Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who (or the Matrix, or anything else I mention in passing)

Missing Home

Charlotte woke up, to the sound of birdsong…for a moment she was reluctant to leave the warmth of her bed, but then she wondered how she was hearing birdsong aboard the TARDIS. She opened her eyes and sat up...and stared. Her bedcovers were not white and strewn with butterflies, but striped shades of blue. There was no star shaped button above her bedside table, and she knew the large, square, curtained window hadn't been there before…

Dazed, Charlotte sat on the edge of her bed. Had the TARDIS altered her bedroom whilst she slept? Was this some kind of prank? Or was it…Charlotte stared at the blue curtains, and the slivers of sunlight shining on either side. Could it be…could she be home?

It had been very warm that day…maybe she'd got heatstroke; maybe going to the Whoniverse and meeting the Doctor was all a delirium induced dream. That makes sense Charlotte thought vaguely, I was dreaming. That sort of thing only happens in fanfics…

Feeling as if she was sleepwalking, Charlotte rose from her bed and shuffled up to the curtains. She pulled them aside and blinked at the light…yes, there it was, the green fence and the shed, nice and familiar. Her sleep-sluggish brain suddenly remembered her family! They'd be so thrilled to see her awake.

There was no-one in her mum's bedroom; although oddly, she couldn't remember walking upstairs, but she must have done. There was no-one in her sister's room either. What time was it? Two o'clock…they must have both been at work. Ah, but there was one person who would still be here, her grandmother! Charlotte hurried downstairs and into her grandmother's little annex…but it too was deserted.

Confused, she searched the house from top to bottom, and tried to call her mum's mobile. It went to ringtone. She tried her sister, her brother, her grandmother and even her dad…he answered, much to her relief. "Hello?"

"Hi Dad, I just woke up and I can't find any"-

"Who is this?"

"W-what?" asked Charlotte, confused, "Dad, it's me, Charlotte!"

"Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"What? Joke?"

"I don't know who you are" her dad said angrily, "but you do not prank call me in the middle of my daughter's wake and pretend to be her!"

"What? Dad, I'm not dead! Dad!" Charlotte cried, but it was no good – he'd hung up. What the heck was going on? Why did her dad think she'd died? Charlotte's mind raced, and not with nice possibilities. Perhaps she'd been unconscious for longer than she thought, and her dad's mind had started to go. He had sounded older, more tired, on the phone.

She had a sudden epiphany – Laura! Surely she could help, they were best friends to the end, after all. Charlotte phoned Laura, and after the fifth try, her friend finally picked up. "Laura, it's me, Charlotte - you have to believe me!"

"I believe you – Charlotte, I can't find my mum and dad" Laura said worriedly.

"I called my dad, and he thought…he thought I was an imposter! He thinks I'm dead!"

"What? Why?"

"I don't know…listen, I'm still in my pyjamas. Let me get dressed"-

Her sentence never finished; the next thing she knew, she was standing outside Laura's house. How had she gotten here? Oh, never mind that – she rapped on the door, shouting for Laura…the reply she received chilled her to the core. "Human intruder detected!"

That was a Dalek! Charlotte panicked, and ran up the street; she'd not gone half-way before the front of Laura's house was blown out and reduced to rubble. Horrified, she watched as a Dalek floated out of the gap it had made, and swivelled to face her. How can it be here?! A Dalek can't be here! She thought frantically.

The terrifying creature aimed it's weapon at her. "Exterminate!"

Charlotte screamed.

/

"AAAH!" she shrieked, sitting bolt upright in bed. Tears on her face, white covers rumpled…white? Yes, and there were little star holograms around her, and no window, and a low humming that was annoying and comforting all at once. Charlotte kicked off her duvet and scrambled out of bed, running to the door and flinging it open. Another door, with an owl carved onto it, stood opposite hers.

She opened it and stole inside the darkened room, tiptoeing up to the bed. "Laura? Psst, Laura? Wake up!" she hissed, shaking the mound beneath the covers. Laura moaned sleepily, and reached out to switch her lamp on, rubbing her eyes. "Huh? Charlotte?"

