~~OO~~II~~OO~~

((Dealings))

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

Not my mother, I told myself as I thrashed desperately to get away from the transformed alien keeping a hold on me. She hissed, but I ignored her, instead kicking at her as best as I could. And my best wasn't very good. My mother was dead and had been for over a decade. There was no way it was really her.

"Get the thing off," the alien holding me spat in my ear, giving a bloodcurdling shriek when Clave growled. "Get it off of him!"

"Ali? Ali, what's going on?"

Oh now he wants to speak up! He was supposed to be watching the area on a screen! Did he not notice the blip that had been approaching us?! I gritted my teeth as the copy of my mother's fingernails became claws, digging them in just barely. "Now!"

"Clave," I said breathlessly, "Off, get off. Go to Jack."

Clave eyed me with a soft whine, anxious, and then obeyed. He scrambled off of the Laxryn and slithered up to curl around Jack's shoulders with a hiss, glaring at the one holding me. I kicked my legs again, trying to hit the alien's legs with the heels of my boots. "See? He's fine. Now put me down!"

She growled dangerously, snarling. "So that your pathetic pet can attack him again? No!"

"Ali!"

"Jack!" I hissed, and then cursed when the Laxryn lost patience and roughly tore the watch thing from my wrist. She threw it as I thrashed again. "Jack, tell him to shut up and that nothing's wrong!"

"But something is wrong!"

"Obviously!" I shrieked, then twisted and suddenly grabbed the Laxryn's hair, twisting it until her head was back. Taking advantage of her surprise, I kicked as hard as I could and gasped as I landed hard on my side, sending her sprawling as well. I shot to my feet as Clave leaped from Jack's shoulders and somehow landed on mine, hissing protectively as he bared his teeth at the two.

Panting, I watched as the female's appearance seemed to quiver and melt away into the sharp eyed look of a teenage girl with dyed red hair, her green eyes full of anger. I expected the Laxryn holding the Doctor's appearance to do the same, but he only remained where he was, breathing heavily with a soft whimper.

I quickly looked away from him, my stomach twisting at the sight of him in blood. Not a good look on the Doctor that's for sure.

I backed away to stand beside Jack, whose watch was practically screaming now. "OI! What's going on Jack?! What's wrong? What happened!?"

I rolled my eyes, snatching up the man's wrist as he continued to glower at the Laxryn, rasping into the watch, "Nothing, nothing bad happened. Everything's fine here, Doctor. Maybe a few bruises on my part, but nothing more."

I dropped his wrist as the Doctor began to scold me through it, shaking my head. The female scowled at us, and then suddenly dropped beside the other, her eyes filling with panic as he gave a bubbly cough, groaning. "Look what you did!" she gasped.

I studied the two, tilting my head. The TARDIS gave a hum in my head and I sighed, picking Clave and setting him on the ground, saying sternly, "Clave. Stay right there." When he looked at me with a confused look, I hesitantly made my way over, crouching beside the injured Laxryn and the female.

In a flash, she had her hand at my throat, spitting, "You hurt him! He'll die because of you!"

Swallowing nervously, I tried to pull her hand away as Jack snapped a command to the ten or so gunmen behind him. "I know, it's my fault. Let me try to fix him, alright?" She looked hesitant, then nodded sharply, releasing me in favor of studying her companion nervously. I moved over, gently inspecting the damage to his throat and shoulder while he glared at me with eyes full of hate. I shuddered. Not the Doctor, not the Doctor, I chanted silently to myself.

Damn, they were convincing!

"If we can get him back, I'm sure the Doctor –the real Doctor –can help him," I said softly. "He knows more about real doctoring then I or Jack do, even if he really isn't a doctor majored in…stuff."

She shook her head, moaning softly. "Not the Doctor, my lady, he'll refuse!"

"No he won't," I said firmly. "And if he does, I know how to make his ship lock him out. He'll help you and yell at me, don't worry. Come on, let's get him back. I don't know if this is rude or not, but maybe you could transform into something that can carry him without us having to jostle him too much?"

"I can only transform into what I've seen," she admitted, then added, "Will a deer suffice, my lady?"

