Alex's eyes burst open and she gasped, looking around frantically. She was back in the TARDIS reality. A little ways away from her, she could see Amy and Rory passed out on the floor, Rory holding Amy's hand. But where was the Doctor? Alex moved to get up to look for him when she became aware of a familiar arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her close. Looking down, she saw the Doctor, also encased in slumber.
Alex couldn't help herself and reached out to smooth a stray hair out of the Doctor's eye. He looked so . . . peaceful. There was no evidence of his madcap eagerness and craziness. Right now, he looked relaxed and at peace.
"See something you like, Alex?"
Alex jumped and turned her head to see the Dream Lord standing in front of her, albeit at a small distance. Alex wasn't sure if he was doing that on purpose or because some part of the Doctor's threats had resonated within him and he had decided not to take any chances.
"You know, that really wasn't necessary," she said softly, not wanting to tempt his anger.
"You aren't the only one who thinks so," the Dream Lord informed her, nodding at the Doctor. "Oh! You should've heard him! If you know what's good for you, you'll release her at once! Now!"
"Well, he cares about all of his companions," Alex said wisely.
The Dream Lord eyed her. "Really? Is that what you think you are to him? Just a companion?"
Alex thought for a moment. "Well, one he highly values at any rate," she admitted.
The Dream Lord shook his head in a clearly frustrated manner. "It's amazing how intelligent a person can be while also being an utter dunce."
Alex narrowed her eyes. She took great pride in her intelligence and being called an utter dunce was the equivalent of being called a bitch by Hillary Westcott after she accidentally spilled Pepsi on her at a school picnic. "Excuse me?"
"Oh, don't start barking again, Alexandria! I'm making a valid point here!"
Alex crossed her arms. "Well, it's not that clear to me!"
The Dream Lord sighed and waved his hand as if to declare the matter closed. "Never mind. I think Time Boy over there misses you. He was still screaming and carrying on when I last saw him anyway." With a snap of his fingers, the twittering of a bird was echoing around the control room and Alex was slumping back into the Doctor's embrace.
"Remember, Ally!" the Dream Lord called as she slipped further into unconsciousness. "Three realities! Only one real one! Deadly danger in each! Tick tock, tick tock!"
~Living the Life of Ally~
The Doctor's eyes burst open and he immediately sat up. As his arms were still wrapped around Alex, she was pulled up as well. He heard Rory and Amy gasping as they woke up, but there was no sound from Alex. She was still unconscious. Immediately, the Doctor lowered her to the ground and frantically cradled her face.
"Come on, Ally," he begged. He was scared. Truly, truly scared, for the first time in a very long time. "Please wake up. Please, come back." Come back to me, he silently added.
The Doctor was still crouched beside Alex's body as the Dream Lord bustled in, wearing a blue suit, a purple tie, and eyeglasses. In his hands was a large chart, an X-ray of a brain.
"Oh, this is bad," the Dream Lord said as Amy and Rory stood, the Doctor remaining next to Alex. "This is very, very bad. Look at this X-ray. Your brain is completely see-through." The Doctor gritted his teeth. He could just imagine Alex saying something smart such as well, duh, it's an x-ray, genius. You're SUPPOSED to see through it! The Dream Lord, not knowing of his thoughts, went on. "But then, I've always been able to see through you, Doctor."
"Always?" Amy questioned. "What do you mean 'always'?"
"More importantly, why haven't you brought Alex out of whatever hell you're putting her through?" the Doctor demanded, turning his head to glare at the Dream Lord.
"Now then, the prognosis is this," the Dream Lord began, ignoring Amy and the Doctor altogether. "If you die in the dream, you wake up in reality. Healthy recovery in no time. Ask me what happens if you die in reality?"
"What happens?" Rory asked. Both Amy and the Doctor could practically hear Alex groaning.
The Dream Lord stared at him, unable to believe he'd actually asked that. "You die, stupid," he shot back. "That's why it's called reality."
"Have you met the Doctor before?" Amy questioned. Someone had to be Alex after all. "Do you know him? Doctor, does he?"
"Now, don't get jealous," the Dream Lord smirked. "Lord, you're worse than Ally."
"Don't call her that," the Doctor ground out as he gently picked Alex up off the floor and cradled her in his arms bridal style.
The Dream Lord didn't say anything to that. "He's been around, our boy," he told Amy, as though the Doctor hadn't interrupted him. "Never mind that, you've got a world to choose." He turned to the Doctor. "One reality was almost too much for you, Doctor. Take two and call me in the morning!"
"Not until you release Alex!" the Doctor yelled.
The Dream Lord sighed. "Still fixated on that, are you? Well, I think Alex is a little busy herself right now. . ."
"Don't punish her for what she said!" the Doctor snapped, pausing only to readjust Alex's body in his arms. "Just let. Her. Go. NOW!"
The Dream Lord groaned dramatically. "Alright, alright, if you insist. But, better catch Ally up to speed. She's missing all the fun!" With that, he disappeared.
"Okay, I don't like him," Rory announced as he stepped forward to help the Doctor lower Alex into a chair.
"Who is he?" Amy questioned, arms crossed as she stared at the Doctor expectantly.
"I don't know. It's a big universe," the Doctor dismissed as he reached down and lifted the hideous sweater off Alex's frame. A fake memory from this reality popped into his brain, a memory of him pulling Alex's nightgown off during their first time together, his fingertips dancing over her hot-for-him flesh. OH, GOD! FOCUS! He yelled angrily at himself. He couldn't think of Alex that way! No matter how much he may or may not want to.
"Why is he doing this?" Amy wondered, catching the sweater as the Doctor tossed it to her before flinging it across the room onto a flowered sofa.
"Maybe because he has no physical form," the Doctor mused as he reached out and pushed Alex's bangs out of her eyes. "That gets you down after a while, so he's taking it out on folk like us who can touch and eat and feel." He looked down and noticed he was still wearing his sweater. Within an instant, it, too, was off and had joined the Pepto-Bismol one on the couch.
"What does he mean 'deadly danger', though?" Rory asked, remembering the Dream Lord's words. "Nothing deadly has happened here. I mean, a bit of natural wastage, obviously."
But the Doctor wasn't really listening to him. Instead, he was looking around the room, the now empty room. "They've all gone," he murmured. He bent down and collected Alex once again. "They've all gone!"
Right at that moment, Alex's eyes popped open, exposing brilliant chocolate brown irises. She gasped and looked around. "Okay, what'd I miss?" she asked.
The other three jumped at the sound of her voice. "Alex!" Amy cried, rushing over to her as fast as her stomach would allow. "Are you okay?"
