A/N: Alex's outfits for this chapter can be found on my Tumblr, under the name 'darksideofparis'.
Several days later, Alex wandered into the TARDIS library. After a particularly hectic adventure on a planet she couldn't pronounce the name of, she had managed to convince the Doctor to let them have a day of relaxation before they went tumbling into another adventure. Amy and Rory had been grateful even though Amy did make a comment about Alex having the Doctor wrapped around her finger.
Alex made her way through the tall stacks of books. The lighting in the library was perfectly dim, the chandeliers above her glittering like diamonds. She trailed a finger over the many books and wondered if the Doctor had actually read them all or just liked to collect them. Regardless, she was thrilled by the enormous collection. If there was one thing Alex loved, it was books.
The books had been organized alphabetically according to the author's last name. Soon, Alex found herself standing before an entire shelf devoted to Stephen King. The Doctor didn't seem like the type to read Stephen King, but one never could tell.
Alex glanced at the titles before her gaze settled on a paperback copy of Christine. She had seen the movie but had never read the book. As she pulled it out, the TARDIS hummed at her selection.
Alex looked up and grinned. "Like this?" she asked, looking up at the ceiling. The TARDIS let out a pleased hum. Alex giggled. "To be honest, the sentient car kinda reminds me of you." There was a slightly indignant hum at this. Alex burst out laughing. "Relax!" she cried. "I'm not accusing you of murder or anything!" The TARDIS hummed again, more cheerful this time, apparently pleased by Alex's words.
Alex laughed again. She had gotten to the point where she could easily converse with the TARDIS. She was surprisingly skilled at deciphering the TARDIS's hums and translated to a still confused Amy and Rory. The Doctor, needless to say, was beyond thrilled at this. He had once told Alex that she seemed to be the TARDIS's favorite companion, something Alex easily believed.
Alex headed over to the leather couch in front of the fireplace she had sat on with the Doctor the last time she was in here. Lying on her back while keeping her head propped up on the armrest, Alex opened the book and began to read. She had gotten to the fourth page when she heard the birdsong.
Alex lowered her book and looked around the library. That wasn't possible. There weren't birds in the TARDIS, unless the Doctor had an aviary he wasn't telling her about. But before she could get up and investigate, Alex felt her eyelids drooping as a huge wave of exhaustion came over her. Before she knew it, Christine had fallen to the floor and she was fast asleep, just one of the TARDIS occupants to do so. Further away, the Doctor was slumped over the controls and Amy and Rory were in their bedroom, Rory passed out on the floor and Amy on the bed. None of them knew of the craziness that was about to happen.
~Living the Life of Ally~
"Ally, that lever! No, THAT lever!"
Alex rolled her eyes and yanked down the lever she'd been aiming for. Honestly, the Doctor was such a nervous wreck whenever she drove the TARDIS. He had taught her everything he knew and the TARDIS had taught her the rest. Five years of flying lessons and you'd think he'd trust her by now. She told him exactly this.
The Doctor laughed wryly at her. "I trust you, Ally. I just don't trust your driving. You drive like a maniac after all."
Alex stepped closer to him. "Keep that up and you might find yourself sleeping on the couch tonight," she teased.
The Doctor leaned down to where his lips were nearly touching her own. "Never," he growled before pulling her into a heated kiss. He pulled back long enough to add, "You'd be too lonely."
"Probably true," Alex admitted before grazing his lip with her tongue. She gave a mischievous smile when he moaned. Three years together and she still found ways to pleasure him.
He smirked down at her, pleased at being proven right, before suddenly jumping away and tugging her along after him. "Come along, Ally! You're going to love Lexus 5. Brilliant light shows, entertainment, and a nice social scene. All perfect for—" By this point he had reached the door and had thrown it open. His face fell as he stared out at the scene before him. "Well, this is not Lexus 5."
Indeed, it wasn't. In front of them stood a nicely sized stone cottage. It was mid-morning and the TARDIS had landed on top of a flower bed in a rockery. The Doctor looked around in confusion before narrowing his gaze on Alex. "I knew it!" he crowed. "You were flying it wrong!"
Alex simply smiled impishly, a look the Doctor had learned to watch out for. "No, I wasn't," she calmly corrected.
The Doctor was about to ask her what she meant when the cottage door slammed open and out came none other than Rory. "Rory!" the Doctor cried.
Rory gaped at the two. "Doctor! Alex!" he exclaimed as he rushed over to them.
"Rory!" Alex squealed. She looked over at the Doctor smugly. "See? I wasn't flying it wrong. I wanted to come here." She glanced down at the flowerbed they were on and shrugged. "Just not on this exact spot. Sorry, Rory, but I crushed your flowers!"
"Oh, Amy will kill you," Rory smiled as he helped Alex jump down. The Doctor hopped off also, knocking a stone off as he landed.
He looked around expectantly. "Where is she?" he asked.
Rory shrugged a little. "She'll need a bit longer."
The Doctor looked over at the door. "Whenever you're ready, Amy!" he called as he looped an arm around Alex's waist and tugged her close. A second later, the door opened and out came Amy . . . a very pregnant Amy.
Alex's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped while the Doctor pointed and exclaimed, "You've swallowed a planet!" Alex elbowed him for that.
"I'm pregnant!" Amy corrected as she carefully waddled over to them.
"You're huge!" the Doctor cried.
Alex rolled her eyes. "She's pregnant, genius."
"Look at you!" The Doctor grinned at the Ponds. "When worlds collide."
"No, I'm pregnant," Amy tried again.
Alex reached over and patted her friend on the arm. "Don't worry, it'll come to him here in a second." Once she had finished saying that, her gaze traveled over to Rory and her eyes widened as she caught sight of his new ponytail.