"Oh, thank goodness" Charlotte sagged in relief, "I thought you…I had a nightmare. C-can I…stay with you?"

"Sure" Laura agreed at once, rolling over to make room. Charlotte lay down in the vacated, still warm space and switched the light off. Laura dozed off again almost immediately, but it was a while before Charlotte did. That nightmare, she remembered now…was familiar. She'd had it before.

That morning, she was half-asleep whilst eating breakfast; it took all of her willpower to lift the spoon to her lips. "Bad night, Charlotte?" the Doctor asked sympathetically. She just shrugged, not wanting to talk about it.

"Didn't you have a nightmare?" Laura recalled, "What was it about?"

Charlotte hesitated…she had a pretty good idea of what the dream was about, but she really didn't want to talk about it. So she just muttered, "Daleks" and shrugged again. Laura gave her a hug in sympathy, but Charlotte only felt a little better.

The Doctor tried to help by providing a distraction. "So for today, how does exploring a labyrinth sound?" he suggested, before assuring them, "I can promise there won't be any Minotaurs or fears hidden behind doors in this one".

"Where is it?" Laura asked curiously; the still exhausted Charlotte was less enthusiastic, but she raised her head to listen. The Doctor explained, "The Caves of Malisthe on the planet Yrcnosthre, it's a"-

"The what of what?" Charlotte asked dazedly.

"Ma-lis-thee" he spelt it out, "The Caves of Malisthe, legendary hero of Yrcnosthre…it's harder to spell out".

"It sounds like you're saying, 'yer-rick-nose-three'" Charlotte smirked, "What sort of a name for a planet is that?"

"What about you lot? Naming your planet 'Earth' when it's 71% water?"

"Well, your planet's name translates to 'they that walk in the shadows'" Charlotte retorted, "What does that even mean?"

"I have no idea" the Doctor deflected quickly, "So anyway, the Caves are, well, caves – a series of caverns that have apparently remained unexplored for centuries. Well, they were explored at one point I'm sure, but apparently the last person who went in and came out went mad".

"They did? Oh, that sounds alarming. Are you sure this is a good idea?" Laura asked nervously.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Laura. So long as we stick together and take torches with us, we should be fine" the Doctor declared confidently, before asking Charlotte, "Are you on board?"

She opened her mouth to reply, and had to quickly cover it as a huge yawn stretched her jaw. "Going into a series of dark and foreboding caves from which people emerge maddened and that could be home to any manner of strange and dangerous creatures? Sure, why not?"

"Great; and really, don't be so worried. The whole 'going mad' thing is just a rumour. According to legend, the Caves contain your greatest desires. I've no idea how that's possible, but I can't wait to find out" the Doctor said eagerly. They cleared away the dishes, Charlotte and Laura showered and dressed. They made sure to put on warm clothes, since it was bound to be rather cold in the caves.

Despite being named after a legendary hero, who had apparently ventured into the caves to rescue his one true love, the caves didn't look all that impressive at first glance. There were spider-webs stretched in the corners of the entrance; Laura tried very hard not to look at the jet black, eight legged creepy crawlies in the middle of them, or the dead flies hanging in webbing. The words 'Caves of Malisthe' were carved in the rock above the first opening, but the rock had weathered and the words were now barely legible.

"Has it occurred to us that they might have had a good reason for abandoning this place?" Charlotte wondered.

The Doctor handed them both torches and replied, "They might have done…let's go find out what it is, eh?"

Taking care not to slip on the damp rock (it had been raining), the three of them walked in single file through the caves. The floor sloped downwards, just enough to be noticeable, and as they descended further into the ground Charlotte felt her heartrate pick up. She took deep breaths, firmly telling herself to calm down. There was nothing to be afraid of, they hadn't gotten lost or been separated…she just couldn't seem to shake the eerie feeling that something else was down here with them.

It wasn't long before they emerged into a larger cavern, with crystalline stalactites hanging down from the ceiling. Any fears were driven from Charlotte and Laura's minds, as they stared with fascination at the shiny, icicle like structures. "It looks like quartz" Charlotte commented, "But I thought that wasn't soluble".

