked uneasy. "Problem there, Doctor: I didn't."

The Doctor stopped dead. "...What?"

"I had no knowledge of the actual game taking place: Amanda built it and explained what and who it was for, and I forbade her to use it. Unfortunately, that was only after she'd knocked out your friend and brought her here. We left her tied up near the trap – no-one touched her since then."

A chill went up Rory's spine. "So if you didn't put her in it..."

The Doctor ran for the door. "AMY!"

xXx

"Hey, help me with this instead of just standing there!"

"Finally noticed I'm here Amanda?" Amy raised an eyebrow, lounging in the doorway. "Wow, you must be engrossed in all this rusty metal!"

"Shut it!" Growled Amanda, struggling with a metal bar twice as big as her. "God, you're just as bad as Inspector Clouseau out there!"

"I take it you don't like him then..."

Amanda sensed something in her tone and put the bar down. "Ok: what are you getting at?" Amy made a big show of looking up and down the corridor and then shutting the door behind her with elaborate quietness. "Quit the dramatics: what do you mean?"

"I mean the subject of 'Inspector Clouseau' out there." Amy winked. "You like him, don't you?"

"What the fuck?" The explosion made Amy wince. "Is there something wrong with you? What makes you think that I like someone like...like...him? I mean, he's just...so..." She choked off into silence.

"He's just so...is this the game where I get to fill in the gaps in the sentence?" Amy clapped her hands together. "Ooo, I absolutely love this game!"

"Amy..."

"Now, what could it be? Obnoxious? Readable? Dirty-minded?"

"Amy..."

"Sexy? Unforgettable? Good in bed – no, wait that's a whole part of a sentence, not a word...still, I think that deep down you really love him. So, do I get an answer? Do you love Mark –"

"AMY!" It was only then that Amy realised that Amanda wasn't looking at her, but behind her. Her eyes were wide with horror and she was backing slowly away, feeling for the metal bar. Starting to back away as well, Amy turned round. A dark shape, blurred around the edges like a broken TV screen, was right in front of the door. Slowly it built itself up until it was almost solid, and then – still slightly see-through, it began to walk slowly towards them.

"W...what is that?" Amanda grabbed Amy's arm as the thing's form began to take more shape: a pair of red eyes regarded them emotionlessly from the darkness surrounding them.

Amy recognised the familiar prowl: she'd watched a programme on the Discovery Channel on lions and how they stalked their prey, and she had a sinking suspicion that they were the 'prey'. "I dunno...but I have a feeling it isn't as intrigued with metal as you...more like it likes the sight of us..." She swallowed.

The thing hissed and opened its mouth, revealing a mouthful of razors.

Amy and Amanda screamed as it advanced.

xXx

"Where's the fire?" Hoffman asked as the Doctor sprinted into the main room. "Because if you smelt smoke, sorry but that was Jill's cooking."

"Up yours!" Jill growled, walking into the room. "What's going on?"

The Doctor grabbed Hoffman by the shoulders. "Where's Amy?"

"Collecting metal with Amanda, why?"

At that moment they both heard screaming. They looked at each other, and then ran in its general direction.

Hoffman banged on the door in question. "Amanda!"

"MARK!" Came the desperate reply.

"It's locked!" The Doctor had tried the door and was now applying the sonic screwdriver: the green light played over his frantic features. "Amy, can you hear me?"

"Yes, of course I can! Doctor, help us, PLEASE!"

"Hold on!" The Doctor bellowed as the lock on the door clicked – thankfully, the door hadn't been deadlock sealed – and he and Hoffman rushed into the room –

Just in time to see the Nightmare Child reach Amy and Amanda. It seemed to envelope them, and Amanda reached out a desperate hand before they were both enveloped by black.

"NO!" Hoffman sprang at the black cloud but it was too late: with a fizzing sound it disappeared – Amy and Amanda with it. The two men stared blankly at the empty space, but it didn't do much good: they were most certainly, unmistakeably gone.

"Where've they gone?" Hoffman croaked. "Doctor, where has it taken them?"

"I don't know, but..." The Doctor buried his face in his hands. "Oh, Amy, I'm so sorry..."

There was no need to say it: both women were as good as dead.

YET ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! Hehehe...