Hello dear readers! I am so sorry about the long waiting time on this one. A combination of University and work has had me with precious little spare time. Still, it's here now and that's what's important!
Allons-y!
Footsteps echoed loudly down the empty halls as the Doctor ran. The sound bounced around longer than it should have, making it sound as though a hundred people were running with him. He had now idea which direction he was heading in any more, every corridor looked exactly the same. He didn't let it stop him though. He had to make sure Alex was safe.
The Doctor turned a corner and skidded to halt, face to face with another dead end. He growled softly and turned back the way he came, only to find the corner he'd turned had vanished, replaced by a corridor that ran straight for as far as the eye could see. Whatever was on this station, it was still messing with his head.
"Hang in there Alex," he said quietly, and then he ran.
Alex fought. He fought to keep his breathing steady. He fought to keep his thoughts calm. He fought against the urge to lash out at everything around him, to rip them apart.
He fought against the crippling overwhelming fear. Because he knew it didn't come from him.
"What are you?" he asked the air around him. He could feel the presence surrounding him, smothering him, trying to drown him in a sea of terror.
A thousand out of synch voices laughed in his ear and in his head and all around him.
I have no name, the voices said-whispered-screamed. I have no need of one. Not even your kind could name me, little angel. And now you're mine. It's been an age since I had the pleasure of entertaining such company.
The laughter again, unnerving and wholly wrong. Alex forced himself to breath. "You've met other angels before?"
Yes, the voices said with a sibilant hiss. You're kind are such exquisite creatures, capable of such wonderful fear. I played with them for such a long time before they broke. And I'm sure you'll last just as long.
Alex breathed deep and let energy flood his body. "You'll have to catch me first." Then he ran.
Walls and corridors blurred past. Wind rushed around him. He ran faster than any creature could see. And still the voices laughed.
You cannot escape, they said. I am in your head now. There's nowhere to run.
But Alex still ran. Because that was all he could do.
"Alex?!" the Doctor shouted, hearing a thousand echoes come back to him. He'd lost track of how long he'd been searching for, something which should have been impossible. He could feel the presence in the back of his mind, gently twisting his perception. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pin it down, and he couldn't push it out. So he kept walking, hoping for a miracle.
The lights flickered and went out, plunging his world into darkness. The Doctor froze, by now cautious of the world changing around him.
"Hello?" he asked the darkness.
"You killed me," a voice answered. The Doctor felt his blood chill. He knew that voice.
The lights returned, and before the Doctor stood Donna Noble, her dark red hair framing her face as she stared blankly past him.
"Donna…" The Doctor whispered numbly.
"You killed me," Donna repeated, her expression not shifting. "You took me and showed me the universe. You made me a better person. And then you killed the person I became and sent what was left of me back to Earth."
"I had to," the Doctor said. "If I didn't your mind would have burned." Then he shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. "You're not here. You're at home, on Earth. You're not real."
The Doctor opened his eyes, and Donna was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief, one that caught in his throat when another familiar voice came from behind him.
"You never cared about me."
The Doctor whipped around. Standing there with her arms crossed, staring resolutely at the wall, was Martha Jones, with her hair tied up in a bun and a red-brown leather jacket.
"You never cared," Martha repeated. "You knew I loved you. And you lead me along, let me believe. I was never anything other than second best to you."
"Just stop," the Doctor hissed, anger giving him strength. "Whoever or whatever you are, just stop."
Martha looked at him, a twisted smile gracing her lips. "Or what?" she said in a voice that wasn't hers. It was deep and twisted, like malice incarnate. "What will you do? Could you hurt one of you precious companions?"
"You're not her. You're not my Martha, now stop it. Leave me alone."
The Not-Martha's grin widened. Every light but one went out, leaving the Doctor standing in a lone spot of light amidst a sea of shadows. Not-Martha stepped back into them, fading from sight. And for a moment that seemed like an eternity there was silence.
"Oh, my dear Doctor. If you wanted to be alone, you only needed to ask."
