A/N: Alex outfit for this chapter can be viewed on my Tumblr, under the name 'darksideofparis'.

The next morning, Amy skipped down the halls of the TARDIS. She had the vaguest realization that she was turning into Alex, but dismissed it. She was SO happy! She was with the man she loved – Doctor Who? – and nothing was going to tear them apart now.

Now, she wanted to talk to Alex. The Doctor was nowhere to be found, not that he'd be much help anyways. Amy still found it hard to believe that he left Alex to sleep for as long as she wanted while he pounded on her door, yelling for her to get up already, they were wasting daylight. Of course, nothing would stop her from barging in on Alex. Alex could scream and cry and call Amy all the mean SAT vocab words she could think of. It wouldn't work.

Amy stopped in front of Alex's door. It was the closest one to the control room and so far, the only room the TARDIS hadn't moved for fun. Sometimes, it took Amy half an hour to locate her room, but Alex's remained in the same spot. She wouldn't have been surprised to learn that the Doctor had decreed that Alex's room be left alone. It was pretty likely.

Amy knocked quietly on the door, just to be polite. Alex was less likely to yell at her if Amy argued she had knocked first. After a few seconds, she knocked again. No reply. Smirking, Amy twisted the knob and pushed the door open. She got a step inside the room before she stopped in her tracks.

Lying in the bed, the sheets and comforter twisted around them, were the Doctor and Alex. They were both asleep. Alex's head was resting on the Doctor's chest, one arm flung over it. The Doctor's head was lying on a pillow but was also tilting to the side so that his jaw rested on Alex's thick mane of hair. One of his arms was wrapped around Alex, keeping her close, while the other was resting over Alex's slung-over arm.

Amy studied them silently, totally thrilled beyond description. The Doctor's jacket was lying on the couch, his boots were resting by the bed, and his ridiculous bowtie was lying on the nightstand but other than that, he was fully clothed so it was highly doubtful that he and Alex had 'danced' last night. Most likely was that he had stayed in here after comforting her from a nightmare, possibly about the third reality Alex had been placed in. Amy had a strong suspicion that the Dream Lord had put her in an accident involving her fear of water.

Alex had only told Amy about her fear of water after she vehemently refused to accompany her and Mels to a water-park. Amy had felt bad about her being the only survivor of that horrible boating accident and had even suggested Alex take swimming lessons or some kind of therapy to help her get over her fear of water, but Alex had shot them down. Nothing could get that girl near water if she could help it. Of course the Dream Lord would put her in such a reality!

Suddenly aware that she was still staring at the two like some sort of creeper, Amy backed out of the room and shut the door. As she tiptoed down the hall, she couldn't help but feel slightly grateful to the Dream Lord, if only because his manipulations had caused the Doctor and Alex to end up in their current arrangement.

~Living the Life of Ally~

Almost five minutes after Amy left, Alex's eyes slowly fluttered open. She thought she had distantly heard the door open. She looked over and saw that it was closed. Oh, well. Must have been her imagination.

She sighed and rested her head back on her really comfortable pillow. The TARDIS must really like her if she was giving her this much comfort. But right as Alex was beginning to doze off again, she heard the thudding of a heartbeat. Actually, two heartbeats. Alex jolted, suddenly wide awake. There was only one person she knew that had two hearts. . . Slowly, she looked up to see the sleeping form of the Doctor.

In spite of herself, Alex found herself smiling. Well, this was a lovely surprise. She recalled her nightmare last night and how the Doctor had come to comfort her. His presence must have worked for she hadn't had any more bad dreams.

Almost as though he could sense she was awake, the Doctor's eyes opened. He looked up at her, his gorgeous dark emerald green eyes meeting her honey brown ones. Rassilon, she was beautiful. Her hair was messy and tousled and her eyes were shining. She looked like an angel. Don't go getting sappy over a girl! A voice inside his head snapped, sounding suspiciously like his first incarnation.

Neither of them really knew what to say. Talk about the morning after being awkward, Alex thought wryly. Finally, she settled for a cheerful, "Morning!"

The Doctor chuckled, glad that she had made the first move. "Morning," he replied back.

Alex giggled and leaned back on her haunches, the hem of her nightgown rising up to show off a little of her thighs. "You do this often?" she asked.

"Do what often?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Comfort pretty girls from nightmares," she clarified.

The Doctor thought for a moment. There had been many times with Sarah Jane and Rose, but not with anyone else. Donna probably would have killed him if he tried to stay in bed with her all night. "A few times, yes," he replied hesitantly, not wanting to offend or upset her.

Alex surprised him by nodding, like she had been expecting this. "I kinda figured so." She then smiled mischievously. "But I'm sure you enjoyed comforting me the most, right?"

She's not wrong. The Doctor grinned and sat up. "Perhaps," he said slowly, still smirking at her, strongly enjoying this nearly unlimited flirting they were doing.

Alex sighed and ran a hand through her hair, making it more tousled and messier. The Doctor swallowed roughly and gripped the sheets tightly to prevent himself from lunging and pinning her to the mattress and snogging her senseless. His thread of self-control was still dangling and threatening to snap at any second.