I blinked in confusion at the title but nodded, shrugging out of my jacket and tossing it at Jack to carry so that it wouldn't get stained with blood, and I grimaced at the slight chill I got. Wearing a tank top in South Dakota with a hint of your stomach showing isn't fun in the middle of winter, even if it is unnaturally warm. "That'll do," I said, pressing my hand over the wounds to stop the bleeding. The Laxryn hissed angrily but didn't push me away.

I wasn't the only one that looked at the female curiously as she closed her eyes. Her form melted away and a doe was left in her place, eyes blinking calmly. She used her nose to nudge at the other one, and he groaned softly. I glanced back, eyeing each gunman until my eyes landed on one in particular. "You," I said firmly, waving him over. "Come help me get him onto her back."

The gunman was startled, but glanced at Jack. Jack gritted his teeth and nodded, and the gunman set his gun down before hurrying over and asking hesitantly, "What do you want me to do, Miss Levine?"

I smiled. I liked this guy. Grab him under the arms; I'll grab him by the ankles. This is going to hurt; you'll have to deal with it for now, alright?" I told the alien we were trying to help. He merely spat blood in my face.

I blinked, wiping blood away from my face with a grimace. "Alright then, that's nice of you," I said, ignoring the slightly sick feeling at the thought of it anywhere near my face. "Uh…what's your name?" I asked the gunman.

"Avery," he answered, eyeing the Laxryn warily.

"Avery, on the count of three…"

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

The second we made our way onto the viewing platform, the Doctor almost seemed to materialize beside me, his eyes anxious as he touched the blood on my cheek from being spat at. "Are you hurt?" he demanded as Clave slithered from my shoulders.

"No," I reassured, patting his hand reassuringly as Jack offered me my jacket. I shook my head, telling him, "I need to wash off first. Just a few bruises from falling around a bit, but nothing too bad," I added when the Doctor turned his attention on my already discoloring shoulder.

His eyes darkened and I sighed, shaking my head when he turned away. "Don't you dare go around and say I told you so," I threatened. "It's fine, nothing bad happened. Now, I know this is gonna be weird, but you're going to have to help that guy out over there." I pointed to where the female Laxryn, still in deer form, was approaching with a carbon copy of the Doctor on her back, looking nervous.

He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. "Ali…

"Please?" I pleaded.

He sighed. "Fine, but as soon as I'm done it takes a different form, got it? Come on, you and I are going to have a little chat while I see what damage was done."

I beamed, moving to take his offered arm, then paused, looking down at my bloody hands and clothes. "…maybe I should wash off before I touch anyone," I sighed, pursing my lips. My hair had gotten bloody as well. It was time to start braiding it again, I thought with a pout.

The Doctor chuckled. "Jack can take you to get cleaned up while I look over the Laxryn. Come back here as soon as possible, alright?"

I nodded, smiling, and then blinked when a familiar red haired teen appeared at my side, hesitant. "I can take her," the Laxryn offered. "I know the quickest way to your ship and would be honored to assist my lady Successor."

Before the Doctor could launch into questioning about the name, I cheerfully agreed. "Sure, works for me. Doctor, you take care of her friend-"

"Little brother," she interrupted softly, "He's my little brother." She bowed her head, chewing on her lip as she pleaded, "I'm sorry for threatening my lady Successor, Doctor. Please help him; he's all we have left."

The Doctor eyed her warily. "Take care of Ali," he sighed, "I need her with me since nobody will tell me what's going on with her, got it? Bring her back safely."

She smiled warmly. "Of course, I will protect my lady Successor with my life," she said gravely, her eyes serious. "For without her, nothing is possible. She needed by the universe." She whirled away, starting towards the trees before he could demand answers to the questions we both had.

The Doctor and I exchanged glances. I shrugged, and then started after her, winking. "I'll be back soon. See ya!"

"You hurry back, you like to get yourself into a whole ton of trouble!" the Doctor called back.

I flashed a grin over my shoulder. "Me?" I said cheekily. "Never!"