"It isn't, and this isn't quartz. It's a very similar looking mineral known as quatrilime, a combination of the properties of quartz and limestone" the Doctor explained.

"These are called…stalactites, right?" Laura checked, "I never used to be able to remember the difference".

"Oh, that's easy" Charlotte said dismissively, "Stalactite has a 'c' for ceiling, and stalagmite has a 'g' for ground, that's how I remember it". She wandered around the cavern, shining her torch over the rocks which were damp with water. Actually, when she looked closer it looked almost like slime. Something on the wall of the cave caught her eye, and she went for a closer look. What she found sent a shiver up her spine; someone had scratched out the words 'RUN OR YOU WILL DIE'.

Well, that's creepy she thought; she felt something drip onto her head from above. Charlotte reached up to wipe the water away, only to feel something sticky…confused, she looked up to see what had dripped onto her.

Attached to the ceiling were mucus covered, rocky hand-like creatures, that chilled the blood in her veins. Dream Crabs.

For a few seconds she was frozen in horror; she managed to tear her gaze away at last, and swore mentally. Oh shit! Err, don't look at them, don't think about them, think about something else. Err, bananas. Bananas are good. What can you make with bananas? Banoffee pie, banana split, uh, banana daiquiri, I wonder what that tastes like, maybe I'd like it, probably not since I don't like alcohol, but maybe I should try it, I think I'll ask if we can go and try some, good idea Charlotte, wait why am I thinking in third person?

"Can we go?" she asked suddenly, "I'm bored. Caves are boring. Can we go get some banana daiquiris? I've never had one before but I kind of want to try it. Do they actually taste like bananas? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Charlotte, are you okay?" the Doctor asked in concern.

"Yeah!" she said quickly, "Course I am, why wouldn't I be? I just changed my mind, it's allowed. Let's just go please, now preferably".

"Is everything alright?" Laura asked, frowning at Charlotte worriedly.

Agitated and frustrated, Charlotte snapped "Damn it! There are Dream Crabs here! You're making me think about them and they're going to wake up and kill us and we are leaving! Now!" she shouted, grabbing Laura's hand and dragging her towards the tunnel they'd come down. There was no way she was about to let a bunch of brain eating parasites attack her and her best friend. The two of them made a break for it, running for the tunnel when the Doctor cried out, "Charlotte!"

Something heavy dropped onto her head, two claws dangled in front of her face. Charlotte froze, terrified and disgusted, and screamed.

/

"AAA- huh?!" she gasped, jerking awake. She was in her room, her proper room, not on the TARDIS but safe at home, and for a moment all her disoriented brain could think was 'Oh, not again'.

Then her dad burst into the room and derailed her thoughts again, as well as making her jump out of her skin. "What's wrong?" he demanded worriedly, "I heard screaming".

His daughter stared at him in complete bewilderment. "Dad?! How can – you – I – h-how did I get here?"

"Get where?"

Someone came running, and her mum came into the room, eyes wide and searching. "What happened? What's the matter?"

Charlotte's chest heaved; she closed her eyes and did her best to calm down, feeling like she was about to hyperventilate. "I…I'm at home. I was somewhere else, though, I…I was in a cave. With Laura and, and…I can't remember. There was someone else there…" she frowned, unable to think straight. Her thoughts were jumbled, her memories fuzzy, and there was a dull ache in her right temple.

"Did you have a nightmare?" her dad asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. Charlotte grasped at the few clear memories she had and replied, "Yeah, I…I dreamt you thought I'd d-died and been replaced with, like, an imposter or something".

"Oh, that will never happen, darling" Mike reassured her, pulling her in for a hug. His wife Sue joined in as well, and Charlotte clung to them as if they might disappear at any moment.

"Did you forget your dad was coming to visit this weekend?" her mum asked as they pulled apart. Charlotte hesitated, and then nodded.

"Come on then, up you get. We're having croissants for breakfast, yum" Mike said cheerfully, standing up. "After you've got dressed, why don't we go for a walk in the caves?"

"The what?"