Before he could do something he might deeply regret, the Doctor stood and grabbed his boots from the side of the bed. "Well, I'll just leave you to get changed," he muttered before grabbing his jacket and rushing out the door.

Alex giggled and fell back onto the mattress. It was so funny to see him flustered. He hadn't had the slightest idea what to do when he woke up next to her. Of course, neither had she, but Alex was willing to overlook that small detail. She rolled over and rested her head on the pillow the Doctor had used last night. Oh, God, it smelled just like him! Alex couldn't help but bury her nose in the pillowcase, inhaling the magnetic scent of musky cologne and fancy shower shampoo.

She rose slightly, feeling a little ashamed at her tween-like behavior. Honestly! She was acting like one of those thirteen-year-old's who were obsessed with Justin Bieber. Alex quickly swung her legs over the side of the bed and headed for the shower. Maybe a one-minute shower would make her see reason.

Fifteen minutes later, freshly showered and dressed in a white blouse, short jean shorts, mid-calf length brown leather boots, and dangly red rose earrings, Alex burst into the kitchen, a piece of fabric wrapped around her fingers.

"Here, Doc," she said, approaching the Doctor, who was leaning against the kitchen counter, eating what appeared to be chocolate cereal. She dangled his bowtie in front of him. "You left this in my room last night."

From behind her, Rory noticed what she was holding and about choked on his own breakfast of Cocoa Puffs. Amy pounded his back until he stopped coughing and watched as he gaped at Alex as she casually handed the Doctor his beloved garment.

The Doctor didn't seem embarrassed by it. He simply took the tie and started fastening it around his neck. "Thanks, Ally."

"Am I missing something here?" Rory questioned Amy.

"The Doctor stayed in Alex's room last night," Amy explained.

Rory turned to stare goggle-eyed at Alex. "Alex!" he cried.

Alex glanced up from where she was inspecting the milk in the refrigerator. "What?" she asked, truly puzzled as to why Rory had screamed her name.

"Not like that," Amy hissed before Rory got Alex pissed at him.

"Never mind," Rory muttered, turning back to his cereal. As much as he thought the Doctor and Alex were a cute couple, he was still protective over the twenty-year-old and was a bit relieved to hear that nothing resembling 'dancing' happened last night between the two.

Alex made quick work of grabbing a Pop-Tart and a glass of milk before perching up on one of the counter stools. She flipped through a magazine the TARDIS had provided her with. The TARDIS liked her like that. There was always some source of reading material provided to Alex every morning; New York Times, Harper's Bazaar, etc.

The Doctor glanced over at Alex. She was deeply engrossed in an issue of Soap Opera Digest. One Life to Live's Jessica was finally back to normal after her DID relapse, General Hospital'sVanessa Marcil was returning as Brenda Barrett, Caleb's identity was finally being revealed on All My Children, things like that. He shook his head, wondering why she was interested in stuff like that.

"I saw that," Alex said, not even looking up.

"Saw what?"

"That head-shake."

The Doctor feigned innocence. "What? What are you talking about?"

"You know, for a guy who faces down aliens and other bad guys almost every day and defeats them with a screwdriver and sarcasm, you're a really bad liar."

Amy and Rory snickered until the Doctor shot them a look. He casually wandered over to Alex and plucked the magazine out of her hands, staring at it disdainfully for a moment before tossing it on the counter. "Hilarious, Alexandria," he said dryly.

"Thought so," Alex replied. She picked her magazine back up and flipped the page. "So what are we doing today?"

"Going to Rio." The Doctor didn't miss the way Alex's body stiffened for a second before slowly relaxing.

"Really?" Alex asked, her voice attempting to be light, but there was a small squeak at the end. "That's nice."

"Amy wanted to go and I figured after the Dream Lord and all, I'd take her."

"That's fine," Alex attempted to dismiss. "You don't need to ask my permission or anything like that."

"I know that," the Doctor retorted, although he did actually feel like he was asking her permission. Beaches, huge expanse of ocean? She hated the beach and here he was, taking her straight to it! He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Don't worry. Amy and Rory can spend as much time at the beach as they want. You and I will do something else."

Alex gazed up at him, wonderstruck that he was willing to do that for her. "Really? You'd do that for me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Absolutely," the Doctor swore without hesitation. He was willing to do anything in order to make her happy.

As Alex beamed, the Doctor hurried out of the room, shouting for everyone to hurry up and get to the control room already.

~Living the Life of Ally~

"Behold!" the Doctor cheered, throwing open the TARDIS doors. "Rio!"

Amy and Rory rushed out, big smiles on their faces . . . which quickly faded as they took in their surroundings. Alex peeked out over the Doctor's shoulder, relieved to see not enormously large beaches and palm trees, but a graveyard. Okay, she hated graveyards, but a graveyard was preferable to a person who disliked water more than the common house cat.

Alex and the Doctor stepped out, the door shutting behind them. Based on the gray skies and cool air, Alex surmised that they were somewhere in England or Wales. She shivered slightly, cursing her shorts and thin cotton blouse. Glancing over at Amy, who was similarly dressed, Alex knew she was thinking the same thing.

"Not really getting the sunshine carnival vibe," Rory said, glancing around disdainfully.