The Doctor's arms tightened around Alex and she looked up into his panicked and relieved eyes. "Are you okay?" he demanded before launching into a stream of questions, barely pausing to take a breath. "What happened? Where were you? Did the Dream Lord speak to you? Did he harm you in any way? How many—"
"Whoa, hold up! Time out!" Alex cried. "First, yes, Amy, I'm okay. Second, other reality but we don't have time to discuss that." Truthfully, Alex didn't want to admit what kind of reality the Dream Lord had created for her. If the Doctor had been angry before, he'd be fit to be tied if she told him the truth now. "Yes, the Dream Lord spoke to me, no, he didn't harm me, and if you ask me how many fingers you are holding up, I swear on all the saints that I will kick your head all the way to Essex!"
The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God, you're okay," he breathed. He lowered her to the ground but as he was pulling back up, he whispered in her ear, "It's good to have you back, Ally."
"Same here, Doc," she whispered back before asking in a louder voice, "So, what's happened? And where's all the old people? This place was crawling with them last time I was here."
"Good point, Ally," the Doctor commented. "Come on!" He grabbed Alex's hand and the two raced out of the nursing home, closely followed by Amy and Rory. Once they were outside, he pulled her towards a playground where a bunch of children and a harried-looking teacher were.
"Stop! You two, over there!" the teacher called. "Come along, where's the rest of you? Come on, come on. We're going up to the castle now!" She nodded over to a large, ruined castle, something Alex had always thought was an oddity in the otherwise boring town of Leadworth. "All of you, come on!"
"Why would they leave?" Rory asked, confused, as they went down the road.
"And what did you mean about Mrs. Poggit's nice old lady act?" Amy added.
"One of my tawdry quirks," the Doctor replied, looking down and winking at Alex. She giggled as he added, "Sniffing out things that aren't what they seem. So, come on, let's think. The mechanics of this reality split we're stuck in."
"Time asleep exactly matches time spent in our dream worlds, which isn't like normal dreams where time feels sped up and slowed down all at once," Alex finished.
The Doctor nodded approvingly and smiled at her. "Exactly. Thank you, Ally."
"And we're all dreaming the same dream at the same time," Rory commented.
"What could cause something like that?" Alex asked. Half-seriously, she suggested, "Mind meld?"
The Doctor shook his head. "No, mind-melding is a completely different process, but I like where you're heading. This is some sort of communal trance. Very rare, very complicated. I'm sure there's a dream giveaway, a tell, but my mind isn't working because this village is so dull!" As he briefly looked back at Amy and Rory, he added, "I'm slowing down like you two have."
Right before Alex could scold him, a gasp of pain sounded from Amy. All eyes shot to her. "Really! Ow! It's coming!" Amy screamed as she clutched her stomach.
"Help her!" Alex screeched at a dumbstruck Doctor and Rory.
"Okay, you're a doctor, help her!" the Doctor chattered nervously to Rory.
Rory stared at him incredulously. "You're a doctor!" he shot back.
"It's okay, we're both doctors!" the Doctor assured Amy before squatting down and cupping his hands to catch the baby.
Alex gawked at him. "How is that going to help?!" she cried, shaking her head.
"Okay, genius, what do you suggest we do?!" the Doctor shouted at her as Amy tried to control her breathing.
"Anything but that!" Alex returned. "Amy, honey, breathe."
Amy looked like she was about to follow this advice when she suddenly straightened up. "Okay, it's not coming," she blurted out. The Doctor shot back up and they all stared at her, unable to believe what she had just pulled.
"What?" the Doctor questioned, still reeling from the events of the last ten seconds.
Amy glared at him dangerously. "This is my life now and it just turned you white as a sheet, so don't you call it dull again, ever." She arched an eyebrow, looking at him expectantly. "Okay?"
The Doctor nodded. "Sorry," he muttered.
"Yeah," Amy accepted before waddling off towards the playground, Rory at her heels. Alex followed close behind her.
"You were faking it?" she demanded.
"Sorry for scaring you, Alex," Amy apologized.
Alex grinned at her. "Oh no, don't go apologizing. That worked way better than a lecture by me." The two chuckled a little bit at the validity of that statement as they approached the swings.
After helping Amy into a swing, Alex dove for the one next to it before the Doctor could get there. She smirked at his pouting face and immediately used the heels of her black heeled boots to push off the ground and swing high into the air. She had loved swinging ever since her first elementary school recess in Kentucky. Her vague memories of New York consisted of preoccupying herself with coloring books and building blocks in her fancy private preschool. Actually getting to go outside for recess was a total delight to her five-year-old self.
The Doctor watched her, impressed. Alex was going really high. You could tell she had been doing this for a long time. "Nice job, Ally," he complimented as she briefly passed his face.
"Thanks!" Alex shouted as she swung back up. "I've been doing this since I was five. Got pretty good over the years."
"Let me guess," the Doctor called up. "You were one of those kids who tried to go over the bar, right?"
Alex grinned and threw her head back in laughter. "Yes, actually! But I stopped when I was seven. One kid actually did manage to get over it but he lost his grip, fell, and broke both his wrists."
The Doctor watched her for a few more moments, delighting in how young and beautiful and perfect she looked. No wonder the Dream Lord kept berating him about it. In his eyes, Alex was all those things and more. All you had to do was look at her and you'd know it. Then, remembering why they were even here, he reached out and tugged at one of the chains. Alex flew backwards, slowing down a little before eventually coming to a complete stop.
She pouted up at him. "You could've just said come back down, Ally or something like that."
The Doctor shook his head at her and moved behind her. "Would that really have worked?" he whispered in her ear before gently pushing her forwards.
If the two had been paying attention, they might have noticed Amy and Rory watching them with identical bemused expressions. Despite the fact that they were stuck in a weird, augmented dream, they were still determined to get those two together, even more now that the Doctor and Alex were supposed to have been a couple in this reality.
"Now we all know there's an elephant in the room," the Doctor said as he continued pushing Alex gently.
Amy glowered at him. "I have to be this size!" she snapped. "I'm having a baby!"
"No, no," the Doctor hastily corrected. "The hormones seem real, but no. Is nobody going to mention Rory's ponytail?" All eyes looked over to the aforementioned ponytail and then down at Amy, who was trying to reign in her laughter.
The Doctor looked down at her and Alex mischievously. "You girls hold him down, I'll cut it off?" he offered, making Amy and Alex burst into a cacophony of giggles.
Rory glared at him. "This from the man in the bowtie?"
