-three-

The Doctor knelt in front of the sofa and studied the little girl, searching her face for any sort of hint. She was physically six years and three months old. He could tell that much, but there was something odd about her timeline. Something he couldn't quite understand. Some more in depth scans were definitely required.

There's was nothing odd about her appearance. She had a very sweet face framed by long unruly hair; it was sort of blondish, sort of reddish. What was that weird name they used? Oh, yes, strawberry blonde. Why strawberry? Why not cherry or raspberry? Raspberry blonde. Wait, does that count as ginger? Ooh, could I dye my hair ginger? Oh, wait, already asked about that with no luck. Rose was not happy. And a happy Rose is a happy Doctor. Right, back to the girl.

There were no freckles or marks on her face - nothing whatsoever to indicate any particular species. Her ears went up at a bit of an elfish angle, but that appeared to be nothing more than a genetic quirk. Physically, the girl appeared to be completely human. Or Time Lord, though that was impossible nowadays. She could be Stoan. Or Katurian. Or Akialposi. Or - well, it doesn't really matter.

Wait, does Katuria even exist in this universe?

Regardless, what was in front of his face did not match what had happened when she had connected to his mind. That chaotic swirl of golden light jumping every which way into his thoughts and memories. He hadn't been able to stop it and that hadn't happened since he was just a kid.

But he also knew that this girl hadn't had any control over it either. She was like some sort of untrained super telepath... but it was more than that. Something was familiar about it.

He sighed. He really did not want to do this. It always felt so wrong. Just a base, gut feeling of "no". Sort of like that itchy, gross feeling that you get when you remember little Tony Tyler trampling through an ants nest and then proceeding to lead them like some sort of insect pied piper over to where you're napping on the grass. But there really was no other way. He looked over at Rose.

"I need your help," he said simply. She nodded quietly.

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need - I need you to..." he trailed off, trying to articulate the swarm of thoughts bouncing around his mind. He laughed helplessly. "I don't know what I need you to do."

"Ok," Rose said slowly, sitting down next to him with her back leaning against the sofa. "What do you need to do, then?"

"I need to go into her mind, Rose."

"Like with that girl and the Isolus, yeah?" He smiled a little; his Rose was brilliant.

"A bit more than that," the Doctor replied. "With Chloe Webber, I only had to put her to sleep, but this is..." He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "I have to actually go inside her mind and find out where she came from and what happened to make her like this."

"But she said you could. I remember her sayin' that."

"Yes, but..." The Doctor sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, how do I explain this... Ok! Say you fall ill suddenly in the street. And this bloke comes up and says he can look into your mind and fix it. Seems like a trustworthy fellow because, well, look at me." He grinned.

"Is this some bloke or you?"

"Oi, focus," the Doctor protested. "Anyway, you agree but then pass out. Now, you've given this man permission to look inside your mind - where everything you know, everything you remember, everything you don't remember, everything that makes you you exists. And you're not conscious. You can't stop him from looking at something you don't want him to see. Even if he means well, he might accidentally see something or make you remember something."

"You... you can do that?" Rose asked in a quiet voice.

"I can, but I don't. I never would. Never without permission." Something about the force behind his statements made her wonder how many of his kind hadn't followed those guidelines. Rose laid her hand on his.

"She gave you permission."

"But she's not conscious! Ok, normally, I tell someone that if you don't want me to see something, just imagine a door shutting and I won't go in there. But she - she can't! She has no choice right now! Can you imagine letting someone inside your mind like that? Unprotected? Unguarded? I would never, NEVER look at anything on purpose, but the mind - the mind, Rose, it's a very delicate thing and I am very out of practice. I might do something that makes her feel as though her mind has been violated and she's a child! Just a child, Rose. I just - "

"Doctor," Rose interrupted his rant calmly. "You can't do it when she's awake, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"And she said it's ok, so stop bein' difficult and just get on with it!" Rose smiled softly. "I know it's hard, but it's gotta be done. And I'll be right here with you, ok?" The Doctor leaned over and kissed her.

"I love you," he said quietly.

"Love you, too." She swatted his arm playfully to break the tension. "Now let's get this over with, yeah?" The Doctor nodded and gently placed his fingers on the little girl's temples.

"I just need to find out where she got that power and how she got here," the Doctor muttered, furrowing his brow in concentration.

Silence descended on the room as the Doctor slowly searched the child's mind and tried to ignore his own feelings of disgust at his actions.

His eyes flew open and he jerked away from the little girl.

"But... but, that's impossible," he breathed. "How can you even... how are you not dead?!" he exclaimed, staring at the girl.

"Doctor?" Rose asked. "What is it?"

"It's - she's - but how?!"

"Doctor!" The Doctor looked over at Rose in alarm. "What's wrong? What is she?"

Thousands of words poured through his mind in search of an explanation he could give. He was having trouble wrapping his own mind around this. How could he being to put it in terms that Rose would understand? She was brilliant, his Rose, but this...

And then he knew exactly what to say.

"Bad Wolf."