"No? Ooh! Feel that though! What's that?" The Doctor suddenly started bouncing up and down in place. Since Alex was holding his hand, she was forced to join him.

"Ground feels strange," the Doctor commented. He looked around, noticing the humans' confused expressions. Even Alex couldn't feel anything different. "Just me. Wait. . . That's weird."

"What's weird?" Alex wondered.

"Doctor, stop trying to distract us!" Amy ordered, coming forward and glaring at him. "We're in the wrong place!" The Doctor, however, ignored her and suddenly ran around the TARDIS, dragging poor Alex behind him as Amy and Rory followed.

"Doctor, it's freezing, and Alex and I have dressed for Rio. We are not stopping here." The Doctor only knelt down next to a patch of turquoise colored grass. Alex knelt down next to him and studied it as well. It looked like how she had always thought bluegrass should look. Looking around, she noticed several more patches all around the cemetery. "Doctor? Are you listening to me? It's a graveyard. You promised me a beach."

Rather be here than at a beach, Alex thought.

"Blue grass," the Doctor murmured, still ignoring Amy's protests. He fingered a few of the blades.

"I'll take styles of music for five hundred," Alex quipped. The Doctor smirked at her before turning back to the blades. "Seriously though, what is it?"

"Not sure," the Doctor admitted. "There's patches of it all around the graveyard." He stood, pulling Alex up along with him. "So! Earth, 2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, I'll admit, but it's not a massive overshoot."

But Amy was more preoccupied with something in the distance than the Doctor's petty excuses. "Why are those people waving at us?" she asked, causing heads to turn to follow her gaze to a hill across from them. Squinting, Alex could vaguely make out two people standing there, waving at them.

"Can't be," the Doctor muttered, squinting as well. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Alex stared, slightly amazed, as he exclaimed, "It is!" He looked at Amy and Rory excitedly. "It's you two!"

"Let me see!" Alex said impatiently, jumping up and snatching the binoculars out of his hand. As she dusted the lenses off, she heard Rory say, "No, we're here. How can we be up there?"

"Ten years in your future," Alex replied, holding the binoculars up. Sure enough, she could see a slightly older Amy and Rory through them. "Probably came to fulfill the paradox we're seeing now or to relive past glories."

"Humans," the Doctor sighed. "You're so nostalgic."

Alex continued to peer through the binoculars. "Not bad looking," she said. "Oh, but, Ames? I'd start stocking up on hair dye now if I were you."

"WHAT?!" Amy shrieked, causing Rory and the Doctor to burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Alex smirked. "Just kidding!" she sang.

Amy glowered at her and lightly swatted the back of her head. "Not funny," she growled.

Alex lowered the binoculars and passed them back to the Doctor. "So you two are still together in ten years."

"No need to sound so surprised," Rory said light-heartedly.

"Not surprised, just impressed," Alex corrected.

"Hey, let's go and talk to them," Amy suggested. "We can say hi to future us. How cool is that?"

"Uh, no, best not," the Doctor shot down as he pocketed the binoculars. He still remembered the time he took Rose to visit her father. That was not an experience he was willing to repeat. "Really, best not. These things get complicated very quickly, and oh look!" He pointed out into the distance. The companions followed his gaze to what appeared to be a large mining operation. "Big mining thing. Oh, I love a big mining thing. See, way better than Rio. Rio doesn't have a big mining thing."

Amy groaned, immediately sensing where this was going. "We're not gonna have a look, are we?" she guessed.

"Let's go and have a look!" the Doctor grinned before pulling Alex off. "Come on, you two!" he shouted back to Amy and Rory. "Let's see what they're doing!"

"Got any theories, Ally?" the Doctor asked as he pulled Alex along.

Alex laughed. "I'll bet anything they're mining because of that grass in the cemetery. I've never seen anything like it. It looks like how I've always thought bluegrass back in Kentucky should look."

"Good idea," the Doctor complimented.

Alex giggled, pleased with herself. "So," she said, swinging his arm before stepping closer so that their sides were touching, "what were you thinking?"

"Actually, the very same thing," the Doctor confessed.

Alex giggled again. "Great minds think alike!" she chirped, making him laugh as well.

At that moment, Amy came up, looking a little puzzled. "Hey, Alex?" she said, stepping in synch with her friend. "How much did Rory pay for my engagement ring?" From what Alex had eventually admitted, she had been the one to consult Rory on Amy's engagement ring and actually accompanied him and Mels to London to pick it out.

Alex nibbled her lip. "I promised I'd never tell."

Amy nodded, her lips pressed in a thin line, but a smile still threatening to crop up. "That's what I thought."

~Living the Life of Ally~

A few minutes later, the trio were at the mine gates. The Doctor peered at the sign. "'Restricted Access'," he read aloud. "'No unauthorized personnel.' Hmm." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, aiming it at the lock. A second later, the lock sparked as it unlocked, making the girls jump back and Amy yelp.

"That is breaking and entering!" she hissed.

"What did I break?" the Doctor retorted, grinning as he pocketed the sonic. He pushed open the gate. "Sonicing and entering. Totally different."

Alex gave him a dry look. "I can hear the judge laughing now."