"Oh, look at you five years later and you haven't changed a bit!" the Doctor cried, stepping in between Amy and Rory and wrapping an arm around their shoulders. "Apart from age and size," he added, casting a look at Amy's stomach.
"Oh, it's good to see you both!" Amy cried, wrapping her free arm around Alex's shoulders and pulling her close.
At that moment, something dawned on the Doctor. "Are you pregnant?" he asked Amy, looking at her stomach in a whole new light.
"I told you it'd come to him," Alex smiled.
A few minutes later, the group were walking through Leadworth. It looked just like it had the last time Alex had been here a few years ago. Stone houses lined the roads along with large shady elms and an abundance of black wrought-iron fencing. Alex hated the wrought-iron fencing. It made her think of graveyards, which she absolutely hated. She looked around and noticed that the streets were as active as ever. Not a soul was in sight anywhere.
The Doctor, noticing this, sighed loudly. "Ah, Leadworth," he said, his voice caked with sarcasm "Vibrant as ever."
"It's Upper Leadworth actually," Rory corrected. "We've gone slightly up market."
Alex nodded. That made total sense. For their wedding, she had given them a ton of stock in G-Locke. Amy and Rory were practically rolling in money now. "Where is everyone?" she asked. "I don't remember it ever being this quiet."
"This is busy." The Doctor and Alex gave Amy identical looks. "Okay!" she cried. "It's quiet, but it's really . . . restful and . . . healthy. Lots of people round here live well into their nineties."
"Well, don't let that get you down," the Doctor replied.
Amy frowned at him, confused. "It's not getting me down," she said as the group found a nearby bench. They sat down, the Doctor sitting in between Amy and Rory while Alex perched on his lap.
"Well, we wanted to see how you were," the Doctor explained as he wrapped his arms around Alex's waist. She leaned back into him, relishing in his scent that included that musky cologne, heavenly shampoo, and a slight trace of her Chanel No. 5 perfume from where they had been making out earlier. "You know me, I don't just abandon people when they leave the TARDIS. This Time Lord's polite. You don't get rid of your old pal the Doctor so easily."
Amy nodded, not believing a word that came out of his mouth. "You came here by mistake, didn't you?"
"I was tricked," the Doctor muttered, lightly swatting Alex on the back of the head.
Alex, hardly bothered, only beamed. "You're welcome!"
Rory chuckled. "I always knew there was a reason I liked you over the Doctor."
The Doctor ignored him. "But look, what a result! Look at this . . . bench. What a nice bench. What will they think of next?" There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment before the Doctor asked, "So, what do you do around here to stave off the, you know. . ."
"Boredom?" Amy guessed.
"Self-harm," the Doctor corrected.
Rory thought about this for a second. "We relax," he said slowly. "We live." At that moment, the sound of birds chirping rang out. Rory acknowledged this with a nod of his head. "We listen to the birds."
"Yeah, see?" Amy urged before suddenly sighing tiredly. "Birds. Those are nice."
"We didn't get a lot of time to listen to birdsong back in the TARDIS days, did we?" Rory said.
Alex smiled. "Still don't," she murmured, looking over and lightly kissing the Doctor on the lips.
Amy's eyes widened. "I'd be jumping up and down if I could. You two finally got together?!"
"Three years in two weeks," Alex answered, looking deeply into the Doctor's eyes. She remembered everything about their courtship. She remembered their passionate lip-lock after he saved her from a Raxacoricofallapatorian, how he told her he loved her at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and their first time where she had practically rendered him speechless in a sheer cream with black lace nightgown.
"Treating her right, Doctor?" Rory asked, his brotherly concern for Alex popping up.
The Doctor nodded, but he seemed a bit distracted for at that moment, the birdsong grew louder. "Ah! Blimey," he groaned, resting his head in Alex's hair. Whenever he'd had a headache in the past, all he had to do was bury his head in Alex's long locks and he'd be okay. "My head's a bit. . ."
Alex whirled around and eyed him worriedly. "Doctor?" she said. "Doctor, are you alright?"
"No," he murmured, his voice becoming drowsy. "You're right. There wasn't a lot of time for . . . birdsong back in the good. . ."
The chirping grew louder and Alex found her head drooping down. She felt the Doctor's arms tighten around her waist so she wouldn't go sliding off. Without looking, she could tell the same thing was happening with Rory and Amy. Pretty soon, all of them were leaning on each-other, struggling to remain upright as the Doctor attempted to get one final word out.
"Old. . ." he mumbled before they all fell asleep.
~Living the Life of Ally~
". . .days!"
The Doctor shot up, looking around. Instead of Leadworth, he was back in the TARDIS. He was lying on the floor underneath the console. Above him, he could see Alex slowly sitting up, looking around in confusion before finally locating him underneath her.
"What?!" he cried, sitting up. "No! Yes! Sorry. What?"
"Doctor, what are you babbling about?" Alex asked wearily. She sat up on the jump-seat and carefully smoothed the wrinkles out of her long-sleeved mint green shirt.
The Doctor raced up the steps and hastily looked her over. He visibly relaxed a little as he saw Alex's eyes switch from chocolate brown to honey-colored. Looking up, he saw Amy and Rory heading down the stairs. Both of them looked very confused, Amy glancing down at her now flat abdomen every few seconds. "Oh! You're okay!" he cried. "Oh, thank God! I had a horrible nightmare about you three. That was scary. Don't ask. You don't wanna know. Safe now. That's what counts." He hurried towards Amy and hugged her while Alex peeled herself off the chair.
"Blimey," the Doctor said as he went over to Alex and planted a kiss on her hairline, "never dropped off like that before." He headed towards the console, Alex trailing along behind him like an obedient puppy.
She arched an eyebrow. "Really?"
The Doctor shrugged. "Okay, never really," he admitted. "I'm getting on a bit, you see? Don't let the cool gear fool you. Now, what's wrong with the console?" He nodded to some red flashing lights. "Red flashing lights. I bet they mean something."