From the shadows before him stepped Alex. He was dressed in the robes he'd worn when they'd first met, and was looking down at the Doctor with a combination of supremacy and contempt.
"My dear, trusting, deluded Time Lord," he said with a cold smile. "What easy prey you've been. Letting me tag along on your little adventures, giving me all the time energy I could ever want." The Doctor turned on the spot, keeping Alex in sight as he walked in slow circles around the Time Lord, bare feet making no noise. "But you do realise, of course, that you're going to outlive your usefulness to me one day. And then I'll leave you all alone once again. They all leave you in the end, don't they? Maybe you'd prefer it if I killed you instead. Then again…" Alex stopped walking, looking at the Doctor out of the corner of his eye. "I might kill you anyway."
"Alex wouldn't do that," The Doctor growled through clenched teeth. Alex started circling again.
"Oh really? What makes you so sure?"
"I trust him."
"Oh but you don't. Not really. Isn't that why you're so keen to have me with you? What a dangerous thing that would be. An unstoppable, manically depressed psychopath. You couldn't risk me running off alone. You know full well what kind of damage I could do if I wanted. You had to keep the universe safe. From me."
"That's not true, that's not why I let him travel with me!"
"You know its true Doctor. After all…" Shadows gathered and Alex stepped into them, and when he stepped out the Doctor found himself looking at his own face. "It's what's in your head."
The Not-Doctor grinned. "Oh, so many secrets wrapped up in there. So many tragic memories. So many friends lost. And heartbreak. Very recently indeed."
"What are you?" the Doctor asked. "What are you and how are you doing this?!"
The Not-Doctor grinned wider and faded away like smoke in the wind. Would you really like to find out? You've already met one Devil before. Are you so keen to meet another? If so… then step this way.
Lights came one down one corridor, a trail through the dark. And the Doctor, with no other choice, followed it.
Alex stumbled along the empty corridors as the thunderous laughter rumbled out of the walls around him. His teeth clenched and sweat ran down his face. It felt like needles were being driven into his brain, into the very fibre of his being and it hurt. The pain was inescapable, complete and utter agony as his mind was pulled to its utter limit. His fangs and claws were showing as he snarled at nothing, trying blindly to escape, in too much pain to think.
Then it all stopped.
Alex collapsed to his knees, sucking in great lungfuls of air. His muscles relaxed and his body started to shake. After a long while, he spoke.
"What do you want from me?" he asked the dark. "What do you want?"
Oh don't worry about pleasing your host, the dark replied. You're doing that already. Your every move, your every heartbeat, your every ragged breath fills me with your fear. Tell me how scared you are.
Alex knelt there with his head bowed. "I am Alexander Silver," he whispered. "I am a Weeping Angel. And… I am afraid."
Hmm… Beautiful.
As the voice faded to nothing Alex didn't move, wrapping his arms around himself as his breathing slowed.
"He's going to leave you behind," said his own voice. Alex's head snapped up and his eyes widened. Standing before him was himself, garbed in the robes that he'd once worn.
"He's going to abandon you, because that's what the Doctor does in the end. He's shows people the universe, then leaves them behind and runs."
Alex hesitated, then shook his head. "He wouldn't. You're not real. I don't believe you."
Not-Alex sighed. "If you won't listen to me, then take it from a first-hand source."
"He left me on a beach," came a new voice. Not-Alex faded away, revealing the girl that was standing behind him. Her hair was blonde, cut short at the shoulders, and she wore a dark purple jacket with jeans. "He left me. Never tried to come back for me. And right to the very end he couldn't even tell me that he loved me."
"So if the Doctor," Not-Alex said as he faded up from nowhere, "abandoned the woman he loved, then what chance do you have?"
"Stop," Alex whispered.
"Then again he may not even abandon you. He may kill you instead."
"Stop," Alex said, louder this time.
"After all, he only sees you as a monster. And what does the Doctor do with monsters?" Not-Alex smiled and cold smile. "He kills them."