"Hush it you," the Doctor chided, pushing her ahead.

Amy sighed, seeing no way out of this. "Come on then," she said, going off after Alex.

The Doctor nodded, but he was looking out behind them towards the TARDIS. "You're sure Rory'll catch us up?" he called back to Amy.

"He'll be fine!" Amy answered, smiling at him. "Don't worry!"

The group made their way into one of the buildings. As they headed down a hallway, Alex watched as the Doctor pulled some blades of the strange grass out of his pocket and examined them. "What about now?" he asked the girls. "Can you feel it now?"

"Honestly, I've got no idea what you're on about," Amy admitted.

"The ground doesn't feel like it should," the Doctor explained, strolling ahead and once again dragging Alex after him.

Alex shrugged, still not sensing anything different. To her, ground was ground. "It's ten years in the future," she pointed out. "Maybe how this ground feels is how it always feels."

"Good thought," the Doctor complimented, "but no, it doesn't." A siren suddenly started up and the Doctor pulled out his sonic. "Hear that?" he asked, looking at the device. "Drill in start-up mode. Afterwaves of a recent seismological shift and blue grass." He tucked the sonic away and then, for some reason, shoved a few bits of the grass into his mouth before spitting them back out.

Amy and Alex stared at him, disgusted. "Ew!" Alex screeched.

"Oh, please! Have you always been this disgusting?" Amy questioned.

"Seriously!" Alex cried. "The only time you should eat grass is if you're on some weird health kick!"

"No, that's recent," the Doctor replied to Amy, ignoring Alex. He quickly led the girls down the hall over to a doorway. "What's in here?" he wondered, poking his head into a large room.

Alex peeked out from behind him and looked over the room. It was fairly large, with a dirt floor and tables with equipment and computers scattered all around. Standing in front of a bank of computers was an Indian woman in her late forties.

"Hello!" the Doctor called, stepping into the room, followed closely by Amy and Alex.

The Indian woman whirled around and whipped off her glasses. "Who are you? What're you doing here?" she demanded before turning to look at Amy and Alex. Her eyebrows rose up as she took in their attire. "And what are you wearing?"

"We dressed for Rio," Amy said by way of explanation.

The Doctor reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his psychic paper. "Ministry of Drills, Earth, and Science," he said, dangling it in front of the woman for a split second before tucking it away. As he darted over to examine the equipment, he added, "New Ministry, quite big, just merged. It's a lot of responsibility on our shoulders. Don't like to talk about it. What are you doing?"

"None of your business!" the woman snapped.

"Where are you getting these readings from?" the Doctor asked, looking at the computer screens.

"Under the soil."

"The drill's up and running again!" a new voice called. Alex turned to watch an older, burly man dressed in plaid come through a doorway. He stopped to look at the new arrivals. "What's going on? Who're these people?"

"Amy, Alex, the Doctor," Amy introduced, nodding to each person as she said their name. Alex waved and smiled, totally chipper, but the Doctor only bent down to examine some dirt. Alex followed his movements over to a nice medium-sized hole in the middle of the floor. "We're not staying, are we, Doctor?"

"Why's there a big patch of earth in the middle of your floor?" he asked, answering Amy's question.

The woman shrugged. "We don't know," she answered, going back over to the computers. "It just appeared overnight."

Alex frowned. Holes don't just appear. It's illogical. Aloud, she said, "That's not good."

The Doctor nodded approvingly at Alex's statement. "Good. Right," he said before standing up and hurrying over to Alex. "You all need to get out of here very fast."

"Why?" the woman demanded. Amy and Alex stepped hesitantly over to the patch, looking over it critically, trying to see what the Doctor had seen.

"What's your name?" the Doctor asked.

"Nasreen Chaudhry."

"Look at the screens, Nasreen," the Doctor ordered. "Look at your readings. It's moving."

"What's moving?" Alex asked, going back over to the Doctor. She leaned in close to the equipment to try and see what was going on.

"Hey, that's specialized equipment!" the man called after her. "Get away from it!"

Alex ignored him. "Again, what is it?" she demanded.

"Doctor!" Amy cried from where she was kneeling beside the hole. A fine mist of steam was coming out from it, not something one saw coming from holes that often. "This steam, is that a good thing?"

The Doctor and Alex turned to look at it. The Doctor began to pace around while Alex went over to stand next to Amy. "Shouldn't think so," the Doctor admitted. "It's shifting when it shouldn't be shifting."

"What shouldn't?" Nasreen cried.

But right then, the ground began shaking. Everyone stumbled, but somehow managed to remain on their feet. Just as the rumbling subsided, Alex heard a strange noise coming from the hole in the ground.

The Doctor didn't appear to be fazed by this sudden occurrence for he continued pacing. "The ground, the soil, the earth, moving. But how? Why?"

"Earthquake?" Amy offered.

"I'm willing to bet it's not something that simple," Alex guessed.

"What's going on?" the man demanded.

"Doubt it," the Doctor answered to Amy's question. "Because it's only happening in this room."

Just when he got finished saying that, two more holes appeared in the floor, followed by three more a second later. In spite of herself, Alex jumped and screamed a little.