Rory stared into space for a moment, thinking something over as the Doctor fussed over the console. "Er, Doctor, I also had a kind of dream thing."
Amy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, so did I."
"Ditto," Alex jumped in, not even bothering to look up from watching the red flashing lights on the console.
"Not a nightmare though," Rory clarified. He looked over at Amy, watching her expression for the reaction it would have to his words. "Just, er, we were married."
"Yeah! In a little village."
"A sweet little village and you were pregnant."
"Yes, I was huge," Amy recounted. "I was a boat."
Rory cocked an eyebrow. "So, you had the same dream, then? Exactly the same dream?"
Amy's eyes narrowed and Alex could tell that she had misjudged what Rory was implying. "Are you calling me a boat?" she accused, her voice dangerously low.
"And Doctor!" Rory hastily cried before Amy could get the notion to kill him. "You and Alex were visiting!"
"Yeah, yeah, you two came to our cottage," Amy recalled. Suddenly, something occurred to her. "Oh, hold on! You two were also a couple!"
The Doctor, whose head was stuck under the console examining something, shot upward rapidly and banged his head on the console's underside. He cried out and straightened up, rubbing the back of his head. Amy noted that his face was bright red, identical to the shade gracing Alex's face, the latter having gone silent at the mention of her love life in the dream.
"Yes, well. . ." the Doctor started but his voice trailed off. Alex opened her mouth to say something, but promptly closed it. Amy and Rory both noticed that neither the Doctor nor Alex was looking at the other.
Alex opened her mouth again. "Okay, passing that. . ." she muttered before raising her voice some as she asked, "How could we have had the same dream? It doesn't make any sense."
"And you had a nightmare about us," Amy remembered, pointing at the Doctor. "What happened to us in the nightmare?"
"It was a bit similar in some aspects," the Doctor answered vaguely.
"Which aspects?" Rory asked.
"Well . . . all of them."
Alex flinched a little. She wasn't going to lie to herself and say that she hadn't slightly enjoyed being with the Doctor romantically in the Leadworth dream. But he was saying it was a nightmare. That only proves it, she thought. He's not interested in you, period.
Amy and Rory had noticed Alex's flinch and both of them felt a little angry towards the Doctor. "You had the same dream," Amy said bluntly.
"Basically," the Doctor admitted.
Rory frowned at him, his protectiveness towards Alex flaring up. "You said it was a nightmare," he reminded while subtlety nodding his head at Alex.
The Doctor followed the nod of Rory's head over to Alex, who was watching him with a guarded expression. The Doctor mentally swore as he realized what he had said. Even though he knew he couldn't get attached to Alex, he had enjoyed being with her romantically in the dream. It was everything he wanted with her and more. Way to go, idiot, he thought.
"Did I say nightmare? No, more like a good . . . mare," he hastily corrected. As he passed Alex, he reached out and ruffled her hair a little, making it tousled the way he liked. "Look, it doesn't matter. We all had some kind of psychic episode. We probably jumped a time track or something. Forget it. We're back to reality now."
Just as the Doctor began fussing with the controls though, a bird began singing. Amy looked around. "Doctor?" she said as the man in question slowly raised his head. "If we're back to reality, how come I can still hear birds?"
"Yeah, the same birds," Rory added. "The same ones we heard in the. . ."
~Living the Life of Ally~
". . .dream."
With that, Rory's eyes burst open. He was forehead to forehead with the Doctor while Alex's head was drooped against the Doctor's chest with Amy's head resting on the Doctor's shoulder. Rory and the Doctor jerked away with a shout, causing Alex to nearly tumble off the Doctor's lap until he tightened his grip on her at the last moment.
"Sorry!" Rory cried, rubbing the back of his head. "Nodded off. Stupid! God, I must be overdoing it. I was dreaming we were back on the TARDIS."
The Doctor looked over Alex as Rory spoke, pleased to see her worried eyes change from light green to dark, the color matching his own. He gently eased her off his lap, checked his braces, and walked away. From behind him, he could hear Rory ask, "You had the same dream, didn't you?"
Amy confirmed this with a nod of her head. "Weren't we just saying the same thing?"
"But we thought this was the dream, didn't we?" Alex asked as she watched the Doctor pick up a grain of dirt and examine it.
"I think so." Amy struggled to get up with her rotund stomach. As Alex darted over to help her, she moaned, "Why do dreams have to fade so quickly?"
Rory marched over to the Doctor. "Doctor, what is going on?" he demanded as Amy and Alex trailed after him.
"Is this because of you?" Amy questioned. "Is this some Time Lordy thing because you've shown up again?"
"Listen to me," the Doctor ordered as he glared at their surroundings, his eyes grave. "Trust nothing. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear, or feel." He felt a pang in his hearts of how he felt for Alex, but reluctantly pushed it aside.
"But we're home!" Amy argued, looking up and down the empty street.
"Yeah, you're home, you're also dreaming!" the Doctor shot back. "Trouble is, Amy, Rory, Ally, which is which? Are we flashing forwards or backwards?" He pushed through Amy and Rory to look at the opposite end of the street. "Hold on tight. This is going to be a tricky one."
~Living the Life of Ally~
Alex's eyes shot open and as she carefully peeled herself up from the floor, she watched the Doctor run around the console as the TARDIS thrashed uncontrollably around them.
"This is bad!" the Doctor shouted as he strained under pushing something on the console. "I don't like this!" With that, the Doctor hurled himself away from the console and kicked it. This, however, didn't help and he howled in pain.
"Never use force!" he growled as he hopped around. "You just embarrass yourself! Unless you're cross, in which case, always use force!"
"Want me to run and get the manual?" Alex offered as the Doctor limped down the stairs to under the console.