"Bowties are cool," the Doctor shot back before looking across the playground. His voice died as he watched none other than Mrs. Poggit stand on the steps leading up to the castle. She was looking around and acting suspicious, almost as if she didn't want anyone to see what she was up to.
"I don't know about you," he murmured, "but I wouldn't hire Mrs. Poggit as a babysitter. What's she doing?"
"More importantly, what does she want?" Alex asked as she followed his gaze over to the woman. But before they could ponder this any further, they all heard the sound of birds chirping.
"Oh no," Amy groaned before sighing. Alex slunk down further in her seat and the Doctor leaned against the swing-set wearily. "Here we go again."
~Living the Life of Ally~
Alex woke up and immediately found herself freezing. The temperature in the TARDIS had dropped considerably, bordering on the temperature at which water began to freeze. She shivered a little. Noticing that the Doctor was already awake and standing, she pulled herself up and joined him.
Amy and Rory were also standing, both looking pretty cold as well. "It's really cold," Rory commented. "Have you got any warm clothing?"
"What does it matter if we're cold?" the Doctor shouted, frustrated with this whole bloody situation. "We have to know what she's up to!"
Amy and Rory both arched an eyebrow and silently nodded to a shivering Alex just behind the Doctor. By now, they had figured out that aside from being his rock, Alex was also the Doctor's kryptonite. If he saw her suffering in any way, he'd find himself bending backwards in order to fix it.
Noticing their nods, the Doctor whirled around, saw Alex, and his whole demeanor instantly changed. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized, rubbing his face with a hand as he stepped towards Alex. "There should be some stuff down there. Have a look."
While Amy and Rory hurried down the steps over to a small storage unit, the Doctor stepped closer to Alex. Before she could protest, he had taken his jacket off and was pulling her arms through it. "Don't protest," he said quickly just as she opened her mouth. "I'm not having you freeze."
"But won't you get cold?" Alex demanded as he headed towards the stairs and under the glass platform.
"Oh, don't worry about me!" he shouted cheerfully through the floor. "Time Lords have a lower body temperature than humans. It'll take a while for me to get chilly."
Alex highly doubted that, but decided not to argue. "If you insist," she sighed. "I'll be right back. I'm going to look for something in the wardrobe room." The Doctor made a noncommittal noise and, taking that as an okay, Alex headed towards the wardrobe room.
The lights in the wardrobe room were also off, making it next to impossible to see anything in there. Alex felt her away around the room before eventually bumping into a large clothes rack. She grinned as she felt a silk scarf under her fingertips. She knew she had seen some scarfs and warm clothing in here before.
Ditching her impractical gray silk scarf, Alex quickly pulled a chocolate brown sweater over her shirt before grabbing a nearby woolen scarf and tying it tightly around her neck. The scarf was a long multi-colored one, so long that it seemed pretty impractical. Nevertheless, Alex figured it had to have served some use at some point. She adjusted the tweed jacket around her shoulders, finding it surprisingly warm, before delving further into the wardrobe.
As she dug around for an extra jacket for the Doctor, her nose happened to rub against the wool scarf. She inhaled deeply and jumped back in surprise. Wait a minute. . . She recognized that musky cologne. It was the same stuff the Doctor always wore. That meant that she was wearing the Doctor's scarf. . .
A thrill of excitement raced through Alex. Sure, it was coincidence that she had managed to find the Doctor's scarf, but that didn't mean she couldn't pretend she had discovered it in some grand Fate-designed scheme.
Alex was able to find an extra tweed jacket – trust the Doctor to have two of them – before heading back to the control room. She arrived just in time to hear Rory ask, "What is that?" She dashed into the room to see a burning ice blue ball on the scanner. It wasn't like anything she'd ever seen before.
"A star," the Doctor breathed. "A cold star." Within an instant, he was racing towards the doors. He opened them, allowing a bright light and a burst of freezing cold air to rush in before he pushed them closed again.
"That's why we're freezing!" he shouted, racing back up to the console. "It's not a heating malfunction! We're drifting towards a cold sun!"
Alex shook her head. "No way," she said flatly, arms crossed. "There's no such thing. Stars burn."
"So's this one!" the Doctor argued. "It's just burning cold."
"Is that possible?" Rory demanded.
"What is that you're holding?" Alex questioned, peering curiously at a weird windup device made out of kitchen utensils that Rory was holding.
"It's a generator!" the Doctor cried. "And I can't know everything! Why does everyone expect me to?! Always?!"
"Okay, this is something you haven't seen before," Rory surmised. "So does that mean this is the dream?"
"I don't know," the Doctor replied irritably as he sat in one of the jump-seats. He glanced at his watch as he added, "But there it is and I'd say we've got about fourteen minutes until we crash into it. But that's not a problem."
"Because you know how to get us out of this?" Rory guessed hopefully.
"Because we'll have frozen to death by then," the Doctor deadpanned.
"Oh, then what are we going to do?" Amy questioned as the Doctor pulled out a stethoscope from somewhere and began listening to parts of the TARDIS console.
"Stay calm," he instructed. "Don't get sucked into it, because this just might be the battle that we have to lose."
Alex looked at him fearfully. In truth, she hadn't really been scared at all during this adventure, except for in her drowning reality and when she had first been introduced to the Dream Lord. She knew all that was because the Doctor had been right next to her, assuring her that he would get them, get her, out of this, but now he was saying that he may not be able to get them to survive this. She wasn't sure how she felt about this prospect.
Then, from behind her, came a sneer. "Oh, this is so you, isn't it?" Rory remarked sarcastically.
"What?" the Doctor muttered, pulling the stethoscope buds out of his ears.
"Huh, what?" Rory mocked. "A weird new star, fourteen minutes left to live and only one man to save the day, huh? I just wanted a nice village and family!"
"Oh dear, Doctor!" an annoyingly familiar voice called. Sure enough, they all looked over to see the Dream Lord, standing just behind the Doctor. "Dissent in the ranks. There was an old Doctor from Gallifrey, who ended up throwing his life away. He let down his friends—"
"Shut up!" Alex snapped as she was the only other person in the room who knew the truth about what had happened to Gallifrey and some of the Doctor's friends. "Shut up you annoying little. . ." She trailed off, trying to find a good insult. "You . . . you . . . hobbit!"
The others looked at her strangely. Even the Dream Lord seemed puzzled by the remark. "Hobbit?" Rory repeated, looking at her incredulously. "That was the best you could come up with?"
Alex shrugged sheepishly. "I was being rushed!" she hissed as the Doctor shook his head at her.
