A/N: You can find Alex's outfit for this chapter on my Tumblr, under the name 'darksideofparis'.
Alex sat up bolt right in bed later that night. She pressed a hand to her rapidly beating heart and took a few deep breaths. Oh, God, that dream. . . It had been so horrible, yet it also answered so many questions.
Without even stopping to think, Alex jumped out of bed, grabbed a white and gold robe resting at the foot of it, and pulled it on as she went out into the corridor towards the console room. She had to talk to the Doctor and tell him about this. Only he could actually explain it.
The console room was empty and Alex shifted from foot to foot, wondering where he was. Suddenly, the TARDIS hummed slightly and an old wooden door appeared out of thin air on one of the walls. Alex hesitantly stepped towards it and opened it.
Alex gasped and, based on the interior, guessed she was in the library. The room was large, with dark red walls, and stretched on for who knew how long. Tall, dark bookcases stretched towards the ceiling, all filled with books bound in jewel-colored covers. The floor was covered in Oriental carpet and several leather-backed chairs and couches were spread out everywhere. On one side of the room, Alex spotted a fireplace, burning brightly, a figure sitting on a couch in front of it.
Alex made her way over to the Doctor and peered over his shoulder. The Doctor knew she was there from the way his breath quickened, but he pretended not to notice her, just to drive her crazy. Alex attempted to identify what he was reading, but it was in strange writing that reminded her of algebra symbols. "What in the world is that?" she demanded.
The Doctor snapped the book shut. "Nothing," he dismissed.
Alex made her way around the couch and settled down next to him. "Really?" she said, giving him a dubious look. "Looked like my junior year algebra homework if you ask me."
The Doctor ignored this comment, not really wanting to get into the subject of the Gallifreyan work he had been reading. "What are you doing up?" he asked her.
Alex sighed and nibbled her bottom lip a bit. "I . . . I had this dream and . . . oh, you're going to think I'm being silly."
"No, I won't," the Doctor insisted. He could just tell by the apprehension in Alex's eyes that her dream had scared her and she was confused by it. "Whatever it was, it's nothing to be ashamed about. Just tell me."
"Okay. Um, remember how I went all trance-like back at the War Cabinet Rooms?" Alex asked. The Doctor nodded. Of course he remembered it! "Well, during that trance state, I saw this flashback of a memory I don't remember but I know it happened anyway. Does that make sense?"
"More than you have any idea," the Doctor told her. He was concerned now. He had suspected that memory had something to do with the Daleks but, for some reason, Alex hadn't been able to remember it afterwards. "Keep going," he encouraged.
Alex took a deep breath and nodded. "Well, it was just a few months after Prisoner Zero. I was in my room, hiding. There was a Dalek outside Amy's house. I was on the BBC website with my phone and I kept reloading it every few minutes to read that the Daleks had killed more people." Alex paused, trying to recall the dream before it completely slipped away, like it was doing now. "Um . . . there were planets in the sky. So many of them. I'd have thought it beautiful if it weren't for a killer robot outside in the yard."
The Doctor tensed. Of course! The reality bomb, that happened just a few months after Prisoner Zero. My last incarnation handled it. But why did Alex not remember it? "Then what?" he asked, leaning forward.
"Well, all of a sudden, the Dalek just said elevate in that weird voice it has. It came up to my window and i-it . . . it was going to kill me." Alex swallowed heavily, remembering how she had wanted to scream but couldn't because she didn't want Amy or Rory getting caught in the crossfire. "But . . . it just stopped. It said that it was unable to kill."
Oh no, the Doctor thought sickly, but he couldn't stop Alex.
"It had this weird conversation with somebody I couldn't see or hear but . . . apparently it couldn't kill me because I was a fixed point or something. It told me so, because you were involved in my future and that couldn't be changed." Alex closed her eyes. This was the part of the dream that scared her the most. "Before it flew off, it . . . it said to beware because the Daleks knew me."
The Doctor closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. Maybe it didn't mean anything. Maybe Alex traveled with him for a long while and she met the Daleks a few times. That was reasonable . . . wasn't it? "Ally, is there anything else?"
Alex shook her head. "No, that's where it stopped. There's more to it, I know, but I woke up in a cold sweat at that moment." She looked up into his worried and soothing green eyes. "I knew I had to tell you, because it was important. I did meet the Daleks but I don't remember it . . . or at least not properly. It's like my mind is hiding it from me only until I really need it."
"It seems so," the Doctor agreed.
"Why is that happening to me, Doctor?" Alex asked. "I mean, Starship U.K. with me passing out, and then now with me remembering things that I don't properly remember. . . What is that?"