"I threw it in a supernova!" the Doctor called up.
Alex hung her head and shook it. "You threw the manual . . . in a supernova," she said incredulously. "Why would you do such an idiotic thing?!"
"Because I disagreed with it!" the Doctor shouted back, looking up at her through the glass floor. "Stop talking to me when I'm cross!"
Alex's eyes flashed dangerously. "Don't yell at me when the TARDIS starts acting up!" she screeched.
Sensing that a loud, explosive argument was brewing, Rory took it upon himself to interrupt it. "Okay!" he cried loudly, stepping up and pulling Alex back a little. "But whatever's wrong with the TARDIS, is that what caused us to dream about the future?"
"If we were dreaming of the future," the Doctor retorted as he came back up the stairs.
"Well, of course we were!" Amy exclaimed. "We were in Leadworth."
"Upper Leadworth," Rory corrected her. Amy's response was to give him a sharp look.
The Doctor circled the console, desperately trying to figure out what was wrong. Hearing Amy's comment, he said, "Yeah, and we could still be in Upper Leadworth, dreaming of this. Don't you get it?"
"No!" Amy cried as the Doctor gave tools to her, Rory, and Alex. "Okay? No. This is real. I'm definitely awake now!"
"And you thought you were definitely awake when you were all . . . elephanty."
"Hey!" Amy snapped, holding her tool towards the Doctor's face in a threatening manner. "Pregnant."
"And you could be giving birth right now!" the Doctor reminded her. "This could be the dream. I told you. Trust nothing we see, hear, or feel. Look around you. Examine everything. Look for all the details that don't ring true."
"Okay," Rory said. "We're in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside than the outside."
"With a bowtie wearing alien," Amy picked up.
"So maybe what rings true isn't so simple," Alex finished.
The Doctor shrugged. "Valid point," he conceded.
Just as he finished saying that, the lights around them suddenly powered down and switched off. A sound also rang out, Alex figuring it was the engine also switching off. Soon, the room was dark except for a green glow coming from the top of the cylinder on the console.
"What happened?" Alex demanded nervously. She placed a hand down on one of the railings but she couldn't feel a hum at all. It sounded like the TARDIS was . . . dead.
"It's dead," the Doctor breathed, his face filled with horror and grief. "We're in a dead time machine."
Right at that moment, a bird began singing.
The Doctor hastily pulled Alex to his side, their argument from before already forgotten. Rory hurried over to Amy's side and clutched her close.
"Remember, this is real," the Doctor told them as he clutched Alex even closer to his body. He hated that he could feel her shaking slightly beneath him. It reminded him of when she found out the Weeping Angels desired her. He felt a slight burst of anger swell up in his stomach. He'd never let Alex get hurt. He'd sacrifice himself before he allowed something else to hurt her. "But when we wake up in the other place, remember how real this feels."
"It is real," Amy said desperately. The chirping became louder and Alex could feel herself sinking down to the floor. But before she lost consciousness completely, she heard Amy say, "I know it's real."
~Living the Life of Ally~
The Doctor's head raised up. He was lying on the ground, Alex curled into his side. His arm was wrapped around her waist protectively, keeping her close to him. Nearby, he could see Amy and Rory waking up on a bench and a schoolteacher leading a gaggle of children past them. He looked back down at Alex and watched as her eyes burst open, exposing topaz-colored irises.
"I hate this," she muttered, helping him to his feet. She shivered slightly and tugged her ox blood red leather jacket tighter around her.
"Don't worry," he whispered, moving his hands to her shoulders. Her shaking instantly stopped and he smiled at her. "I'll figure this out and stop it. I promise."
Alex smiled and looked up at him. She knew he'd never let anything bad happen to her, not if he could help it.
Their sweet moment was unintentionally interrupted by Amy as she peeled herself off the bench. "Okay, this is the real one," she announced. "Definitely this one. It feels solid."
"It felt solid in the TARDIS, too," Alex gently reminded her.
"You can't spot a dream while you're having it," the Doctor added. He began waving his hand in front of his face. Alex didn't seem bothered by this, but his actions made no sense to Amy and Rory.
"What are you doing?" Rory asked, confused.
"He's looking for something that will indicate this isn't real," Alex explained, having already figured that out. It also helped that she still had access to this reality's memories of her time with the Doctor, where he had taught her a lot about this type of thing.
"Motion blur, pixilation," the Doctor elaborated. "It could be a computer simulation." He reached out and pinched Rory's cheek, the latter looking understandably bothered by this. "I don't think so though."
An old woman then approached them. "Hello, Doctor," she greeted as she walked past.
"Hi," Rory replied back at the same time the Doctor said, "Hello." The latter looked at Rory, a bit shocked. "You're a doctor?"
"Yeah, and unlike you, I've actually passed some exams."
"Oh, Rory! Congratulations!" Alex cheered, bouncing a little.
Amy groaned. "Oh, God, you still bounce around like some deranged kangaroo." To her credit, she said this somewhat fondly.
"Tell me about it," the Doctor muttered, ruffling Alex's hair fondly. Alex noticed that he had made it more unkempt and messier. Bedroom hair, she thought, smirking slightly before immediately mentally slapping herself. STOP IT! You are NOT with him! Ignore those fake memories and focus on the matter at hand!
"So, a doctor now, not a nurse, like you've always dreamt," Alex mused, trying to get her mind back on track. As she strolled down the street, she and the Doctor linked hands, swinging them slightly.
"Interesting," the Doctor finished.
"What is?" Rory asked, trying to keep up with them as he and Amy followed along behind.
"Well, your dream wife, your dream job, probably your dream baby," the Doctor thought aloud as he suddenly stopped. "Maybe this is your dream."
"It's Amy's dream, too," Rory explained, turning to her. "Isn't it, Amy?"