"The beach, why don't we go for a walk on the beach" Mike repeated.

"Oh, right, I thought you…yeah, that sounds great. Can we go shopping together, mum?"

"Of course we can! I was planning on going into town later with Lucy, you can come along if you want".

"Is Lucy here?" asked Charlotte, getting out of bed and pulling her dressing gown on.

"She's just in the kitchen" said Sue. Charlotte left her bedroom and went straight to the kitchen, where her little sister was stirring a glass of chocolate milk. "Morning…uh, what are you doing?" she asked, when Charlotte came and hugged her.

"Sorry" Charlotte apologised, letting go, "I just…" her mind went blank, "It doesn't matter".

"No, tell me".

"I can't remember…hang on, I need some paracetamol. I'm getting an awful headache" Charlotte complained, rubbing her temple. She went to the medicine cabinet and took out a packet of Ibuprofen. The words on the packet read 'This is a dream'.

She dropped the packet in surprise, blinked, and looked again. The words were back to normal. Confused, Charlotte took two capsules and carried them back to the kitchen. She turned on the tap to fill a glass with water, but instead this strange mucus emerged from the faucet. "Eugh!" she exclaimed, flicking the tap off again.

"What's wrong?" asked Lucy, sitting by the table.

"Something's wrong with the water" answered Charlotte, turning the tap on again. A stream of clear, clean water ran out into the sink. Lucy stared at it, and then at Charlotte.

"Wrong with the water?" she asked sceptically.

"But it was…oh, I am losing it. I sure hope these pills work fast" Charlotte commented, filling a cup with water and reaching for the capsules. One of them was red, the other blue; but hadn't they been white a few seconds ago?

Before her frazzled mind could wrap itself around this latest conundrum, she heard a beeping noise and her mum saying "Croissants are ready, come and get 'em!"

The tray of pastries was taken from the oven. Charlotte looked over, expecting to see golden flaky rolls; instead, she saw a large, grey mass that looked like a clenched, slimy hand – and it was horribly familiar. She barely managed to cover her mouth to stop the scream escaping.

"Now what?" Sue asked, a touch exasperated. Then she saw how pale Charlotte was, and her frown changed to one of concern. "Are you feeling alright?"

Charlotte shook her head, unable to take her eyes off the gnarled, horrible creature on the baking tray, invisible to all eyes but hers. "I don't feel so…I need to go lie down" she said, running out of the kitchen and back to her bedroom. She barricaded the door and sat on her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. What's happening? Am I going mad?

"Come on, pull yourself together".

But I…I keep seeing things!

"Yeah, you might be trying to tell yourself something".

Like what?

"You're dying".

What?!

Charlotte's eyes flew open in alarm. Dying? How?

"Or really, we're dying".

She finally realised that the voice she was hearing was coming from outside her head; she looked to her right, and yelped. Sitting on the chair she'd blocked the door with, was…well, it was her. An exact duplicate, except this one was dressed, in jeans, a jumper and a coat. She was also holding a torch. Charlotte stared, open mouthed, and finally managed to say something. "B-but...huh?"

"Oh, so that's what I'd do if I met my doppleganger" the other Charlotte noted with interest, "Do me a favour and remember that when you wake up".

"I…I am awake" Charlotte said, uncertainly.

"Uh, no, actually you're not. You're dreaming right now. In fact, you're actually in a telepathic induced dream state designed to keep you docile whilst an alien organism eats your brain. The Dream Crabs, from Doctor Who, remember?"

"Yeah, but that's just a show. It's just fiction".

"It isn't just fiction, and you know it. You and Laura somehow ended up in the Whoniverse, and you've been travelling with the Doctor ever since. You remember the name of the planet you were on?"

"I wasn't on another planet".

"Charlotte, you and I both know you aren't this stubborn. I am you. I'm your voice of reason".

"My…"

"You know, the rational part of your mind, the part that figures out when things aren't right. Everything you keep seeing; the mucus in the taps, the Dream Crab on the tray, the different coloured pills – it's all a way of fighting back against the parasite that's trying to devour your grey matter. You can feel it, in your temple, can't you?"