"It knows we're here," the Doctor gasped, staring at the holes. "It's attacking. The ground's attacking us!"

Nasreen shook her head. "No, no, that's not possible!" she argued.

And sofas can read, it's a big universe! Alex thought but didn't say. Now was not the time for her flippant remarks.

"Under the circumstances, I'd suggest . . . run!" the Doctor shouted.

He raced off in the direction of the door, Nasreen close behind, when they suddenly stopped, realizing they were missing a few people. The two whirled around to see the man kneeling on the ground, caught in one of the holes as Amy and Alex attempted to navigate their way over in order to reach him.

"Amy, Ally, stay back!" the Doctor ordered. "Stay away from the earth!"

Does he honestly think that'll work? Alex thought as she jumped over a hole after Amy. Amy was kneeling beside the man, trying to help him up.

"Tony!" Nasreen cried, sounding completely panicked.

"It's okay," Amy assured the man now identified as Tony. A split second later, a hole opened underneath Amy, pulling her down as Alex barely managed to jump back.

"Amy!" the Doctor shouted as he raced over to the girls, Nasreen just behind him.

"Doctor, help me!" Amy shrieked. "Something's got me!" She suddenly screamed again as she was pulled further down, now up to her thighs.

"Take my hand!" the Doctor ordered, reaching out to grab her. Amy's hand shot out to meet him while the Doctor's other hand gripped her arm to try and pull her out.

"Doctor, the ground's got my legs!" Amy shrieked as he tried to pull her out, but to no avail. "Don't let go!"

"Never," he promised.

"Don't worry, Amy," Alex assured her, trying to keep her voice calm and controlled, even though she felt like panicking herself right now. "We'll get you out!"

"No, I'll get her out," the Doctor corrected, shooting her a look. "You go stand over there."

Alex frowned at him. "Doctor—" she started.

"Now, Alexandria Nicole!" the Doctor shouted at her.

Alex glared at him, but she wasn't really that mad. Surprised that he had called her by her full name? Yes. Of course, she knew that he just wanted to protect her. Ever so reluctantly, she began to move away from the holes, listening to Amy pepper the Doctor with questions on why this was happening. But right as she began to put her foot down on a solid spot of ground, another hole appeared, sucking Alex down in it.

She yelped and clawed at the sides, trying to pull herself out, only succeeding in the ground tugging her down to her waist. Behind her, Amy's eyes widened and she let out a horrifying scream. "ALEX!" Amy screamed, causing the Doctor to whirl around and his face to go pale.

"Alex!" he cried. He watched as Alex tried to pull herself out and only succeeding in being sucked in even more. He started to get up to go help her when he remembered he was holding Amy's hand. He dove back down and looked back and forth between both girls. Amy. Alex. Amy. Alex. Amy. Alex.

"Doctor, go help her!" Amy yelled at him.

"No, don't listen to her!" Alex objected. "Help Amy! I'm fine!"

"No, go help her!"

"Help Amy!"

The Doctor looked back and forth rapidly. How could he decide between the girls? They were both important to him. But Alex is your favorite, a snide voice that sounded like the Dream Lord whispered in his mind. And the worst part was, he knew the voice was right.

"Go," Amy insisted. She stared up at the Doctor, understanding and worry reflected back at him. "She is more important and valuable to you than anyone else here."

"Stay calm!" the Doctor called to both girls. He turned back to Amy. "Keep hold of my hand. Don't let go." He looked over at Nasreen, who had managed to get Tony out. "Your drill!" he shouted at them. "Shut it down! Go! Now!" Needing no further prodding, the two ran out.

"Can you get us out?" Alex asked as she attempted to pull herself out again. She gasped and whimpered a little as the force beneath her sucked her down half an inch further, like it was teasing her.

"Try and stay calm!" the Doctor instructed. "If you struggle, it'll make things worse!"

"Doctor, go to her!" Amy begged.

"I'm not going to let you go," the Doctor insisted. Now wasn't really the best time to play Who Is The Doctor's Favorite Companion?.

"Doctor, something's pulling me down!" Alex cried. "Something's pulling me!" She closed her eyes and started mentally reciting rosary beads while simultaneously cursing herself for not attending church like she probably should have done.

"Stay calm!" the Doctor cried again, though he knew this repeated phrase wasn't doing any good. "Now, hold on till they can just shut down the drill."

Amy tightened her grip on his hand but as she was sucked further down, it loosened. "I can't hold on!"

"Amy, hold on!" Alex shouted. She was slightly grateful that she couldn't see what was happening but also slightly angry as well. She wanted to comfort her friend, but here she was, stuck in a bloody hole getting pulled down to the pits of Hell or something by an unseen force.

"What's pulling me? What is under the Earth?" Amy questioned rapid-fire style. "I don't want to suffocate under there."

"Amy, concentrate," the Doctor pleaded. "Don't you give up!"

"Tell Rory. . ." Amy's voice trailed off and she whimpered a little before she was sucked completely down the hole.

"No, Amy!" the Doctor cried in agony. He dug through the soil in a futile attempt to try and get her back. But there was no sign of her flaming red hair anywhere. "Amy, no!"

"Amy!" Alex cried, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "Doctor, what happened? Where is she?!"