"Yes," Amy replied just a little too quickly. "Of course it is."
Alex resisted the urge to stare at Amy. Their conversation about Amy possibly being too young to marry was still fresh in her mind. She knew Amy loved Rory, but she also knew that Amy really wasn't the type to settle down. The fiery redhead wanted adventure and excitement and as much as Alex hated to admit it, a long married life with Rory really wasn't that exciting. Not when you compared it to the Doctor's life, at least.
"What's that?" the Doctor asked, breaking the tense moment as he pointed up to a building in front of them. It was a large brick building with lace curtains in all the windows. A collection of pink and purple flowers had been planted in the front garden, making Alex smile a little. She had always thought that flowers brightened a place up. Next to the garden was a sign that read: SARN Residential Care Home.
"Old people's home," Amy answered, causing the Doctor to stare up at the windows. Sure enough, there were a few elderly people in them, some of them staring right down at the group.
"Is it important?" Alex asked, already knowing the answer.
The Doctor nodded a little. "You said everyone here lives to their nineties," he recalled, nodding at Amy. "There's something here that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a stick." With that, he shot off towards the front door, pulling Alex along after him.
"Oh, can we not do the running thing?" Amy begged as Rory took off as well.
Once they were inside, Rory led them to the main common room. The walls were a pale pink and a bunch of old, comfy looking furniture was spread out everywhere. The air smelled faintly of potpourri, Lysol, and mothballs. Alex tried to keep from grimacing. She hated these types of places and feared ending up in one someday. She had heard enough horror stories about the elderly being mistreated at these kinds of places and even if they were nice, all she would be able to do here was knit, sew, play checkers, or watch daytime TV. How dull, she thought.
The Doctor noticed her trying not to grimace and rubbed her back reassuringly. He knew Alex well enough by now to know that she did care about the well-being of these people, but didn't like the prospect of ending up in a place like this herself. The very thought made him want to scream. He couldn't imagine his Ally getting older, her beautiful brown hair slowly turning gray and her fine, smooth skin getting wrinkled with each passing day. If he could, he would keep her exactly like she was now, young and beautiful, and with him forever.
He shook his head slightly. No, he couldn't do that to her. She'd be just like him. She'd have to suffer watching everyone else get older like he did now, and he never wanted to make her miserable.
His pondering was interrupted by a bunch of the old ladies in the room greeting Rory as he entered. "Oh, hello, Dr. Williams!" one of them called.
"Hello, Rory, love," another one sitting in a nearby armchair greeted.
"Hello, Mrs. Poggit," Rory greeted back, going over and bending down in front of her. "How's your hip?"
"A bit stiff," Mrs. Poggit admitted.
"Oh, easy, D-96 compound, plus!" the Doctor called as he looked around the room. Suddenly, he remembered something and cringed sheepishly. "No, you don't have that yet. Forget that."
"Who's your friend?" Mrs. Poggit asked as the Doctor and Alex joined Rory. "A junior doctor?"
"Yes," Rory answered slowly while the Doctor frowned at him, incredulous that he was being called a junior doctor.
Mrs. Poggit then focused her attention on Alex. "Alex, darling!" she cried. "I haven't seen you in years. Not since Rory's wedding and all."
"Hello, Mrs. Poggit," Alex responded, smiling weakly.
Mrs. Poggit's attention wandered over to how the Doctor's arm was still wrapped around Alex's back from where he had been trying to comfort her earlier. "Oh, is this your young man? Rory told me about him once." She smiled up at the Doctor. "And so handsome, too. You two make such a lovely couple."
If Mrs. Poggit noticed how red the 'lovely couple's' faces got, she didn't let on. Instead, she reached down into her lap and lifted up an ugly brown and green sweater. "Can I borrow you?" she asked the Doctor. "You're the size of my grandson."
"Um. . ." he muttered, reluctantly bending down to allow the woman to tug the sweater over his head. Alex laughed silently, her whole body shaking and quivering. She also noticed Rory biting his lip and trying not to smile.
The Doctor, noticing Alex's shaking, frowned at her. "Stop it, Ally," he scolded.
Alex probably would have continued silently laughing until Mrs. Poggit's voice rang out. "Alex, dear? Would you mind trying this on? You're the same height as my granddaughter, Natalie."
Alex looked over and, not being able to figure out a polite way to say hell no, bent down and allowed Mrs. Poggit to tug a sweater over her head. Once it was on properly, Alex looked down at her new garment. It was a hideous Pepto-Bismol pink cropped sweater, which was tight and loose in all the wrong places. She already felt sorry for poor Natalie, who would probably be expected to wear this the next time she visited her grandmother.
The Doctor smiled and moved his eyes up and down the newest addition to Alex's outfit. "Who's laughing now?" he murmured in her ear.
Alex glared up at him. "Can it!" she muttered.
Right at that moment, Amy entered the room. She stepped up to Alex and the Doctor and silently took in their attire. She shook her head. "This is why I told people to only bring store-bought clothes to the baby shower," she explained, whispering in Alex's ear.
"Slightly keen to move on," the Doctor said as he tugged at a loose thread in his sweater. "Freak psychic schism to sort out." He suddenly leaned closer to the old woman, causing her to move back a little in her chair. He stared at her for a moment before muttering, "You're incredibly old, aren't you?"
"Doctor!" Alex scolded, looking around the room and noticing all of the elderly staring at the Doctor. But before she could say anything about it – and she was pretty sure she should say something – a bunch of birdsong sounded throughout the room. She looked around, panicked, and watched as Amy and Rory lowered themselves to the floor. An arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her to the ground. Right before she fell unconscious, she caught a whiff of thick, musky cologne. The Doctor.
~Living the Life of Ally~
Alex's eyes shot open, only to see that she was lying directly on top of the Doctor, his arms wrapped around her waist. A second later, his own eyes burst open and they seemed equally startled as he looked up at her.