As soon as we were out of sight, the Laxryn glanced over nervously at me and said, "My lady Successor, you wish to go to the ship that belongs to the Doctor, yes?" I nodded, and she chewed on her lip. "I am worried," she admitted.

"Why?" I questioned warily.

"…I'm sure it is nothing," she said quickly, hurrying on.

But I had a feeling that that "nothing" was a complete lie.

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

I grinned in relief as I stepped out of the TARDIS, feeling refreshed as I moved to close the doors. The TARDIS refused to allow me to for a few seconds, instead murmuring, "Be careful, my Girl."

I smiled, patting the doors. She allowed them to shut and I turned to the Laxryn, who'd introduced herself as Mallay on our way to the TARDIS. When I'd questioned her name, stating that it sounded like a strange version of an Earth name, she'd simply replied that the planet she was from was a lot like Earth. "Alright, let's head back," I told Mallay, smiling at her.

She smiled weakly in response, glancing over her shoulder before starting in the direction of the viewing platform again. Her step was springy and almost made me smile even brighter as she rasped, "Let's hurry. I'm worried about my brother."

"Of course," I said, gentle. The Doctor better not have used my jacket on him as revenge… "Let's go."

We started off back into the trees at a jog, and I sighed happily, relieved that I'd chosen some comfortably warm clothes.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash just moments before a massive animal came hurtling out of the trees. Mallay screeched in surprise, shifting into a hawk and flinging herself into the air in a flash, leaving me to deal with whatever it was alone. I cried out in surprise when it lunged.

To put it simply, it was a wolf. A giant wolf, it had to be a dire wolf, because I don't think wolves are supposed to get this big. Its paws were the size of a dinner plate, and its lips were curled back in a snarl, revealing fangs that could tear me apart in an instant.

And it hurt like hell when that wolf slammed into me, sending me onto my back and driving the breath from me as it trapped me there. I shrieked, thrashing desperately to get away. Mallay landed again, crying out as she returned to her human form, "No! Krai, let her go, she's fine! She the lady Successor, you can't hurt her!"

Krai, the wolf, growled viciously at me, then looked up at Mallay with a dark gaze. To my surprise, it spoke, its lips curling and moving as it did so. "She is the creature that caused harm to come to our brother, and you defend her, Mallay?"

Mallay's cheeks flushed angrily. "They made a mistake! She'll help us; she's helping Brother right now, Krai! Please, let her go! The Doctor will come after us!"

Krai contemplated, and then gave a curt nod, stepping off of me. I shot up, gasping for breath and rubbing the spot on my chest where I knew a paw print bruise was going to form. "What is it," I wheezed, "with demons intent on killing me when I don't remember purposely doing anything to anger them?"

Krai growled. "You're the cause of my brother's pain."

I flushed angrily. "He took on the Doctor's form and tried to grab me for some reason that nobody's explained yet. Clave panicked and attacked to defend me. Why were you trying to grab me anyway? I didn't hurt you and neither did the Doctor…"

Mallay hesitated, and then admitted, "We needed someone to help with finding our ship, and we knew that if the Doctor was worried about you, my lady, that he'd be even more willing to help us than before. We were thrown off course by a meteor when heading from one planet to the next and landed here."

I groaned, throwing my hands in the air, exasperated, "Why doesn't anyone just ask for help anymore? It's not that hard to just walk up, ask, and then listen to the Doctor and I agree to try our best!"

Mallay bit her lip, flushing. "Sorry."

I fought back a smile, shaking my head as I climbed to my feet, brushing myself off and glaring slightly at Krai, who returned the favor and glared back, a snarl on his face. "Whatever, it's fine. Come on, let's go. I'm sure the Doctor wants us back soon."

Krai didn't move, but did when I tried to start forward. Krai darted in front of me, pretending me from going anywhere. "Come on," I spat, "I'm not going to hurt anyone, your brother getting hurt was an honest mistake."

He growled lowly. "I don't trust you."

Mallay sighed. "Krai, she's on our side," Mallay protested, leaping over and tugging on his fur lightly. "We want her to stay on our side and you're only making it even harder for her to stay on our side. Stop."