"Anyway," the Dream Lord called, turning all attention back to him. He was about to speak again when the familiar chatter of birds rang out.
"Oh, no. We're out of time!" the Dream Lord moaned as the TARDIS gang started wobbling unsteadily on their feet and began slumping down to the floor. "Don't spend too long there, or you'll catch your death here."
~Living the Life of Ally~
Alex's first view upon reentering the Leadworth reality was seeing the see-saws just behind the swing-set . . . upside-down. Oh, great! She thought. The Dream Lord's twisting gravity too!
"Alex, get up from there!" the Doctor called. "You're making me nervous. Honestly, that position shouldn't even be possible!"
Alex shifted a little before realizing that her mid-back region was completely lying in the curved black plastic swing seat. The upper portion of her body was dangling upside down, her long hair touching the ground, while her legs were splayed out in a V-shape on the other side. She quickly righted herself up and threw a hand to her head. "Ugh, blood-rush," she grimaced as she slowly stood up.
She followed the Doctor, Rory, and Amy as they raced up the stairs of the ruined castle. The Doctor stopped at the top and looked around. "Where have the children gone?" he questioned before running forward to examine a pile of ash.
Alex frowned and stepped forward to get a better look. There were a little over a dozen of these ash piles, all of them piled up next to toys and play shovels. She bent down next to one, running her fingers through it, as the Doctor scanned another pile next to her with his sonic.
"Don't know," Rory replied. "Play time's probably over."
"Wouldn't they have taken their toys though?" Alex asked as she picked up a red plastic bucket with a matching shovel. She used to have one just like it years ago. She would run around in the backyard digging holes and catching earthworms until Carla yelled at her to stop it.
"Excellent point, Ally," the Doctor complimented, racing past.
Alex continued to look around as Amy and Rory talked. Her close proximity to them allowed her to hear their conversation. "You see, this is the real one," Rory was saying as she tuned in. He sighed. "I just feel it. Don't you feel it?"
"I feel it both places," Amy admitted.
"I feel it here. It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here."
Alex bit her lip to keep from voicing her thoughts. Don't go putting money on that, she thought, remembering the Dream Lord's words about facing a deadly danger in both realities.
"Not really me, though, is it?" Amy asked. "I mean, would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops, and a really bad Amateur Dramatics Society?" Rory made some kind of surprised noise for Amy quickly added, "That's why I got pregnant! So I didn't have to see them doing Oklahoma."
"At this rate, you'll have ten kids," Alex smiled, standing up. She skipped over to them and grinned. "That's a lot of godchildren's birthdays for me to remember."
Amy stuck her tongue out at her. "Hush it, you," she playfully scolded.
"And who said we were making you godmother anyway?" Rory teased, knowing that if he and Amy ever had a kid, Alex would be the first person on the list to be considered godmother.
"Doctor, what are you doing?" Amy abruptly asked. "And what are those piles of dust?"
The Doctor looked at them with wide eyes and he closed the sonic, placing a hand over its prongs. "Play time's definitely over," he confirmed, looking around at the piles of ash.
Realization clicked in Amy, Alex, and Rory's brains. "Oh my God," Alex gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. She looked like she was about to burst into tears. Who could do something so horrible? She wondered.
"What happened to them?" Rory questioned as he looked around the scene before him in disbelief.
The Doctor was looking past them at something in the distance. Alex turned around to see a large group of Leadworth's resident elderly walking along the street towards them. "I think they did," the Doctor said before setting off at a brisk pace towards the crowd.
"They're just old people!" Amy protested as she struggled to keep up with him.
"No, they're very old people," the Doctor corrected her, jumping down the stairs. "Sorry, Rory, I don't think you're what's been keeping them alive!"
Just as they were passing the exterior of the castle, the Dream Lord popped up. "Hello, peasants!" he called, causing all the old people to stop in their tracks. "What's this? Attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous. This has got to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Amy? Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the TARDIS. You first."
"Leave her alone," the Doctor warned.
The Dream Lord ignored him, proving this to be a new habit of his. "What about you, Ally?" he sneered. "Perfect little mind like that ought to be of some use. How about we jump off a cliff into the TARDIS?" He paused, reconsidering these words. "Well, these three maybe," he said, gesturing to the Doctor, Amy, and Rory. "You may end up in that . . . other reality."
Alex froze and gripped the Doctor's arm. She did not want to go back to that reality. It was terrifying for her. There was a good reason she stayed away from water. Around it, she could barely function.
The Doctor's eyes darkened upon seeing Alex's newly white face. He officially hated the Dream Lord for torturing her that way. Whatever he had placed in that other reality was enough to scare Alex, a hard feat considering the girl had enormous bravery and courage.
"Leave her alone," he threatened, his voice filled with barely restrained anger and disgust. "So much as speak to her again, you'll find yourself in a place even worse than Hell."
But the Dream Lord merely grinned at him. It was like he enjoyed getting this reaction out of the Doctor. "Do that again! I love it when he does that," he sighed, confirming his like of making the Doctor pissed beyond normal measures. "Tall dark hero. Leave her alone!" He paused and thought for a moment. "Strange, really. You're so protective of her, more so than any of your other companions. So much as a splinter threatens her and you're ready to declare World War III." No one bothered denying the validity of this statement.
"Just leave her!" Rory attempted but while it was a worthwhile attempt, it didn't exactly scream danger and back-off like the Doctor's words had.
The Dream Lord clearly knew this for he looked down at Rory and said, "Yes, you're not quite as impressive. But I know where your heart lies, don't I, Amy Pond?"
"Shut up!" Amy snapped as he stepped towards her. "Just shut up and leave me alone."
"But listen. You're in there," the Dream Lord said, addressing the Doctor before he turned back to Amy. "Loves a redhead, the Doctor. Has he told you about Elizabeth the First?" He snorted. "Well, she thought she was the first."
Alex's stomach twisted at the mention of Queen Elizabeth I. It had pained her when Liz 10 revealed it and it still pained her now. She didn't even know why she was so upset about it. She couldn't be jealous of the Doctor after all, could she?
"Drop it," the Doctor ordered, noticing Alex's pained face. Strangely, he liked that she was jealous of his brief liaison with Elizabeth, but he also didn't like seeing it hurt her so much. "Drop all of it! I know who you are."
He does? Alex thought gleefully. Maybe this nightmare would be over soon.
"Of course you don't," the Dream Lord retorted.
"Course I do." The Doctor stepped forward so that he was inches from touching the Dream Lord's face. "No idea how you can be here," he murmured, "but there's only one person in the universe who hates me as much as you do."