Suddenly, the Doctor had an idea. "Ally, scoot closer," he requested.
Alex stared at him hesitantly, but obliged. Somewhat worried about what she might do when he put his plan into action, the Doctor pulled her closer to him so that she was pretty much sitting in his lap. Alex felt a hot thrum race through her veins at this, but she ignored it. This was time for serious matters.
"Time Lords have this gift," the Doctor began slowly. God only knew how she would react to this. "We can look through people's minds and access their memories if we're touching them and concentrating hard enough."
Alex quickly caught on. "So, you want to go through my mind and see what's going on?"
He swallowed. "Pretty much, yes. But only if you're up to it."
Alex thought for a moment before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. "Okay, I'm game," she said. She latched her hands around his neck and braced herself for whatever was about to happen. "Just get it over with."
The Doctor chuckled. "Don't worry, it's not painful." He reached behind him and reluctantly released her grip around his neck and settled her so that her back was resting against the couch but she was still positioned on him. Both would have found this pretty intimate with the dark overhead lights, a roaring fire, and how close their bodies were pressed together had they not been concentrated on cracking the mystery of Alex's mind.
The Doctor pressed his fingers to Alex's temples and reached into her mind. "Alex, anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door in front of it. I won't look." As he settled into Alex's mind, he heard a few doors closing. Finally, he was truly inside.
Alex's mind reminded him of a classy hotel, with cream walls and closed doors. But just as he stepped forward, he was blindsided with a bunch of pain. Turning around slightly, he dodged what appeared to be the mental equivalent of an atomic bomb. He heard Alex cry out and his physical body tightened his grip on her. In her mind, he ran, dodging the bombs and trying to block out the sound of Alex's pained cries.
Finally, he reached a darkened section of Alex's mind. The mental walls were dark and peeling and he could barely see. Trying a door, he found it unlocked. He opened it and was instantly transported to Alex's memory of the Daleks.
He stood in a corner of the room, unseen to Alex, and watched her hesitantly look out the window at the Dalek and update her phone. Her face fell as she read an article detailing how many people were estimated to have died thus far. He watched as the Dalek came up to the window and Alex scooted back into a corner, shutting her eyes tight and praying that it wouldn't see her. His physical jaw clenched as the Dalek spoke to Alex, warning her that she was known to the Daleks and that only the fixed point in her future with the Doctor was protecting her now. Finally, the memory ended with Amy and Rory racing upstairs and the three staying together that way all night long. The memory ended and the Doctor left that particular section of her mind.
Out in the hall, another mental bomb whizzed by him and he heard Alex scream in pain. Racing over to another door, he ducked inside. He wanted to get this over with before her strange mental barriers forced him out.
This section contained the memories after the Dalek invasion. They mostly consisted of Alex and Amy staying in their house out of fear, furniture still barricaded in front of the downstairs doors and windows. As he watched Alex attempt to make brownies, she suddenly stiffened. Clutching her head, she staggered back a bit before quickly straightening herself up again. He watched, curious, as she looked out the window, seemed puzzled for a moment, and then quickly switched to happy. Alex shut off the oven, dumped the brownie mix in the trash and went outside. The memory fast-forwarded to show Alex returning a few hours later with a bunch of shopping bags.
The Doctor left that memory and was about to go and look for another hidden memory when there came the mental equivalent of warning alarms. He found himself being hit by several of the atomic bombs and distantly heard Alex crying out. The bombs were forcing him through a backdoor exit out of Alex's mind and he happily left.
Once the Doctor exited Alex's mind, he found himself back in the library on the couch with Alex sitting on him. Tear tracks were on her face and her eyes were squeezed shut from the pain of the bombs. Wrapping an arm around her back, the Doctor pulled her closer to him as he collapsed down onto the couch, also drained from the bombs. They lay like that, half lying on the couch with Alex on top, for a few minutes before Alex slowly opened her eyes. She had blacked out again, just shortly after the Doctor had exited her mind. She slowly lifted her gaze to stare into his tired eyes.
The Doctor kept his arm around her back, keeping her from trying to get up too soon. "I'm so sorry," he said softly, his voice expressing just how much the experience had tired him. "If I had known that your mind would do that, I'd never have gone in there."
"It's not your fault," Alex assured him. Her voice was soft too, exhausted and just overall confused. "It's my mind. I need to take responsibility for it."