Hearing Alex's questions reminded the Doctor that there was still one girl he could save, one girl he needed to save. He jumped up and ran over to her. He grabbed both of her hands, clutching them close to his chest. "Ally, do not let go," he ordered, his voice dark, not towards her, but to whoever was doing this to her.

Alex clenched her teeth and tried to put all of her strength into her upper body. "Please don't let go!" she begged, some of her tears leaking out.

"Never," he told her fiercely. There was no way in hell he was going to allow someone to take his Ally away from him. Wait, HIS Ally?

Alex glanced down briefly at the dirt covering the lower portion of her body. "Doctor, what is it? What could possibly want me?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted, "but I'm not going to let whatever it is get you, too."

Alex felt herself being sucked down another inch and she let out a strangled cry. "AAH! I don't think I can hold on for much longer!"

"Don't say that!" the Doctor snapped, even though he knew it was probably true.

Alex cried out again as she was sucked downwards once more. She could feel her hand getting slick with sweat, her grip becoming compromised. She was going to let go of his hand any second now. She knew it and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

The Doctor knew it as well. His fingers clenched tighter around Alex's small, fragile hand. He could practically feel his knuckles turning white. He stared into Alex's eyes, currently a mix between a bright, terrifying neon green and dark emerald green. He couldn't tell which color was overpowering which. He silently prayed to whatever God was out there that Alex wouldn't be harmed, that she would be safe and by his side.

Suddenly, Alex screamed, the sound playing over and over again in his ears as her hand was ripped away from his and she was pulled further into the ground. "DOCTOR!" she screamed before disappearing completely.

"ALEX!" the Doctor shouted. He dug madly through the soil, trying to catch a glimpse of that almost-blonde hair and colorful eyes, but there was nothing. He pulled back, the only evidence of his efforts being the abundance of dirt under his fingernails. He grabbed his sonic, nearly dropping it as he hurried, and pointed it at the ground. But still, nothing happened.

He lowered the sonic dejectedly as Nasreen and Tony raced in. Nasreen looked around. "Where are they?" she asked.

"They're gone," the Doctor choked out, staring at the ground. "The ground took them." They took Alex, he thought. Truthfully, that was the biggest focus of his thoughts right now. It was bad enough that they took Amy, but Alex? Alex was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Is that what happened to Mo?" Tony asked, interrupting the Doctor's thoughts. "Are they dead?"

The Doctor stood and began pacing in front of the holes. "It's not quicksand. They didn't just sink. Something pulled them in. It wanted them." He felt a burst of anger go through him, relishing in the hot, fiery feeling.

"The ground wanted them?" Nasreen repeated, looking confused.

The Doctor turned to her. "You said the ground was dormant," he recalled. "Just a patch of earth, when you first saw it this morning. And the drill had been stopped."

"That's right," Tony confirmed.

"But when you re-started the drill, the ground fought back."

Nasreen snorted. "So, what? The ground wants us to stop drilling?" She shook her head, still unable to believe what the Doctor was suggesting as the latter knelt next to the holes and scanned them with the sonic. "Doctor, that is ridiculous!"

The Doctor ignored her, watching as the dirt shifted slightly and gave a small rumble. He lifted the sonic and snapped it open to read the scans. "I'm not saying that and it's not ridiculous. I just don't think it's right." He leaned on his forehead and laughed a little as he finished reading the scans. "Oh, of course! It's bio-programming."

"What?" Nasreen quizzed.

"Bio-programming," the Doctor repeated before jumping to his feet. "Oh, it's clever! You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects. It's mainly used in engineering and construction, mostly jungle planets, but that's way in your future and not here. What's it doing here?"

Nasreen, however, was caught up in something strange the Doctor had said. "Sorry, did you just say jungle planets?"

Tony nodded his head in agreement with her. "You're not making any sense, man!" he snapped, causing the Doctor to stop pacing and look up at him, a frown etched onto his face.

"Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense," he said lowly, almost threateningly. If Alex had been there, she'd have been able to keep him calm. "You're just not keeping up. The earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack."

"Yeah, even if that were possible – which, by the way, it's not – why?" Nasreen asked.

"Stop you drilling," the Doctor replied, as though it were obvious. "Okay, so we find whatever's doing the bio-programming, we can find Alex and Amy. We can get them back." You can get Alex back.

Suddenly, he stiffened and held up a finger. "Shush, shush, shush," he ordered. "Have I gone mad? I've gone mad." Unfortunately, that was a distinct possibility since Alex had been taken away from him.

Nasreen eyed him worriedly. "Doctor—" she started before she was shushed.

"Shush! Shush! Silence! Absolute silence!" the Doctor said again. Nasreen looked at him with wide eyes, but complied. "You stopped the drill, right?"

"Yes," Nasreen answered, surprised that he was asking for an answer to a question he should already know.

"And you've only got the one drill?"

"Yes," Nasreen repeated like he was a child that hadn't gotten the memo to clean his room even after being told to do it five times already.

The Doctor eyed her. "You're sure about that?"

Tony took this one. "Yes!" he insisted.