Alex smiled nervously. Being in such close proximity to the Doctor seemed to do that to her. He affected her in ways no other man ever had. He made her brain slow down and increase all at once, her heartbeat faster than she ever thought possible, and her insides turn to mush, her body relying only on his strong arms to support her. "Hi," she managed to gasp.
"Hello," the Doctor said back, smiling up at her a little.
Alex smiled and giggled slightly. God, it was like she was fourteen again, crushing on Southern Bristol High School's star quarterback. Only the Doctor was so much better than Eddie Palmer. For a start, he didn't need tutoring in Algebra 1.
The Doctor laughed a little at her giggling. He didn't know whether or not Alex was aware of it, but she completely captured him under some kind of spell when they were this close. It had been like this with Rose as well, but never this strongly. Once again, he noticed that Alex's body completely melded in with his, like two puzzle pieces coming together. Whether it was by accident or some kind of order by Fate, they had been made for each-other.
Alex stopped giggling for, at that moment, she noticed that at some point, hers and the Doctor's heads had moved closer together, almost to where they were touching. Alex bit her lip self-consciously and the Doctor's eyes went dark, his grip around her tightening. Their gazes drifted down towards the other's lips and slowly, they began to move in. Alex closed her eyes and the Doctor opened his mouth to invite Alex's luscious lips in.
"Okay, I hate this!" Amy exclaimed, breaking the spell. Alex eyes opened and she shot up, rolling off the Doctor. The Doctor sat up rapidly and straightened his jacket, not looking at Alex. Alex smoothed out her hair, listening as Amy added, "Doctor! Stop it, because this is definitely real. It's definitely this one!"
"You keep saying that, Amy," Alex ground out as she stood up. She glared slightly at the redhead, upset with her for interrupting a possible kiss with the Doctor. A shudder went through her and she tightened her gray scarf around her neck, despite knowing this specific scarf wasn't designed to keep the wearer warm.
"It's bloody cold!" Rory stated, rubbing his hands up and down his arms in an effort to keep warm.
"The heating's off!" the Doctor explained as he stood up and raced up some stairs to the upper level of the console room. "Put on a jumper! That's what I always do."
"Sorry about Mrs. Poggit," Rory apologized to the Doctor as the latter began working on something. "She's so lovely though."
The Doctor looked down at him through a designed hole in the wall of the balcony railing. "I wouldn't believe her nice old lady act if I were you," he warned.
"What do you mean 'act'?" Amy asked.
The Doctor stood up and dashed down the stairs. "Everything's off!" he reported, ignoring Amy's question altogether. "Sensors, core power. . . We're drifting. The scanner's down so we can't even see out. We could be anywhere." He closed his eyes, feeling a wave of frustration and irritableness wash over him. "Someone, something is overriding my controls!" he snapped.
"Well, that took a while," a voice suddenly rang out.
Amy and Rory jumped while the Doctor whirled around, an arm already wrapped around Alex's waist and keeping her close. That wasn't much of a problem though for, upon hearing the voice, Alex had latched a death-grip onto the Doctor's tweed jacket and had pressed herself right up against him. At the top of the stairs was a short, balding man who appeared to be in his early sixties, by Alex's guess. He was wearing similar clothes to the Doctor, right down to the bowtie, but they were in darker colors.
"Honestly, I've heard such good things," the man exclaimed, cockily sauntering down the stairs. "Last of the Time Lords. The Oncoming Storm. Him in the bowtie." His gaze then settled on Alex. "And the Brilliant Southern Girl! The one with the extraordinary mental abilities never seen before! Can't have one without the other, now can we?"
Alex flinched back and the Doctor stepped protectively in front of her. "How did you get into my TARDIS?" he demanded as the stranger stepped right in front of him before taking a step back. "What are you?"
"What shall we call me?" the stranger wondered, thinking thoughtfully. Alex, however, suspected it was an act. "Well, if you're the Time Lord, let's call me the Dream Lord."
"Nice look," the Doctor commented, noticing the so-called Dream Lord's attire.
"This?" The Dream Lord looked down at himself and wrinkled his nose before sneering, "No, I'm not convinced. Bowties?"
The Doctor surreptitiously reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small ball. With one swift motion, he had thrown it across the room, where it went right through the Dream Lord. Alex's eyes widened and she separated herself from the Doctor slightly so she could get a better look at the figure standing before her. "Interesting. . ." the Doctor murmured before noticing Alex's craning head. He quickly tugged her back to him.
The Dream Lord noticed this action and cocked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Instead, he retorted, "I'd love to be impressed, but . . . Dream Lord . . . it's in the name, isn't it? Spooky, not quite there. . ."
He disappeared, but quickly reappeared on the other side of the room, right next to Alex. Alex shrieked while Amy gasped. The Doctor quickly pushed Alex behind him, where she instantly threw her arms around his waist, staring at the Dream Lord with a mixture of curiosity and fear. ". . .and yet very much here," he finished.
"I'll do the talking, thank you," the Doctor replied, his voice dangerously low and, to Alex at least, very sexy. He pushed past a stunned Amy and Rory, keeping Alex latched to his side all the while. "Amy, Ally, want to take a guess at what . . . that is?"
"Er, Dream Lord. He creates dreams," Amy said nervously.
"Dreams, delusions, cheap tricks," Alex added.
"What about the gooseberry here?" the Dream Lord wondered. "Does he get a guess? Or would you rather the ginge and your precious Ally take all the credit?" Taking it a step further, he added, "Does your beautiful, perfect, Southern belle get a special prize later tonight if she guesses everything exactly right?"
The Doctor's free hand tightened around the console and his eyes flashed dangerously. "Hey, listen mate!" Rory jumped in before the Doctor attempted to strangle the Dream Lord for his dig at Alex. "If anyone's the gooseberry round here, it's the Doctor."