"I said STOP!" Alex roared, surging upwards in a flash of claws. They ripped through the image, which dissolved into nothing with an echoing laugh. The deafening silence returned as Alex stood there, panting for breathed. And with a buzz the lights flickered, and in an instant Alex was surrounded by reflections of himself.
"He will kill you. He will abandon you. He will kill you. He will abandon you." Alex covered his ears again as the chanting continued, over and over, again and again and again. He sank back to his knees, whispering to himself.
"Please save me. Please save me Doctor, please."
"What good will the Doctor do?"
He will kill you, abandon you.
"Look, there he goes now. Leaving you behind."
Alex looked up as he heard the sound of the TARDIS, and past the circle of reflections he could see the box as it faded in and out of reality, coming back less and less each time.
"DOCTOR!" Alex screamed, tears falling down his cheeks. "DOCTOR NO!"
And everything faded to despair and nothingness as Alex lay on the floor and sobbed, will utterly broken, in the dark.
Come, little angel, the dark said. I think it's time we met, face to face. Lights came on overhead, cutting a path through the dark. Slowly, Alex pushed himself to his feet and followed them.
After spending so long in those never ending corridors even the boring, utilitarian bridge of the station was a breath of fresh air to the Doctor. Through the screen in front of the captain's chair he could see thousands of asteroids as they floated lazily past. Every now and then one would bounce off the energy shields, ripples spreading from the point of impact.
"So where are you?" the Doctor asked, turning a slow circle.
Patience, Doctor. We're still waiting on my last guest. Ah, here he is now.
The Doctor turned back to the entrance as Alex walked in, head hung low.
"Alex?" the Doctor said quietly. The Angel stopped and raised his head. The Doctor could see the tear tracks that ran down his cheeks and the dead, hopeless look in his eyes.
"No," he moaned, putting his hands to his head. "No please stop. Please…"
"Alex it's me," the Doctor said, trying to move closer, but Alex moved away, shaking his head.
"Not you're not. You left me – the Doctor left me."
"No I didn't, I'm right here." Alex just shook his head and backed away further.
Do you like what I've done with him? He has so much potent fear in him. So many wonderful screams.
"Let him go." The Doctor said, turning back to the bridge. "Whatever you're doing to him, stop and let him go."
Deep laughter bounced around the room, eliciting a whimper from Alex. You have no power to give me orders, Time Lord. This ship is my domain. Oh, but where are my manners? A host should greet his guests.
The captain's chair turned and the Doctor's eyes widened as he beheld the figure sitting there. It looked to be a young man, sitting upright. His mouth was stretched wide in a twisted grin, his eyes were wide and staring. His hands clenched the armrests so hard they'd turned white. He was unnaturally still, not even breathing.
Alas, but this is not my original form, the voice continued, the body's moth not moving. That was taken from me eons ago, by none other than the ancient High Time Lords.
"Then how did you end up here?"
My kind can survive in a psychic form indefinitely, and can take over a new form at our pleasure. To prevent this the Time Lords sealed me in a casket of stone and cast me adrift through time. I was sent here, countless millennia ago, trapped inside that infernal casket. Until a band of curious humans found me amongst the asteroids, and broke open my prison. I took the body of this one for my own, and drained every single human on board of their every last fear.
The Doctor let a sour, grim smile show. "So that's what you are. A psychic parasite, feeding in the dark."
For a moment there was silence. If you wish to see it that way, then fine. It doesn't matter to me. Sooner or later you too will break, just like your dear angel friend. Do you remember how he used to be, Doctor? So much fire and passion. So much insecurity. So much he was afraid of, underneath all that bravado and confidence. And look at him now. A cowering wreck, torn from all hope and sinking into madness. And all this by my doing. More of that deep, twisted laughter. Let's listen to him scream.
Alex's back arched as pain unlike anything that had come before roared through his body. Blades cut at his arms and legs. Spears drove through his chest. Shards of glass dived through his brain.