"Stop it" Charlotte frowned, rubbing her temple.

"It placed you in a dream state, a false reality where you can pretend that you're safe at home, but you've been fighting back without realising all this time. That's why I'm here. The Doctor and Clara got Santa Claus; you get me. Who better to talk you out of something stupid than yourself?" the other Charlotte pointed out.

The first Charlotte frowned, trying to wrap her head around everything. "What makes you think I'm going to do something stupid?"

"You're tempted to stay, to let yourself get eaten if it means seeing your family again" the other Charlotte explained, before taking something out of her pocket and walking over to the first one. She held her hand out; in it lay the red and blue pill. "You tried to give yourself a choice, without realising it. Just like that bit in the Matrix…the blue pill for ignorance, and the red pill for reality. I think you know which one to choose".

Charlotte stared at the two little pills in her duplicate's hand. If she swallowed the blue pill, she'd fall deeper into this dream and be killed…but she'd be happy. If she swallowed the red pill, she'd wake up in the caves…what if I can't wake Laura, or the Doctor? What if more Dream Crabs attack?

"Then you'll have to keep going through this until you die or escape".

"Oh thanks, that's helpful…are you reading my thoughts?"

The other Charlotte rolled her eyes and said, "We're the same person, dummy".

"You just called yourself a dummy" Charlotte snickered, and then she yawned, feeling oddly tired all of a sudden.

"We don't have much time. The Crab is fighting, making you sleepy. You need to take the red pill, quickly" her doppleganger said urgently.

"You said I had a choice!"

"It's a choice between dying and living! You'd be extra dumb to choose the first option!"

"I know, but…" Charlotte sighed, tearing up a bit, "Do I at least have time to say goodbye to them?"

The other Charlotte sighed, and stepped aside. "Don't take too long" she warned.

Charlotte scrambled off the mattress and hurried into the living room. Just as she hoped, her parents, siblings, even her grandmother were there, watching TV. Okay, this was definitely a dream. Her grandmother hardly ever watched television in their living room, not when she had her own.

"Hello, darling" her dad smiled at her, "Oh, what's wrong?"

With a deep breath, Charlotte explained, "I'm dreaming, about all of you, I miss you so much but if I don't wake up, I'll die. I have to go, I don't want to, but I have to, a-and I came to say goodbye". Tears rolled down her cheeks. She wanted so badly to hug them, but she feared that if she did, neither they nor her would be able to let go.

"Why would you die?" asked Lucy, "Are you in a coma or something?"

"Sort of…it's hard to explain" said Charlotte, before she yawned again and swayed on the spot. She grasped the fireplace mantel to steady herself; time was running out. "I love you guys. Mum, dad, Ian, Lucy, grandma. You're the best, and I promise, I'll come back home. Me and Laura will come back home…I'll see you later" she said, before forcing herself to leave the room, closing the door behind her.

The other Charlotte was waiting for her in the kitchen, holding out the glass of water and the red pill. "It's for the best" she told the first Charlotte.

"I know". She swallowed the red pill down with the water, set the cup aside and asked, "Now what?"

"Well, unless it didn't work, you should be"-

/

Charlotte sat bolt upright and gasped, dry heaving. "Charlotte!" the Doctor cried in relief, cradling her head in his hands and searching her eyes. "You're okay, I've got you" he said with a sigh of relief, kissing her on the forehead before pulling out his sonic. Charlotte looked around, trying to get her bearings. She was in a cave, with the Doctor, and Laura was lying next to her with a Dream Crab on her face –

"Laura!" she cried in alarm, "You can get that thing off her, right?"

"Yeah, I just need to zap the neural centres" he said, sonicking Laura's temples and prising the Dream Crab off her face. It squealed and crumbled to dust as Laura flinched, her eyes flying open. Charlotte hugged her, or tried to, because the Doctor was already tugging them to their feet. "Come on, come on, let's go!" he urged.

The three of them grabbed the torches and ran for it, back up the tunnel and into the open air, and didn't stop until they were back inside the TARDIS. "Wait!" Charlotte exclaimed, "My head still hurts. We're still in the dream!"