The Dream Lord smirked at him. There was silence for a few seconds and it almost looked as though the Dream Lord was going to say that the Doctor had won. But instead, his sneer grew wider and he looked over at the group of patiently waiting elderly. "Never mind me. Maybe you should worry about them."
The group turned to look at the old people, who were now coming towards them, armed with walkers and canes. Alex looked back to the Dream Lord, only to see that he had disappeared again. She felt a hand grab hers and she looked up and smiled reassuringly at the Doctor. He winked at her before they started walking over to the old people.
"Hello!" the Doctor greeted, keeping Alex close to his side. "We were wondering where you went. To get reinforcements, by the look of it. Are you alright? You look a bit tense."
"Hello, Mr. Nainby," Rory greeted the man who was approaching him.
"Rory," the Doctor warned, trying to get him to see reason.
"Mr. Nainby ran the sweet shop. He used to slip me the odd free toffee." Right then, without any warning, Mr. Nainby lifted Rory up off the ground.
Rory struggled slightly and looked at Mr. Nainby with shock. "Did I not say thank you?" he wondered right before Mr. Nainby threw him to the ground.
He struggled to his feet. "How did he do that?!" he cried, hurrying over to an alarmed Amy.
"I suspect he's not himself." The Doctor grasped Alex's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Don't get too comfortable here! You may have to run, fast."
Amy groaned. With her current physical condition, running was not an option. "Can't we just talk to them?" she pleaded.
However, talking didn't seem like much of an option, for once Amy had finished speaking, the old people all opened their mouths, revealing giant green eyes in them.
Alex felt a wave of vomit trying to force its way up her throat. "Ewww," she grimaced before swallowing thickly.
"There's an eye . . . in her mouth," Amy breathed, looking at the people in front of them with a similar expression to Alex's.
The Doctor whipped out his sonic and waved it up and down Mrs. Poggit, who was giving them a nice up-and-close view of her extra eye. "There's a whole creature inside her," he revealed. "Inside all of them. They've been there for years, living and waiting."
"That is disgusting," Rory sneered. None of the humans had quite gotten over the fact that they were looking at another eye inside a person's mouth. "They're not going to be peeping out of anywhere else, are they?"
Yes, focus on the extra eye! The Doctor snippily thought.
His thoughts were interrupted when Mrs. Poggit suddenly leaned forwards, hissing, accompanied by a bright green gas emitting from her mouth. Amy and Alex screamed. Amy hurriedly pulled Rory back while the Doctor grabbed Alex and ran with her to Amy and Rory's sides.
"RUN!" the Doctor instructed, an order Amy and Rory wasted no time in obeying. As the couple raced off, the Doctor tried to distract the old people, or whatever they were. "Okay, leave them, leave them!" he ordered. "Talk to me, talk to me. You are Eknodines. A proud, ancient race. You're better than this!"
"Why are you hiding here?" Alex picked up. "Why aren't you at home?"
Mrs. Poggit opened her mouth to speak. Alex was slightly disturbed by her altered voice, which was deep and raspy and totally alien. "We were driven from our planet by—"
"Planet by upstart neighbors," the Doctor finished.
"So we've—"
"Been living here inside the bodies of old humans for years," the Doctor interrupted again.
Alex gaped at the Eknodine, slightly impressed and slightly horrified. "No wonder they live so long!" she realized. "You're keeping them alive!"
"We were humbled and destroyed," Mrs. Poggit said bitterly. "Now we will do the same to others."
"Okay, makes sense, I suppose," the Doctor muttered to himself.
"It's credible enough," Alex added. "Could be real."
Alex then heard someone moving across the gravel behind them and turned to see a young bike messenger riding towards them. Seeing the group, he stopped and waved. "Morning!" he called.
Mrs. Poggit's response was to spray her weird green gas on him. As the Doctor jerked Alex back, they both watched, horrified, as the bike messenger stumbled back, screaming, before dissolving into dust and ash.
"You need to leave this planet," the Doctor ordered as he turned back to the Eknodine.
However, the Eknodine didn't seem to like this idea very much. Mrs. Poggit screeched at him. "Did you really think that would work?" Alex asked as she and the Doctor nervously began backing up as the Eknodine crept closer.
"I was hoping, yes," the Doctor admitted.
"Time for Plan B, I think. I vote running."
"I second that!" the Doctor agreed before grabbing her hand and sprinting off.
Alex grimaced as they ran across the cobblestoned entrance to the park. "Why did I have to pick today to wear high heels?" she groaned, casting a bitter look at her black heeled boots.
The Doctor was about to retort when the chirping of birds filled the air. Alex stumbled into him, their pace slowing down. The Doctor stumbled into her as well and the two continued to do this as they hurried as fast as they could down the street.
Alex looked back and spotted the Eknodine fast approaching. They needed to find a place to hide out and fast. Almost as if it could read her mind, the birdsong increased in volume. Alex fought to keep her eyes open as she looked around the street. "Butcher's!" she gasped, weakly pointing to a large white shop advertising the name.
The Doctor nodded and pulled her along into the tiny store. Alex collapsed against the counter as the Doctor flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED. Alex highly doubted that would keep the Eknodine out, but she wasn't in much of a position to say anything.
"I love a good butcher's, don't you?" a voice rang out. Alex whirled around to see the Dream Lord standing behind the counter. "We've got to use these places or they'll shut down." He looked over at the Doctor. "Oh, but you're probably a vegetarian, aren't you, you big flop-haired wuss."
"Oh, pipe down!" the Doctor snapped. He reached over and grabbed the keys next to the door. "I'm busy!"
"Yes, save it for someone who cares," Alex retorted coldly. She attempted to give the Dream Lord one of her best glares, but her staggering due to the continuing birdsong made this rather difficult.
The Dream Lord arched an eyebrow at the two of them. "Maybe you need a little sleep." The birdsong increased and Alex found herself slumping over the counter while the Doctor fell back against the wall. "Oh, wait a moment! If you fall asleep here, several dozen angry pensioners will destroy you with their horrible eye things."
The birdsong let up a little, allowing the Doctor to get to his feet. He rushed over to Alex and pulled her off the counter. "Come on, Ally, stay with me," he encouraged as he pulled her over to rest next to him by a storeroom door. The chirping then increased and the Doctor growled in anger before putting his fingers in his ears to try and block out the noise.