The Dream Lord snorted. "Well now, there's a delusion I'm not responsible for."
"No, he is. Isn't he, Amy?" he asked, looking at his fiancée for back-up. Amy, however, looked unsure about what to say.
"Oh, Amy," the Dream Lord chided. He then looked over at Alex. "Ally."
"Don't call me that!" Alex snapped.
"You two have to sort your men out," the Dream Lord continued, ignoring Alex. "Choose even."
"I have chosen!" Amy snapped back. "Of course, I've chosen." There was a tense moment in the TARDIS as Rory looked uncertainly at Amy. For all anyone knew, Amy had abandoned her plan of trying to attach Alex to the Doctor and had decided to go after him herself. Eyes never wavering from the Dream Lord's, she reached out and slapped Rory in the stomach. "It's you, stupid!"
Rory sighed in relief. "Oh, good, thanks."
"You can't fool me," the Dream Lord retorted before disappearing and reappearing behind the group again, forcing them all to turn around. "I've seen your dreams, Amy. Some of them twice. Blimey, I'd blush if I had a blood supply . . . or a real face."
The Doctor carefully peeled Alex off of his body and pushed her towards Rory. Rory wrapped his arms around the girl he considered a little sister and watched as the Doctor approached the Dream Lord. "Where'd you pick up this cheap cabaret act?" he questioned.
"Me? Oh, you're on shaky ground."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"
"If you had any more tawdry quirks, you could open a tawdry quirk shop! The madcap vehicle, the cockamamie hair, the clothes designed by a first-year fashion student. I'm surprised you haven't got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag you are."
"Shut up!" Alex screeched as she narrowed her eyes at the Dream Lord. Despite Rory's best efforts, she managed to pull herself away from his grasp and march up to stand beside the Doctor. "Don't you dare talk about him like that!"
"Oh, and there's the well-known defense by Ally! She won't allow anyone to insult her precious Doctor, will she? Whenever someone dares to bring something up about him, she barks back. And that's all there is to you, isn't there, Ally? All bark, no bite. Like a good little dog defending their master?" The Dream Lord smiled cockily at her and probably would have patted Alex's head if he had an actual physical form. "Well, good girl, Ally! Good girl! Maybe later, if you've done a good job, you'll get a treat!"
"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" the Doctor roared, stepping in front of Alex. "You are so damn lucky you haven't got a physical form, otherwise I'd have reached in and snapped your windpipe into pieces by now!" Amy and Rory gaped at him, not daring to make a sudden movement, for fear of setting him off and making him angrier than he already was.
The Dream Lord hardly seemed bothered by this though. "Where was I?" he wondered before disappearing again. He reappeared above them on the second level of the console room, allowing him to look down at the group condescendingly. "Oh, I know. So, here's your challenge. Two worlds. Here, in the time machine, and there, in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's fake. And just to make it more interesting, you're going to face in both worlds a deadly danger, but only one of the dangers is real."
Alex stepped forward, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. She could feel the blood within her pounding and her heart beating at levels that probably weren't healthy. She wasn't just angry; oh no, she was pissed. Who did this Dream Lord think he was anyway? Well, he was about to learn that Alex Locke was not a person he wanted to tangle with.
"So, then what?" she sneered, her voice so much like the Doctor's that it startled the man himself. "We choose? This how you get your little high or whatever? Forcing people to choose between their friends and those they love? Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline to play your little game. I refuse to choose."
The Dream Lord's eyes narrowed at her. "Really?"
Alex nodded, feeling a surge of confidence swell up in her. "Yes, actually. Need me to repeat it again?"
"No, I heard that perfectly, Ally."
"Don't call me that. Only the Doctor gets to call me that."
"Yes, yes, we all know that," the Dream Lord said impatiently. "The Doctor and his Ally, gallivanting off around the universe, blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc., same old thing. But the thing is, Alex, just how long could you survive without your precious Doctor around to save you?"
Alex looked at him warily, but pressed on. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, what if the Doctor couldn't save you from something? You were left all by yourself. No encouraging, swashbuckling hero around to help and offer praise? How long would you survive that?"
"Whatever you're thinking of doing, don't even try it," the Doctor warned.
"If this is some attempt to try and goad me back into being a pawn in your sick little game, it's not going to work!"
"Alex," the Doctor warned. He could practically taste the Dream Lord's desire to do something to her. And whatever that something was, it wasn't anything good.
The Dream Lord sighed dramatically. "Very well, Alexandria. Have it your way."
Just then, a burst of birdsong rang out. Alex looked around worriedly, but strangely, neither the Doctor, Amy, nor Rory seemed to be affected by it. In fact, it was like they couldn't hear it at all.
She grabbed the lapels of the Doctor's jacket and struggled to stay on her feet. "Can you hear that?" she asked frantically. "Please tell me you can hear that!"
"Ally, what's happening?" the Doctor asked, gripping her close.
Alex's eyes started closing and she blinked frantically to hold whatever reality the Dream Lord had concocted for her off for a while. "Birds. . ." she managed to gasp out as she started sinking to the floor, her eyes rolling back into her head. "Birds . . . Dream . . . Lord." With that, Alex's legs gave out and she crumpled to the floor.
The Doctor dove down to her body, barely aware that Amy and Rory were right behind him, demanding to know what was happening to their friend. "Ally? Ally! Alex!" he cried desperately, cradling her face in his hands. "Alex, please wake up! Please!" But it was no good. Alex was off in whatever reality the Dream Lord had created for her.
The Doctor's eyes darkened and he gently lowered Alex's head to the ground, her hair fanning out around her head like a halo. He looked up at the Dream Lord, his expression vicious and sinister. Standing behind him, Amy and Rory were spared the terrifying look, but they couldn't be saved from his voice.