"But you aren't throwing bombs at intruders in there on purpose," the Doctor argued. "I scanned you back on Starship U.K. while you were still unconscious and the results were alarming. I didn't want to tell you then because I didn't want you to be scared and there were other matters to deal with—"
"Yes, I know," Alex interrupted. "But just tell me. What did the scans tell you?"
The Doctor was silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to tell her and how. "Basically," he began, "when the Star Whale was reaching out to your mind, trying to get you to help, your mind panicked. It sent in the equivalent of an army at it. Your brain shut down most of your body systems, except for breathing and your heart beating, to have the energy to fight it off. When I was in there now, your mind was throwing these mental bombs at me to get me out." He grimaced and then smiled wryly. "Not exactly a welcoming person, your brain is."
But Alex didn't acknowledge the joke. Instead, she was thinking. "Yeah," she said. The Doctor looked at her questioningly. "I mean, before I passed out on the Starship, I felt these bombs going off in my head. Like with you, they were aiming at the Star Whale's mind." Alex breathed deeply. Her mind was turning against her, acting on its own without her control. What the hell?!
Noticing Alex's panicking, the Doctor scooted back up, his energy now fully restored, and wrapped both arms around her. She buried her head in the crook of his neck and tried to keep the tears from falling. No, I will not cry in front of this man! Alex told herself, but that didn't stop a few hot tears from falling and staining the Doctor's tweed jacket.
"Ally, it's okay," he whispered gently to her. His breath felt warm and soothing on her neck and it did calm her down somewhat.
"It's just. . ." She leaned back, exposing her red-rimmed eyes. "My mind is turning against me. It's intentionally harming me! What if it happens again and this time, I die?!"
"I'm positive that won't happen," the Doctor assured her. "The way I saw it, a subconscious part of your mind is protecting you. It's incredibly strong and does mean well. It only acts this way if something is invading your mind. I don't believe it would suddenly try to kill you for no reason."
Alex nodded, seeing the reasoning in this. Then, she thought of something. "Doctor?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you think any of this has something to do with why I saw through the perception filter at Amy's house?"
The Doctor thought for a moment. If Alex's mind was strong enough to defend her against potential intruders, it was probably strong enough to not be fooled by a simple perception filter. "Possibly," he finally admitted.
Alex nodded again and sniffled a little bit. "Okay." She looked around the room, trying to process all these new revelations. But it was still so much. . . Alex didn't want to deal with it anymore. "So, this is the library," she commented.
The Doctor knew Alex was just changing the subject, but decided to let her. She didn't need to be burdened by her weird mind anymore tonight. "Yep."
"Didn't you say that there had been a pool in here?" The Doctor didn't miss the way Alex's body tensed. It was one thing to be afraid of what a subconscious part of your mind was capable of doing; it was another to be afraid of water.
"Yes, but I moved it," he assured her. "It took up too much room and the books were starting to smell like chlorine. Actually, I moved it just a little while ago. I didn't want you to worry about possibly falling in while in here."
Alex smiled. "Thanks," she breathed. "I know the fear of water sounds stupid and all—"
"It's not," the Doctor interrupted, looking at her seriously.
"Let me finish. I realize that it's stupid - I got a lot of crap for it in elementary school swimming lessons - but I just cannot be around water without thinking about that night." Alex paused. "I remember it so clearly. How cold the water was, the thrash of the waves, how the sky was so dark with bursts of lightning illuminating my surroundings every few minutes, my mom's screams, the overwhelming silence of being by myself, the water filling my lungs, and then the bright light of the Coast Guard and somebody pulling me up."
Alex looked down at the gold ring on her finger, which she never took off for fear of losing it. "You see this ring?" she asked.
The Doctor studied it. He noticed that it appeared to be two gold rings melded together. "It's beautiful," he said sincerely. "Are they your parent's wedding bands?"
"Yes," Alex answered. "They found my parent's bodies and pulled them out of the water. A female Coast Guard woman was trying to distract me so I wouldn't see, but she had to go and help and I saw them." She shuddered. "They just looked so . . . lifeless. Just hours before, my mom had been fluttering around the yacht in this gorgeous red dress, sipping on a glass of wine and helping me color in my coloring books; now she was dead, everything lifelike just sucked out of her. My dad was just the same. He had been teasing and joking with my mom hours before. He had been sipping a soda, because he was the one controlling the boat. Now, he was just dead.
"I plucked the rings off their corpses when nobody was looking. I don't really know why I did it. I guess I just wanted something to remind me of them. I remember they were talking about renewing their vows in London, where they met." Alex smiled. "There had been a lot of talk that night of me acting as a flower girl. I was so thrilled by the idea. I was looking for flowers or potpourri to toss around for practice when the accident happened."