"Fingers in the ear," the Dream Lord said condescendingly. "Brilliant. What's next, shouting boo?" There was a bunch of knocking on the front door and the Dream Lord turned to see all of the Eknodine crowded around outside. "Come in! Come in!" he encouraged. As the Eknodine began filing in, heading towards the Doctor and Alex, he added, "Yes, we've got lots at steak here this week. Lots at steak, get it? Are these jokes wasted on you?"
The Doctor weakly pushed Alex ahead of him. She flopped against the wall wearily. Alex was almost out. "Wait, wait, stop!" he called weakly, to the Eknodine or the Dream Lord he wasn't sure. All he knew was that he needed to get him and Alex in that storeroom as fast as possible.
The Dream Lord turned away. "Oh, I can't watch," he muttered, putting his hands over his eyes.
The Doctor fiddled with the sonic screwdriver for a moment before finally managing to get the storeroom door unlocked. Acting fast, he grabbed Alex and pushed her unceremoniously into the room. Stepping in, he slammed and soniced the door closed. The birdsong was getting louder now and he slumped to the floor, blindly reaching out and tugging Alex close to him.
"It's okay," he whispered as she whimpered slightly. "I've got you."
~Living the Life of Ally~
Alex woke up and immediately shivered. The TARDIS was freezing now, which could only mean that they were getting closer to the cold star, which meant that they were getting closer to their sure death. At least in this reality.
Alex tugged the Doctor's scarf tighter around her neck and moved herself closer against the Doctor's chest. He was cold, too – Time Lord superior biology my eye! – but he was all the heat Alex had.
The Doctor's eyes opened and shot down to the tiny, shivering figure curled up next to him. "Ally?" he asked, putting a hand to her cheek. He jerked it back. It was freezing to the touch. "Ally, you're freezing!" He sat up, pulling Alex with him, sitting her on his lap. He placed his arms around her and rubbed her back and shoulders, trying to get her warm.
Alex smiled a little. "Thanks." She reached over and grabbed the spare tweed jacket she had found. It had fallen to the ground the last time she fell unconscious in here. "Here. I'm not having you freeze either."
The Doctor chuckled a bit, but was nevertheless touched by her thoughtfulness. "Thanks," he said as he shrugged into the jacket. His eyes traveled down her frame and it was then that he finally noticed her scarf, or rather, his scarf. "Nice scarf by the way," he said, reaching out and fingering it.
Alex blushed. "Thanks. Stumbled upon it in the wardrobe room. Was this one of yours?"
"Yes, I used to wear it a long time ago." The Doctor grimaced a little. "Can't imagine why now. Horribly impractical. It was a miracle I didn't sprain an ankle running around in that thing."
Alex looked down at the woolen material and smiled slightly. "I think I know why you wore it."
The Doctor arched an eyebrow. "You do? Why?"
"You wore it then for the reason you wear that bowtie now." Alex smiled impishly at him, her eyes sparkling and turning a pale, light green. "Because you thought it was cool."
The Doctor laughed. He was pretty sure Alex's statement had just caused him to become even more attracted to her, if such a thing was even possible.
"It's colder!" Amy yelped from the other side of the console. Alex mentally groaned. Despite her intentions, Amy seemed to have a knack for interrupting sweet moments between her and the Doctor.
Alex shifted off the Doctor's lap and crawled over to join Amy and Rory, the Doctor just behind her. "The four of us have to agree, now, which is the dream," he decided as he pulled Alex closer to him, wrapping a blanket around her frame.
"It's this, here!" Rory cried.
"He could be right," Amy agreed. "The science is all wrong here. Burning ice?"
The Doctor shook his head. "No, no, no. Ice can burn. Sofas can read. It's a big universe. We have to agree which battle to lose. All of us, now."
"Okay, which world do you think is real?" Amy asked him.
"This one," the Doctor said, not missing a beat.
"No, the other one!" Rory argued.
The Doctor eyed him critically. "Yeah, but are we disagreeing or competing?" he shot back.
Amy looked at them blankly. "Competing over what?" The guys turned to look at her, causing the redhead to roll her eyes and stand up.
"Nine minutes to impact," the Doctor reported, checking his watch.
Alex watched them, feeling her blood pulsing and pounding. No, the Doctor could not be competing over Amy. He was not in love with her! She'd forbid it! She turned to the Doctor as he stood up. "Why would you be competing over Amy?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light but failing miserably.
"It's not like that, Ally," the Doctor protested.
"Then what is it like?"
The Doctor knew why he was competing over Amy with Rory. It was a matter of friendship and let's face it, that village bored him to tears. But he knew what Alex was thinking. She thought it was over his and hers apparent involvement in the Leadworth dream and that he was using Amy as a pawn to get away from it. And maybe he was. He couldn't be with Alex that way, no matter how much he desperately wanted to.
He sighed, reached out, and twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. It was so soft and shiny. He wasn't sure how she got it that way or if it was that way naturally. Knowing Alex, it was probably the latter. "Trust me, Alex," he whispered. "I'm not in love with Amy."
Alex seemed about to reply when Amy's voice called out, "What temperature is it?"
I'm getting so sick of her interrupting us, the Doctor thought sourly. Maybe I should invent a companion muzzle. He reluctantly walked away from Alex and darted around the console. "Outside? Burr! How many noughts inside? I don't know but I can't feel my feet and . . . other parts."
Good to know, Alex thought as she fought to keep her gaze from moving downwards.
Rory gave him a slightly defiant look. "I think all my parts are basically fine," he shot back.
"Stop competing!" the Doctor scolded.
"Can't we call for help?" Rory asked, picking up the console phone and waving it around in front of the Doctor.
"Yeah, because the universe is really small and there's bound to be someone nearby," the Doctor retorted dryly. Alex offered Rory a sympathetic smile before taking the phone and placing it back in its cradle.
"Put these on, all of you," Amy ordered. She came up holding a series of blankets. She tugged one over Rory's head, revealing a hole cut in the middle. Alex groaned and immediately stepped back from an oncoming Amy. She liked a lot of clothes but ponchos, even when she was freezing, were a big no-no.
"Oh, a poncho," Rory realized, looking down at his new garment.
Alex shook her head. "The biggest crime of fashion since lederhosen," she quipped. She thought for a second before adding, "Or shoulder pads. And pleather. And bell-bottoms. And—"
"Alright, we get it!" Amy cried, shooting her a withering look before turning back to help the Doctor into his own poncho. She stood back, looking rather pleased with herself. "Here we go! My boys. My poncho boys."
"You all look like a Peruvian folk band," Alex said dryly. "And not in a good way."
"Thank you, Mrs. Doctor," Amy retorted, smiling a little at Alex's apparel. Alex's face went a bright red and she leaned back against the railing, arms crossed, now totally silent.