Krai snarled in response. "She's with the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm! Do you honestly think they would help us when our species has been attacked by Time Lords before, Mallay!?"

"Of course we'd help," I said exasperated. "I promise, the Doctor's still helping your brother! Why don't you come with us so we can prove it."

Mallay nodded eagerly while he shook his head. "Brother's already gone, the stupid lizard killed him."

I froze. "Clave didn't kill him," I said desperately, "the Doctor…he was fixing him up. He was supposed to be alive; he was alive when we left, wasn't he Mallay?"

"Then explain why I saw his true form," Krai shrieked, his eyes ablaze with fury. "He's dead, thanks to the Successor and the Doctor! Our true forms are only revealed when we're dead or when we've chosen our Other."

Mallay huffed. "Can we just…you know, go see if he's dead or not? My lady Successor doesn't lie, Krai, she's good, I promise. She wouldn't have meant to kill Brother, even if he did die…" she choked on the word, biting her lip anxiously at the thought of her brother being dead. "Come on, let's just go look and see before you threaten to kill her."

I nodded my agreement and Krai finally sighed, grunting, "Fine, but if Brother's dead, she's dead."

"You can't kill the lady Successor," she chided and I immediately narrowed my eyes curiously, refraining from asking about it.

This was starting to get annoying, damn it. Why did they keep calling me that?! Professor had explained a few things along with bow tie man, but seriously! Not helpful in these situations! "You're welcome to try and kill me if something happened to your brother but look at it this way. For some reason, everyone knows me. And I'm friends with a lot of wonderful creatures and people. You mess with me, and you'll have a problem, got it? The Doctor's against violence. Me? Not so much."

Krai bristled but started in the direction of the viewing platform. I sucked in a deep breath. I really should have taken one of those watches with me before I'd gone with Mallay.

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

"Doctor!" I called as soon as we made it to the platform, ignoring the wide eyed looks some of the people milling about gave me. "Doctor, come out here, please!"

The Doctor immediately ducked out, slowly. His eyes locked on Krai, narrowing for a fraction of a second before he said, "Ali. What's going on?"

I nodded at Krai. "This is the eldest brother of Mallay and the other one that you were fixing up. He's alive, right? Please tell me he's alive, 'because I don't want to have to defend myself against this idiot. He's decided killing us would be a good idea if he's dead."

"He's alive," the Doctor said immediately, eyes wary as he waved me and Mallay over. We peeked in the tent. Instead of another version of the Doctor, there was a bandaged young boy, who was breathing softly as he slept. "See? Fine, perfectly fine. I don't know what he saw earlier, but he managed to change into this form before he passed out. A day or two and he'll be good as new." The Doctor narrowed his eyes irritably now, leaning closer. "So, why don't you tell me what you're doing here? Why are you on Earth?"

"Our ship crashed," Mallay replied before Krai could snarl at the Doctor. She shot her brother a baleful look. "Ignore him; he is upset that we must ask help of the lady Successor and the Oncoming Storm." She giggled slightly at the confused look on the Doctor's face. "You have unknowingly helped our planet in the past, but the people now know you as one to fear, Doctor. You destroyed the Daleks hundreds of times, why wouldn't we be scared? Anyway, our ship crashed. And…my lady Successor suggested that we ask for help."

I flashed a grin. "Good job, Mallay."

Her cheeks flushed; her form flickered for a moment almost anxiously. "Our ship crashed," she repeated for the third time, "while we were on our way to a colony on a planet we have recently conquered. Our parents made it, but something malfunctioned on our ship. So we've been hiding out here and waiting to see if our parents would come find us or if we could fix our ship."

The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously irritated. "You could have simply come up to us and asked for help. You didn't have to attempt to kidnap my companion."

Mallay bowed her head. "I'm sorry, sir."

"Don't call me "sir" I'm the Doctor," he muttered, crossing his arms. He suddenly reached into his suit, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and pressing the button, scanning Krai, who snarled angrily at him. "Hm…interesting. We can easily get you all home. What planet and what time period?"