Alex twisted her ring. "Years later, on my fourteenth birthday, my friend Lacey and her aunt Marigold surprised me by having the rings secretly melded together. It was the best present I had ever received. I don't think I've removed this ring since."
"It's good that you have a reminder of your parents."
"Yeah," Alex agreed. "I don't have much. All of their more expensive stuff is in a lock-box at a bank in New York I don't get access to until I'm twenty-one. And I don't gain my inheritance until I'm twenty-five. Surprisingly, Carla didn't keep much of my parents' belongings. My dad was her only son and she burned a copy of their wedding photo."
The Doctor couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How did you live with that woman for so long?" he asked.
Alex shrugged. "I don't know. We never got along but she never physically abused me, so I was lucky. She left me for various periods at a time starting when I was in middle school and I was happy when she did. It meant I didn't have to see her. It gave me a sense of freedom."
"I wish you hadn't had to go through that."
Alex smiled at him. "It's all in the past, isn't it? Besides, it didn't psychologically damage me, well, I hope it didn't." She shifted slightly, thinking back over their conversation over her mind, when she realized that she was still sitting in the Doctor's lap. Looking down, she saw his arms still wrapped around her.
It felt so nice, being there with him. Never mind all the drama concerning her mind, she was just content to sit here by the fire in his lap. Maybe play with his hair, straddle his waist, move in and kiss him. . . Stop it! She mentally snapped. He's an alien, you are a human girl. There is no way that could ever work! Get it in your head already!
Alex carefully got up and the Doctor's arms released her. Looking down at him, she said "Thanks for listening and . . . explaining." She then turned around and rushed out of the library.
As soon as he heard the door close, the Doctor sunk back into the couch. God, he had wanted to hold her close and never let go. He wanted to keep her there with him and not let her worry about her mind protecting her in such a violent and strange way or see past alien technology that was far more sophisticated than any piece of twenty-first century tech.
The Doctor stared into the fire, thinking. He had heard of Alexandria Nicole Locke before. He knew he had, ever since Prisoner Zero. He hadn't focused on it much, due to other circumstances, but when Alex told him about her dream, the dots in his mind connected.
His tenth self had been arguing with Martha, Jack, Mickey, Jackie, and Sarah-Jane on using either the Osterhagen Key to blow up the Earth or a Warp Star to blow up the Earth. Naturally, he had been against both. The Daleks then managed to transport the group into the vault where he and Rose were, causing them to inadvertently leave behind both of the deadly weapons.
Jack started to race towards him, where he was trapped in a force-field. "I've got you, it's all right."
"Don't move!" he called to them. "All of you!" He touched the force-field around him, causing it to light up.
"Guard them!" Davros, the creator of the Daleks, who had somehow managed to come back to life, ordered. "On your knees, all of you! Surrender!"
"Do as he says," the Doctor told them.
Rose, who was next to him in her own force-field, looked at her mom. "Mum, I told you not to."
Jackie looked at her, her face filled with love and desperation. "Yeah, but I couldn't leave you."
Suddenly, a Dalek started calling out, in what almost sounded like a scared voice, "DAELK ON EARTH UNABLE TO KILL! TIME DISREPENCY!"
"What?!" Davros and the Doctor cried out simultaneously. The Doctor was shocked. What kind of time discrepancy would cause a Dalek to be unable to kill?
Davros whirled to face the Dalek in question. "Initiate communication option 075!"
All of the previous companions looked at the Doctor in confusion. Shrugging, he answered, "Dalek version of speaker phone."
A moment later, another Dalek voice filled the room. "UNABLE TO KILL!" it screeched.
Davros frowned. "Where is this Dalek in question?" he demanded.
A Dalek on the other side of the room examined a screen. "Location revealed! 17 Dreamer Lane, Leadworth, England, Earth!" Suddenly, a bunch of alarms started flashing around the room and the Daleks began to panic. "FIXED POINT! FIXED POINT! FIXED POINT!" they screamed.
Martha looked at the scene in bewilderment. "Doctor! What are they going on about?"
"It's a fixed point," the Doctor replied. "It's a point in time that cannot be changed no matter what. It has to happen."
"But what is it?" Rose asked.
Jack shrugged. "Whatever it is, it's enough to send this lot into a tizzy."
Davros, meanwhile, had his face set into a deep frown. "What kind of fixed point is at this address?" he scowled. "Scan it!"
There was a small ping from the screen a Dalek was examining. The Dalek looked at it and then started backing away from the screen. "IT IS CONFIRMED!" it cried.