"If you have any idea about what's good for you," the Doctor threatened, his voice low and filled with rage, "you'll release her at once." The Dream Lord simply looked back at him, smiling a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile. The Doctor's glare intensified by a thousand and if looks could kill, the Dream Lord would have been six feet under in less than a second. "Now." Still, no action was taken. "I SAID NOW!" the Doctor yelled, causing Amy to yelp and jump back into Rory's arms.
"All of this shouting, and over one meaningless little girl!" the Dream Lord bemoaned.
"She is not meaningless! She will NEVER be MEANINGLESS!"
The Dream Lord paced up and down the walkway, acting like he didn't have a care in the world. "I'm getting quite bored of this conversation," he announced casually, almost as though he were reading off stock market quotes. "Tweet, tweet! Time to sleep!"
The sound of birdsong filled the room again and the Doctor, Amy, and Rory found their eyes fluttering closed. As Amy and Rory sank to the ground, the Doctor struggled to stay awake, leaning against the console. He gave the Dream Lord a contemptuous look when the latter said, "Or are you waking up?"
Knowing that the Dream Lord's influence was too strong, the Doctor reluctantly sank down to the ground next to Alex. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. His last fleeting thoughts were that he hoped she was safe and okay and that the Dream Lord hadn't put her somewhere horrible.
~Living the Life of Ally~
Well, that wasn't really true.
Alex screamed bloody murder as she gripped onto the brass railing lining the salon. What the hell had she been thinking, getting on this yacht anyway? No, it's the Dream Lord! Alex reminded herself. She shook her head. That's what you get for rattling off that big mouth, she thought.
Still, that didn't change her current situation. She was currently on a yacht, much like the one her parents had owned, which, like that previous yacht, was currently in the process of sinking. The crew in this reality had all fallen overboard. Alex looked out the glass windows lining the salon and felt her heart jump into her throat as she saw one of the crew members floating lifelessly in the tumbling waves, his mouth open and his eyes glassy.
Alex closed her eyes and quickly looked away. She had to get out of here. With the new addition of this reality, she had three realities to choose from. One was real, two were fake.
Alex bit her lip and felt tears spring to her eyes. God, she really should learn to think before she spoke in certain situations. The only reason the Dream Lord had placed her in this reality was because she challenged his little game. Now, here she was, in her worst nightmare, with no Doctor in sight.
The yacht slammed to the side, forcing Alex back into the windows and causing the sleek leather furniture to start sliding around everywhere. End tables were knocked over, books and magazines slid all over the floor, and a leather armchair skidded towards Alex, landing right next to her. The yacht slammed again, this time backwards, knocking Alex back into the chair's cushy seat.
She tugged her brown leather coat tighter around her. Okay, she needed to think. This reality could be the real one and she really didn't want to die here. The only way she might be able to get out of this alive was to try and steer the boat. . .
Alex shuddered. No. No way in hell was she going to go up on deck and try steering this whale of a boat. It required manpower, something Alex was sorely lacking. If only the Doctor were here, she thought. He'd fix this for sure.
Alex shook her head. Focus, Alexandria Nicole! The Doctor isn't here and right now, you need to be a big girl and get out of this mess yourself. Sighing, Alex began to pull herself up from the chair. However, right as she was just managing to climb out, the birdsong started up again.
She groaned and flopped back into the chair. "Oh, great!" she muttered, closing her eyes just as the sleepiness sank in.
A/N: Gasp! Alex! No! Hope I shocked you all with this chapter. Alex is in a boat-sinking reality . . . what will happen?! And how many of you wanted to slap Amy for interrupting the almost-kiss between the Doctor and Alex? :)
Some notes on reviews. . .
ElysiumPhoenix - Lol, glad you like Marigold! As far as I know, no relative of a companion has threatened to shoot the Doctor, so Marigold became the first! And I'm so glad you liked the original adventure! Don't worry, there's another coming up in this story called 'Alex's Birthday', but I don't want to go into details too soon. I can say it will be coming up after 'The Big Bang' though. :)
dream lighting - I'm glad you love Alex! You're right, she does keep River on her toes and in line. :)
Gwilwillith - Thank you! I can't say when they'll get together, just that they will...sometime. :)
Cigar Fancy Pants - Thank you! And I hope this chapter settled your fluff withdrawal. :) Oh, and thanks! It kinda just happened because I wanted to reply to my readers when I saw what they had reviewed. And I DO care about my readers, every single one of you! :D
TheGirlWhoWaited - Glad you liked the original episode! And I'm glad it was believable. That was my biggest worry when writing it. :)
rycbar15 - One of those 'tear your hair out' moments was in this chapter with the almost-kiss! And lol, that bit about her mental barriers might be true! :)
jesterlover - Hope you were pleased by what happened to Alex in this chapter. And I can say that this is just the beginning of a rough few episodes for her. After this is 'Hungry Earth/Cold Blood'... And did you like the Doctor's epic freak-out here? He's certainly protective of Alex, isn't he? :)
TimeyWimey12 - No, it's not bad. I think a lot of people were expecting that and disappointed when it didn't happen. It's just with trying to stop the power suck, then seeing the Lylon's kill themselves, then the relief of escaping the plant, there wasn't anywhere good to put it and I think Alex kind of forgot it when they got down to business. Don't worry, some slapping will occur later on. :)
TheUltimateGuest - Glad you like the daily updates! In answer to your question, the majority of this story is already written. It has been for about a year. All that's left is 'Death of the Doctor' and 'A Christmas Story', the former of which is about halfway done. All I do before I post a new chapter is go back over and edit it to make sure it sounds good and makes sense. Right now, as I'm writing this, I'm listening to 'Glee' music. My crush on Darren Criss almost rivals the one I have on Matt Smith...sigh. :)