I smiled in relief, then grimaced when he said irritably, "Ali, you and I are going to have a chat as soon as they're gone, a short one, but one that needs to be had. Don't look so happy, either. You're in trouble."

I pouted. "I'm not a child, you know. You don't have to act like I'm going to be all punished and stuff," I grumbled, and Jack chuckled as he came over, this time handing me my jacket. I shrugged it on, and Clave purred. "Anyway, good things happened because I almost got kidnapped for the fifty millionth time, look at it this way. So, Krai mentioned a true form. Did he do that?"

The Doctor sighed. "For a moment. The bleeding wouldn't stop; I had to send Jack to the TARDIS to get something to stop it."

I flashed a grin. "So that's who came in, I thought I heard someone messing around in the room next to mine. The TARDIS must have switched the infirmary back to the front again."

He gave a nod, pursing his lips thoughtfully for a moment. Before he could open his mouth and question me, I turned to Krai and Mallay. "So if you'd change into some human's form, we can take you home if you want. If you want to go now, though, you'll have to explain to your family what happened and tell them we're sorry about it."

Mallay's eyes filled with relief. "Please," she pleaded hopefully, "I want to go home, and I'm sure Brother does, too. Krai, do as the Doctor says. You can see Kariil again if we do this!"

Krai paused for a moment, and then sighed. His form melted away into a middle aged man, his dark eyes wary as he gazed silently at the Doctor and I. I smiled brightly at the two. "Alright then, if you go in there and grab your brother, we can get you three home."

He rolled his eyes ducking into the tent with Jack following, wary of the alien. I watched as Krai stopped beside his brother, gently touching his cheek. The young Laxryn whimpered, opening his eyes to look up at Krai warily. Krai smiled gently, his eyes gleaming. "Come on, we're going to go home, buddy."

I blinked. They sounded exactly like regular humans. With strange names, of course, but humans none the less. As Krai picked his brother up, I glanced at the Doctor, whose stern gaze had softened. "Hey," I murmured, gently pushing at him to get his attention. When he glanced over, I grinned. Clave crawled up around my shoulders, nuzzling my cheek in greeting. I grimaced at the smell of his breath. Someone had just eaten. "Can I drive the TARDIS?"

"…no," he replied, flashing a smile at me. I sighed in relief. So he wasn't too mad, I was still going to get to live on the TARDIS. That was good. "It's my ship, I'm driving, Ali." He ruffled my hair playfully and I scowled, fixing it back to its original position. "Maybe next time though," he added.

I beamed.

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

Krai stepped out of the TARDIS, still looking slightly stunned as he did so. I grinned. That reaction among the people who'd been in my current home was hilarious. Mallay paused, however, turning to face me. "My lady Successor?"
I glanced at her. "Yeah?" Damn, I was getting used to that name. Is it considered good or bad to do that when it obviously meant something possibly bad…?

Mallay heaved a huge breath, glancing at the Doctor as he walked over, tucking his hands into his pockets with a curious look. "My lady, I wanted to tell you…everyone wants to tell you, all the unaggressive in the universe want to tell you. You're good to us. But it's against the Shadow Proclamation to tell you, so I'll tell you this: you're one of two most important beings in this universe. You and the Doctor, the last Time Lord. What you…accomplish, nobody else can do. We won't meet again, I don't think, so I want to say beforehand…thank you, my lady." She bowed her head respectfully.

The Doctor tensed beside me and I forced myself to smile. What'd she mean "what you accomplish"? Did I do something big or what? "Of course, Mallay."

My eyes locked on something in the distance as the doors of the TARDIS shut, Clave purring in my ear and the TARDIS in my head.

Just what did I do?

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

A/N: Well then. This chapter took me weeks on end to write. |D But now it's done! I hope you enjoyed and I have a surprise for you all in the next chapter :D

GottaLoveTen: I don't plan on stopping any time soon. XD I'm glad you like it! And love the user name!

Yasmin/BrainStormer: Nah, not cheating. Makes me really happy that you thought that. And perhaps Ali will get a superpower. Ya never know. ;)

BomDigityHailey: *glomps* Hi! :3 I need to stop distracting you when you're trying to read it. XD