"Might as well die looking like one," Rory said in reply to Alex's comment, sounding resigned. He shook his head, trying to clear out all the negative thoughts. "No! We're not going to die!"
"No, we're not," the Doctor agreed, "but our time's running out. If we fall asleep here, we're in trouble. If we could divide up, then we'd have an active presence in each world, but the Dream Lord is switching us between the worlds. Why? Why? What's the logic?" He paced up and down the floor, thinking.
"Good idea, veggie," the Dream Lord complimented, now pacing in step with him. "Let's divide you four up, so I can have a chat with one of our lovely companions." His eyes rested on Alex, the girl automatically clutching the Doctor close. "Maybe I'll keep her and you can have Pointy Nose and Jessica Rabbit to yourself for all eternity, should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality."
"Can you hear that?" Rory asked Alex.
Alex shook her head. "No. What's happening?" She turned to the Doctor and attempted to keep him upright. "Doctor! Doctor, what's going on?"
The Doctor felt his hearts ache. Alex looked so scared and he wanted nothing more than to protect her and keep her with him. "Ally, don't be scared," he told her, despite knowing it wouldn't really work. He sank down to the ground and Alex dove down to her knees beside him. "We'll be back."
"Doctor, don't leave me!" Alex cried as she watched the Doctor fall asleep. She looked around and crawled over to Amy and Rory, also asleep. "Rory! Amy! Wake up!" She slapped Amy's cheek a little, but it wasn't effective.
"Oh, Ally," the Dream Lord smiled crocodile-like at her. "We're going to have fun, aren't we?"
~Living the Life of Ally~
The Doctor shot to his feet, unintentionally causing Alex to land ungraciously on the floor. Pressing his ear to the door, he distinctly heard the Eknodine screaming, waiting for him and Alex to come out so they could destroy them. He sighed and looked down at Alex. How could this be happening? He knew who the Dream Lord was and he couldn't believe that his dark side was doing this to him. Still, he was pretty confident that he'd never harm Alex, so maybe she wasn't in much danger.
Still watching her, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and fiddled with it. "Okay, where is it?" he wondered, searching for the right frequency. Finally locating it, he lifted Alex up over his shoulder, opened the door, and zapped the lights. The Eknodine stumbled back and closed their mouths as they tried to adjust to their new blindness. He held tight to Alex's long legs as he ran out the door and down the street.
"Help, somebody!" a voice cried out. The Doctor turned to see the Eknodine identified as Mr. Nainby attacking a camper van a little ways away.
The Doctor had half a mind just to keep running but he knew that if Alex were here, she'd be running to help that man. She was terribly selfless. He sighed, adjusted her in his arms, and began running towards the van. "Oh, you couldn't live near the shops, could you?" he cried as he approached.
"Help me!"
In just a few seconds, the Doctor had knocked Mr. Nainby down and handed Alex off to the man in the van. The Doctor climbed into the driver's seat while the owner of the vehicle settled Alex in the passenger seat. The Doctor drove down the street, picking up anyone who was being attacked by the Eknodines, just as Alex would have done if she was here right now.
He felt that same pain stab his hearts again. He glanced over at Alex. She looked gorgeous as usual, dressed in a black camisole, ox blood leather jacket, black skinny jeans, hoop earrings, and those ridiculous black heeled boots she was fond of wearing. He turned back to the road, hoping that Alex was okay back in the TARDIS.
~Living the Life of Ally~
Alex paced up and down the glass platform, trying to stay warm. A few icicles were in her hair and no matter how often she brushed them away, more appeared. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory's faces and hair were covered with the stuff and every so often, she would bend down and brush some of it off.
Alex skidded a little and cursed. The control room was completely covered in ice now and the floor was slick with the stuff. Alex looked down at her flat tan leather boots gratefully. If she had been wearing heels, she'd have twisted both ankles by now.
"Poor Ally," the Dream Lord crooned, appearing on one side of the console. "He always leaves you, doesn't he?" He glanced down at the Doctor. "Alone in the dark. Never apologizes."
"He doesn't have to," Alex retorted. What she ever did to be stuck with this sleaze-ball, she didn't know.
He smirked at her. "That's good, because he never will. And now he's left you with me. Spooky, old, not-to-be-trusted me." He disappeared and then reappeared in front of her, seated on one of the jump-seats, now dressed in a revealing robe. "Anything could happen."
Alex stuck her finger down her throat. Maybe it was a good thing the Doctor was unconscious. He'd be so mad, steam would probably come out of his ears. "Excuse me while I vomit."
The Dream Lord rolled his eyes. "You have a sarcastic comment for everything?"
"Yes, actually," Alex smirked.
"I don't know how the Doctor can stand you all the time."
"He likes me," Alex said calmly, kneeling down to brush some icicles off the aforementioned person.
"Like is not the word I would use."
Alex cocked an eyebrow at him. "And what word would you use then?" she asked challengingly. "No, wait, let me guess. Tolerates? Endures? Condones? Any of those closest to what you were going to say?"
"Not even close," the Dream Lord smiled. He leaned towards her in a confidential manner. "No, I'd say loves."
Alex about choked. "Love?" she repeated incredulously.
"He dotes on you, Alexandria!" the Dream Lord cried. "He always looks right at you when he's about to do something, just to see whether or not you approve. And when you give him that approval, that makes him even more determined to stop whatever's threatening you all. Threatening you."
Alex shook her head. "All of the companions do that to him."
"Maybe so," the Dream Lord conceded, "but with you it's even more. Do you think he'd have stayed so long in that dinky place you call a town unless you asked him to?"
"There were aliens there!"
The Dream Lord went right on, ignoring her. "For whatever reason, he goes out of his way to make you happy. Moving the swimming pool? You've seen how big that library is! And letting you sleep for fourteen hours? I can assure you, he's never allowed a companion that luxury before!"
Alex shrugged. "So he acts differently with me than Amy or Rory or anyone else. He's probably different with everyone!"
"Speaking of that, let's talk about you. Never have I seen a more boring, uptight person than you. I mean, were you a schoolmarm in a past life?"
"Where are you going with this?"
"You are not like that around the Doctor. Around him, you turn into this annoying, bubbly, bouncing kangaroo."
"Glad I stuck around for this conversation," Alex muttered.
"Are you going to say you aren't the slightest bit interested in the Doctor?"
Alex allowed this statement to sink in and something clicked in her mind. Of course! How could she not have seen it earlier? She looked up and smiled a little at the Dream Lord. "Why do you care so much about my relationship with the Doctor? You don't even like him."