They frowned at him as the Doctor looked around the room before hopping over a hole and lying on the ground, pressing his ear to the cool, hard dirt. "So, if you shut the drill down . . . why can I still hear drilling?" As Nasreen and Tony leaned closer to the ground to listen, the Doctor spoke again. "It's under the ground."

"That's not possible!" Tony protested as the Doctor shot to his feet, heading towards the computers.

The Doctor ignored him, whipping out his sonic and aiming it at the computers. Nasreen's eyes widened and she rushed forward to stop him, Tony right behind her. "Oh no, what are you doing?" she demanded.

"Hacking into your records," the Doctor casually answered, his gaze never wavering, not even as he gently pushed Nasreen off to the side. "Probe reports, samples, sensors. Good. Just unite the data, make it all one big conversation. Let's have a look." He straightened up and nodded to the screen, now showing a diagram of the drill hole.

"So, we are here, and this is your drill hole. Twenty-one point zero, zero nine kilometers." He nodded approvingly at Nasreen and Tony. "Well done."

Nasreen nodded a little, not sure whether or not to accept the compliment. "Thank you," she replied cautiously. "It's taken us a long time."

"Why here, though?" the Doctor wondered. "Why'd you drill on this site?"

"We found patches of grass in this area, containing trace minerals unseen in this country for. . ." Nasreen paused, thinking it over. "Twenty million years."

"The blue grass!" the Doctor recalled. He remembered Alex's witty comment about the grass and felt his hearts pang. No! He couldn't think about that right now! Instead, he smiled and chuckled slightly, more at the humans' ignorance than at any humor in this situation. "Oh, Nasreen," he said, patting the woman's shoulder. "Those trace minerals weren't X marking the spot, saying dig here. They were a warning. Stay away. Because while you've been drilling down, somebody else has been drilling up."

The computer in front of them beeped, drawing their attention. "Oh, beautiful," the Doctor murmured, examining the screen with the same intensity he did on Alex's appearance on any given day. "Network of tunnels all the way down."

"No, no," Tony protested, shaking his head. "We've surveyed that area!"

"You only saw what you were looking for," the Doctor replied before another beep rang out.

Nasreen peered at the screen, watching as three little dots began moving up the screen. "What are they?"

"Heat signals," the Doctor answered. "Wait, dual readings, hot and cold, doesn't make sense. And now they're moving. Fast." He turned to look at Nasreen and Tony expectantly. "How many people live nearby?" he asked.

"Just my daughter and her family," Tony answered. "The rest of the staff travel in." He looked worriedly at the Doctor, wondering where he was going with this.

The Doctor nodded, glad this wouldn't be a repeat of the Leadworth reality in the psychic pollen adventure. "Grab this equipment and follow me," he ordered before beginning to march off.

"Why?" Nasreen called after him. "What're we doing?"

The Doctor whirled around and marched back over to them. "That noise isn't a drill, it's transport. Three of them, thirty kilometers down. Rate of speed looks about a hundred and fifty kilometers an hour. Should be here in, ooh, quite soon. Twelve minutes." He turned to head back to the door, listening as Nasreen and Tony hurriedly gathered up equipment. "Whatever bio-programmed the Earth is on its way up . . . now."

The Doctor walked out the door, his stride determined. He was going to get Amy and Alex back and he was going to get them back alive and in one piece. If anything happened to them, there would be no hope in getting him calmed down, particularly if Alex was harmed in any way, shape or form.

Tony and Nasreen hurried after him. "How can something be coming up when there's only the Earth's crust down there?"

"You saw the readings!" the Doctor retorted. Honestly, humans! He thought. Can't see an alien even if the proof is right in front of them!

"Who are you, anyway?" Nasreen demanded. "How can you know all this?"

But before the Doctor could answer, a red light flashed above them in the sky before quickly disappearing.

"Whoa!" Nasreen gaped up at the sky. "Did you see that?"

The Doctor's face fell and he mentally cursed whoever was doing this in every language he could think of, from English to Sycoraxic. "No, no, no!" he chanted, praying he was wrong as he pulled a slingshot out of his jacket pocket. He grabbed a rock from the ground and settled it in the slingshot before firing away at the sky. A red webbing appeared, hissing as the rock hit it, before turning invisible again.

"Energy signal originating from under the Earth," he explained to the baffled humans. "We're trapped."

"Doctor!" a voice called out. The group whirled around to see Rory racing up to them, a young woman and a boy of about twelve hot on his heels. He skidded to a stop by the Doctor before panting, "Something weird's going on here. The graves are eating people!"

Oh, great, just what I need! The Doctor thought bitterly. Of course, he had a pretty good idea what was happening with the graves, but it wasn't something he could focus on right now. "Not now, Rory! Energy barricade, invisible to the naked eye. We can't get out and no one from the outside world can get in."

"What?" Rory blurted. He paused for a moment, thinking the situation over before suggesting, "What about the TARDIS?"

"The what?" Nasreen questioned.

"Er, no," the Doctor said hastily, noticing Nasreen's curious expression. Based on how long it had taken her to accept that there was something under the Earth, he could just imagine how long it would take getting her to accept time travel. "Those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits. With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got nine and a half minutes."

Rory looked at his watch. "Nine and half minutes to what?"