Laura looked at her and gasped, "You're bleeding!"

Charlotte reached up and touched her right temple; when she took her fingers away, they were spotted with blood. Laura was bleeding as well, and the Doctor, but he was already sealing up the puncture wound on his temple with his sonic.

"It really hurts" Laura whimpered.

"Of course it hurts, Laura, the Dream Crab was trying to drill through your skull" the Doctor reminded her, sonicking the wound and making the blood clot, leaving nothing but a small scar.

"Your bedside manner sucks" Charlotte joked, before realising, "Wait; those things were eating our brains. Are our brains like soup now? If we tilt our heads, will they drip out of our ears?" she asked, before giggling. "Why am I laughing?"

"Because you're giddy; now hold still" the Doctor instructed, scanning her temple and healing it. "Don't scratch at it – and no, your brain is not going to drip out of your ears. The Dream Crabs didn't have time to get to our brains; we all woke up too soon".

"Oh, well that's good…wait…"

"What?"

Charlotte reached up and wiped some gunk off the top of her head, staring at her fingers with an expression of dawning horror. "…Eww! There's Dream Crab snot in my hair!" She wiped her fingers on the nearest surface – the Doctor's shirt – and ran off to find a shower.

The Doctor looked down at his stained shirt, and then at Laura, who was checking her own hair for Dream Crab snot and looking relieved when she didn't find any. He sighed. I'll never understand women.

/

Later, after she'd washed her hair again and gotten something to eat, Charlotte returned to the console room. "Hey!" the Doctor greeted, "Feel any better?"

"Yeah…sorry about earlier" she said apologetically, noticing that he'd changed his shirt.

"It's alright, I've had worse stains. Oh, that reminds me, I wanted to ask you – how did you wake up?"

"What do you mean?"

"I knew I was dreaming from the beginning, forced myself to wake up. I was just about to get the Dream Crab off you when you woke up by yourself. How did you manage that?"

"I knew it was a dream too…well, my subconscious did. Another version of me appeared and told me to take the red pill, y'know, like in the Matrix. I…part of me didn't want to" she admitted.

The Doctor gently placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. "Were you…dreaming about being back home?" he guessed.

She nodded. "That's sort of why I wanted to talk to you…" Charlotte described her first nightmare, explained that she'd had it at least twice before, and what she thought it meant. "I'm afraid that we'll get back home too late and everyone I know will be dead, or just have moved on. I'm scared that if they think I'm dead, they won't believe it when I come back. And I'm worried that, if we fell into your universe, other aliens could fall into mine and cause chaos...and we'd never know about it. Daleks could be ravaging my version of Earth, and I'd have no clue!"

"I find that unlikely" the Doctor interjected when she stopped for breath. "Charlotte, what happened to you and Laura is extremely rare. There are pinpricks between universes all the time, but that's all they are, pinpricks. Almost none of them become large enough to let people through, let alone whole Dalek armadas" he explained.

Charlotte frowned and asked, "But if it did happen, how would you know? You couldn't know".

"No, but the TARDIS could, seeing as how she exists across all of time and space. The old girl might not be able to talk anymore, but she has plenty of other ways of communicating". He should know; he'd spent the better part of the first few centuries figuring them out. "As for everything else; you won't be here long enough for that much time to pass in your universe, I promise. If they have assumed you've died, then I don't think it'll take you long to convince them otherwise when you get back. Your heartbeat should be a good place to start" he said wryly.

His companion snickered a bit in spite of everything. "Thanks…you're the best" she told him, giving him a hug.

"You're welcome. Now then, I seem to remember you saying something about wanting to try a banana daiquiri?"

"Err…that was the panic talking. Besides, you don't even like alcohol!"

"I haven't had a daiquiri in ages; I might like it. You might like it. One drink won't do us any harm".

"It will if they turn out to be nice…okay, fine. I'll try one. Let me find Laura, I don't want her to feel left out" said Charlotte, heading up the stairs as the Doctor fired up the TARDIS.

She still worried, but her worries were assuaged for the most part. Perhaps everything would be okay.