The Dream Lord shrugged. "Curiosity," he said a moment later.
"Hmm. . ." Alex stood up and crossed over so that she was standing right in front of the Dream Lord. She leaned back against the cold console and crossed her arms. Her eyes switched over from copper to dark green, giving her a piece of the Doctor for the Dream Lord to look at. "Who are you and what do you want? The Doctor knows you, but he's not telling me who you are and he always does. Takes him a little while because he doesn't want to scare me, but he does. So you're something different."
"Oh, is that what you think you are?" the Dream Lord laughed. "The one he trusts?"
"Yes, actually. Problem?"
"The only girl in the universe to whom the Doctor tells everything?"
Alex's smile grew wider and her gaze more mischievous and conniving, so much like the Doctor's own. "Now, I never said that." The Dream Lord's face fell slightly, knowing that he could no longer get under her skin.
Alex happily continued as she strutted around the console back over to the Doctor. "Do I think the Doctor trusts me? Oh, yes, absolutely. But am I the first? Well, as much as I and probably Amy would like to think so, that's hardly correct."
"So what is correct?" the Dream Lord managed to choke out.
"Here's what I think," Alex said, kneeling down next to the Doctor. She smiled at him fondly and gently ran her fingers through his hair, picking the icicles from his brown strands one by one. "There have been many over the years that the Doctor has confided in. Knowing him, the majority, if not all, have been girls." She chuckled. "What a Romeo you are," she teased his sleeping form.
"The Doctor's been around for a little over nine hundred years," she continued, not even looking up at the Dream Lord. "That's a long time and considering his life, I shudder to think of the things he's seen." She thought about the Doctor's story of the Time War, the ruthlessness and zero-compassion of the Time Lords, and how Gallifrey and its people had burned at his hand. "The point is, sometimes, he needs to tell someone, confide in them, because if he doesn't, he'll go mad. The darkness in him is huge and is strong enough to take him over completely if he lets it.
"If the Doctor doesn't confide in some companion, that darkness will take over. And when that darkness takes over, he slowly turns into you." She looked up. The Dream Lord seemed practically weak now, shaken that she had discovered the horrifying truth. "Hi, Doc," she smiled.
The Dream Lord – or the Dark Doctor, as Alex now thought of him – didn't say anything. He probably couldn't say anything, he was so shocked. Maybe he's upset that I'm seeing this side of him, Alex thought.
Alex sat back on her heels and eyed the Dream Lord. She had an idea of what was coming next and she was reluctantly preparing for it. "Since you are the Doctor, you're not going to hurt me. That's probably why you've kept me in here for so long, so I'll be safe in at least one reality. But you are the darkest part of the Doctor. You may not actually be able to hurt me, but that doesn't mean you're going to make things easy for me. The boat accident reality? Of course the Doctor's dark side would put me in that. He knows it's the one place I fear most and if he's not there, I'll fear it twice as much."
Alex waited for the other shoe to drop. She'd just exposed the Doctor's dark side and there was no telling what he'd do now that his cover was blown. Well, she knew he'd do one thing to her and as much as she was dreading it, she knew she could deal with it.
The Dream Lord sighed wearily. "You're too smart for your own good, Ally." His voice, at least to Alex's ears, sounded like the Doctor's own. Then, almost reluctantly, he raised his hand, bringing forth the birdsong. Alex had already lowered herself to the ground by the Doctor's side and within an instant, was fast asleep.
The Dream Lord crept closer to Alex. She was right; he'd never hurt her. Alex was almost immune to the wrath of the Doctor's dark side. He looked down at her sleeping form. He had been right; she was perfect. Light brown hair with highlights that made it look blonde more often than not. Eyes that changed colors, almost like magic. A small, healthy frame that gave her all that madcap energy. And of course, her brilliant mind, which was like the eighth wonder of the world.
The Dream Lord raised the temperature of the spot she was lying in. He brushed the icicles from her face and hair, even though they seemed to make her sparkle more than a disco ball. Finally, he grabbed a blanket lying on Amy's legs – the dark side favored Alex more than any other companion – and tossed it over her. Maybe these small things would make up for the hell he was putting her through. Maybe, just maybe.
A/N: Wow, long and crazy chapter! Who liked the little twist with the Dream Lord and how Alex figured out who he was? Tomorrow's the last part and I can say there are more fluffy bits and one bit that will probably cause some of you to groan and yell 'REALLY?!' at your screens. :)
Notes on reviews. . .
rycbar15 - Lol, thanks! Yeah, I had to be a little mean to Alex with this episode. But the next chapter makes up for all this roughness. :)
SopherGopher'sAwesomeSister - I think EVERYONE wanted to slap Amy for accidentally doing that! Glad you liked the boat-sinking plot! Yes, what will Alex do without the Doctor there? }:)
moonsword17 - Lol, I don't think there's an unofficial rule among us or anything! I did read on Melissa de la Cruz's website that one way to keep your readers hooked to a story is by ending chapters on cliffhangers. Seems like it's working on this one. :) And I'm so glad you lie this story! Hope you enjoy this quick, if late hour, update! :)
SopherGopherroxursox - Thanks! I'll try!
xxsilentwhispersxx - Aw, thank you! I'm glad you love/hate it when it ends on a cliffhanger. I think most everyone feels that way. :)
jesterlover - Yeah, he does get a little bit Oncoming Storm doesn't he? And there's more of that to come! There's an epic one sometime in the future but I can't say when! :)
grapejuice101 - I think this chapter kind of answered that question. Since the Dream Lord is part of the Doctor, he's trying to get Alex to admit she's attracted to the Doctor despite the Doctor's attempts to distance himself from her while, at the same time, making sure Amy is devoted to her fiancé by putting her in a domestic reality. He's quite the manipulator in this version. :)
ShadowTier - I can't say when the get together, but rest assured, it will happen eventually! Glad you liked the Dark Doctor and the moments between him and Alex. Lol, I think most everyone wanted to do violent things to Amy when she interrupted them. And I love Amy too, she's tied with Rory and Rose as my favorite companion, with Clara after that, Donna, and then Martha. :)
Timey-Wimey Somn-Like Lass - Lol, one part of your hope came true! Whether the other one will or not will have to wait until tomorrow. :) Oh and thank you! I like knowing that my care for you all goes vice-versa. And thanks! I don't want this to resemble other OC stories because I read a lot of them too. :)
EstherMarie117 - So glad you like the story! Glad you like Ally and the Doctor's interactions and how she fits into the story! Hope you enjoy this update! :)