"Stop it!" He barely heard the voice, barely recognised it. Too much pain to think. Nightmares gathered at the edge of his vision as he fell to his knees, wings trying to curl around him protectively.
"Let him go!"
Too much pain.
"Stop!"
He was burning.
"Alex!"
Fire was racing down his limbs.
Fire was in his mind.
Energy filled him like a raging inferno.
He threw his head back and screamed.
And everything went gold.
The first thing Alex was aware of was the sound. That metallic, groaning that was so familiar. The answer felt light years away as he strayed at the edge of consciousness.
The TARDIS.
Slowly, his eyes blinked open. The warm golden light blinded him as his eyes adjusted. As sensation came back to him he became aware that he was lying down. Only a moment behind that was the realisation that absolutely everything hurt. He quickly stifled a groan and squeezed his eyes shut. A dull, persistent ache had found its way into every part of his body, even his brain. He opened his eyes again. The Doctor was standing in front of him, leaning against the TARDIS console with his arms crossed. The corner of his mouth twitched in a sad smile.
"Hey," he said.
"… Hey," Alex croaked.
"How are you feeling?"
Alex briefly considered saying that he was fine. "Horrible," was what came out instead.
"I'm not surprised, after what you've just been through."
Alex nodded, memories of the ordeal coming back to him, painful and unwanted. But he couldn't hear the voices in his head anymore. Thankfully. "How did we get away? The last thing I remember is… the bridge. And then nothing."
"Actually," the Doctor said, "we got away thanks to you."
Alex frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"
The Doctor took a second to gather his thoughts and started talking.
"Stop it!" the Doctor shouted as Alex contorted in pain, his face a mask of agony as his claws and fangs became apparent. "Let him go!" he roared at the body fixed to the chair. Maniac laughter rumbled around them as Alex sank to his knees. "Stop!" the Doctor shouted again, desperately trying to move, but his body wouldn't respond. He could only watch as Alex suffered.
Then his body started to glow, streamers of gold light racing over his skin. The light became fire as it raced around him, a twisting shell of gold.
"Alex!" the Doctor yelled. Alex threw his head back and screamed in abject agony and the shell erupted. The wave of gold fire rushed outwards, consuming everything.
"Really?" Alex asked, shocked. "I… did that? But… how?"
"I don't know," said the Doctor. "I've never seen anything like it. It was like some sort of defence mechanism, using all the time energy you had in you as a last resort weapon."
"I've never heard of anything like that happening to any other Angel before."
"No other Angel has ever spent this long travelling inside a TARDIS," the Doctor replied. "You're unique. In more ways than one."
Alex gave a small grin, which faded when he realised something else. "But what happened to that… thing?"
"Gone. The amount of energy you released took apart both the consciousness and the body it was occupying." Alex nodded, looking relieved. "And I'm sorry. For leading you into that." Alex shook his head.
"You couldn't have possibly known. There was nothing you could have done."
The Doctor nodded his thanks and Alex gave him a slightly bigger smile.
"Oh and one more thing," the Doctor said, dipping a hand into his jacket pocket. "I've been thinking and… here." He held out the hand, in which was a small silver key. "TARDIS key. My way of saying… that I trust you. And that I'm not leaving you behind."
Alex took the key with a mix of emotions. Surprise was foremost, followed by gratitude and finally overwhelming joy.
But all he said was, "Thanks Doctor." For that was all that needed to be said.
The Doctor smiled and moved away, fiddling with the controls on the console as he went. Alex held up the key and tilted it back and forth, watching the light play over it.
"Doctor," he said. The Time Lord looked over, a question in his raised eyebrows. "I want to get some ice cream."
The Doctor grinned widely. "I know just the place. Planet Cru-udle Seven, best ice cream in the universe, guaranteed."
Alex grinned back as he sat up, slipping the key into his pocket.
"Sounds perfect."
Next Time...
"The Core must be preserved."
"You were difficult enough when there was only one mind in that brain."
"There are five million people out there and the only person who can save them can't even form a proper sentence."
"Yes I pineapple-guava-mango-gah!"