"We're trapped and something's burrowing towards the surface," Nasreen explained, mostly to the two other people that had arrived with Rory.

Rory nodded, absorbing the information, but then he noticed something odd. Where were Amy and Alex? Amy wouldn't want to miss any of the excitement and Alex would have made her presence known by now, what with her bouncing and intelligent questions. She wouldn't want to miss any of this either. "Where's Amy?" he asked the Doctor. "And Alex?"

Oh, shit, the Doctor thought, dreading the question. He turned to Nasreen and Tony, hoping to stall for just a few seconds on answering Rory. "Get everyone inside the church," he ordered. He waited until everyone had gathered the equipment and was out of earshot before beginning to walk off. "Rory, I'll get them back," he promised over his shoulder.

Rory's eyes widened and he raced after him. "What do you mean 'get them back'?" he demanded. "Where've they gone?"

The Doctor felt his hearts ache and a flash of anger run through his veins. "They were taken," he revealed. "Into the Earth."

Rory's eyes flashed dangerously, reminding the Doctor that he wasn't the only one who cared about Amy and Alex's safety. "How? Why didn't you stop it?!"

"I tried," the Doctor said honestly, remembering how he had tried to keep hold of the girls right up until the moment they were each taken away from him. "I promise, I tried."

"Well, you should've tried harder!" Rory snapped.

The Doctor felt his entire demeanor darken. How come Rory didn't get it? Couldn't he see what Alex's absence was doing to him? It was like trying to live without the sun; cold and a quick route to death. He could feel his insides twisting into tight little knots as the fear and guilt and anger took root and settled in.

He grabbed Rory by the collar and pulled him up to where the human could see the dark black irises that screamed worry, anger, and guilt. "Do you really think I don't know that?" the Doctor hissed, his anger curling into his words. "Do you not think I don't realize I could've done a thousand things differently that would've ended with me saving them?"

Rory gulped and for the first time since meeting him, he actually felt a little afraid of the Doctor. He got the feeling he was seeing a part of him that the Doctor kept hidden from others, maybe even hidden from himself. This man was not the bumbling adventurer he had come to know and actually like; this was a dark, twisted person who wouldn't hesitate to destroy anything in his way that prevented him from getting to those he cared about.

It was this side that Alex somehow managed to control. It was this side of the Doctor that was threatening to come out now that its gatekeeper was no longer around. It was this side of the Doctor that would be unleashed if anything happened to the gatekeeper. And that, Rory thought, was the scariest thing of all.

"I'll find Amy," the Doctor suddenly spoke. "I'll find Alex. I'll keep you all safe, I promise. Come on, please. I need you alongside me." And with that, he released Rory's collar and headed back towards the church, never looking back, as if he knew Rory would follow him.

And that was exactly what Rory did.

A/N: Alex got taken with Amy! What will happen? SO sorry for the late update, but I was at a football game and didn't leave for some time. On the bright side, my school beat our number one rival! :)

Notes on reviews. . .

Cigar Fancy Pants - Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. Thank you! :D

SopherGopher'sAwesomeSister - I recently turned 17. :) Glad you enjoyed the chapter!

SopherGopherroxursox - Lol, I think 'Dalex' is the winner so far! That's what I've been calling them in my head at least. :) Glad you loved the ending! It was rather sweet, wasn't it?

The bunny always dies first - Yeah, I think a lot of people hate that, but I don't want to rush into anything. Ooh, can't say anything about the Pandorica episodes, just that a lot happens in them. :)

TheGirlWhoWaited - I'm pretty sure NO ONE expected me to kill the Doctor off there! I've never seen it done, and I thought it would be interesting to see how Alex reacted to that. So glad you loved the chapter and the fluffy end bits. :)

Skipper1318 - SO glad you like this fic and the pairing! Lol, I think 'Dalex' is going to be it and you're right, it is pretty funny said aloud. :)

ShadowTier - Glad you liked the chapter! Sorry for the late update, but football is practically another religion where I'm from. And basketball. :)

Gwilwillith - I am rather evil, aren't I? :D

dream lighting - Yes, they will get together (wouldn't be much of a story if they didn't), but I can't say when! Well, we've seen River in the Weeping Angels episodes and her relationship with Alex is interesting. They have an interesting frenemies relationship, which we will see in the Pandorica episodes. That's all I can say for now about how River will react. :)

Timey-Wimey Somn-Like Lass - I'm so glad I could fulfill your wishes! You have no idea how shocked I was when I read your review and thought 'they nailed it!' I can't say when they get to have each-other, just that they will sometime! And don't worry, Stonehenge will be full of surprises... :)

jesterlover - Glad you're excited! 'The Hungry Earth' is a good episode!

TheUltimateGuest - Yes, the Silurians are the green lizard-people that used to live on Earth before humans populated it. They went underground when they mistook the moon entering Earth's gravity for the apocalypse. They don't like humans or 'apes', and you'll see that in this episode and 'Cold Blood'. }:)

rycbar15 - I'm so glad you love this story! Yeah, when IS he going to admit it? He can be pretty thick! :)

TimeyWimey12 - Ooh, good question...well, she doesn't have a fob watch that we know of, but anything's possible. :)