Davros looked at it. "Send it to that Dalek!" The Dalek seemed rather reluctant to go back to the screen, but nevertheless did so. A minute later, the Earthbound Dalek's voice filled the room.
"IT IS CONFIRMED! IT IS FIXED POINT, ALEXANDRIA LOCKE! ALLY, TO THE DOCTOR!"
"WHAT?" the Doctor cried. Who was Ally? He didn't know an Ally!
Rose turned to look at him. "Ally?" she repeated. Who on Earth was this person that appeared to be on very close terms with the Doctor?
Jack, Martha, Mickey, Sarah Jane, and Jackie also turned to look at him. "Who's Ally?" Jack demanded, his face full of questions. He then grinned. "Ally. . . Sounds cute."
"How should I know!" the Doctor cried, eyes wide, not even registering the last part of what Jack had said. "I've never met an Alexandria Locke before!"
Mickey frowned, thinking something over. "Locke," he mused. "I've heard that name before."
"It's probably a common name," Sarah Jane said, although the Doctor knew she was curious as well.
Suddenly, the Dalek on Earth started talking again, interrupting everyone's thoughts on the mysterious fixed point, Alexandria Locke. "You are saved by the law of time, Alexandria," it said ominously. It seemed to the Doctor that it was talking directly to Alexandria Locke. "The Doctor is involved in your future, a future that cannot be changed. But beware! The Daleks know who you are!"
"Cease communication!" Davros demanded. Suddenly, the room was silent. Everyone in the room was thinking of this fixed point that would be involved in the Doctor's future. She was so special, not even the Daleks could kill her. Which meant. . .
Davros turned to the Doctor. "Explain!" he ordered in a voice very similar to the Daleks.
"I can't explain anything," the Doctor smirked. "But whoever this Alexandria Locke is, or Ally in my case, I'm glad that one of your little inventions stumbled across her. Do you know what that means, Davros?" Davros didn't answer and just continued to stare at him with the uttermost contempt.
"It means you don't succeed, Davros!" the Doctor gloated. "You don't destroy reality! That human girl, that fixed point, is living, breathing proof! The laws of time won't allow you to destroy her! It'd create a massive paradox! And not even a Dalek can change that."
Davros stared at him, unblinking. The Doctor held his breath slightly, hoping against hope that Davros would see the fault here, how they couldn't succeed. The consequences if they tried were too extreme and the universe would possibly prevent it. The Daleks couldn't win here. It was impossible.
But his hopes for the Daleks and their creator to gain some sense were ruined when Davros ordered, "The final prophecy is in place. The Doctor and his children, all gathered as witnesses. Supreme Dalek, the time has come. Now, detonate the Reality Bomb!"
The Doctor wearily shook his head. Of course, his Meta-Crisis clone suddenly appeared along with Donna and managed to stop the Reality Bomb. He returned everyone to their proper places and suddenly, he was left alone. He thought briefly about going to find this Alexandria Locke, but finally decided against it. After losing Donna, he needed to be alone for a while. That incarnation hadn't wanted to risk screwing up another companion and he didn't want this Alexandria Locke, part of his future, to be screwed up so soon.
But now, she was here. The Doctor sighed. It seemed to him that Alex was already messed up, without his help this time, what with her freaky mind and all. But still, he liked the mysteriousness surrounding her and he wanted to keep her around him, for more than curious purposes if he was being honest with himself.
Grimacing, the Doctor leaned back against the couch and grabbed his book. Alex needed to be guarded carefully whenever they were on dangerous adventures. There were a lot of instances when her mind could be compromised and Alex would be in that awful pain again. He decided that when Amy and Alex woke up, they would go on a less dangerous trip. Yes, that's what they would do.
A/N: Sorry for the late update! The joys of school. . . BUT we found out where the Doctor knows Alex from! I kind of think 10 and Alex would be a cute couple, don't you?
WhereThere'sTeaAndBooks - Glad you liked the chapter! I'm a huge Doctor/Rose fan, but only 10/Rose. Not sure why, but I guess I feel they go together a bit more than 9/Rose. And you won't have to wait much longer for River and Alex interactions! :)
Thank you to ElysiumPhoenix, WhereThere'sTeaAndBooks, and Guest for reviewing and thanks to those who followed and favored this story. Also, a BUNCH of thanks to those who added me to Author Alert and their favorite authors! It means a lot that you like my writing!
Tomorrow, we start 'The Time of Angels' *cue ominous music*. Believe me when I say that River and Alex's relationship is interesting and hopefully not something anyone else on here has ever done. :)
