Trigger warning for this chapter, chapter 24, and 25!: Mentions of rape and abuse! Read at your own risk. Content will not be too explicit but can be triggering to readers who have been in poor and abusive relationships.

Merry Christmas? Happy holidays? *awkwardly stares at trigger warning* Yeah, um, enjoy I suppose.


"Fallon! Fallon, now hold on!" The Doctor called out, scrambling after the woman who had a scowl on her face as she walked toward the Tardis doors.

Amy got up from the jump seat, rather confused as to what was happening but the second she did, Fallon stopped and pointed at her, glaring at her from over her shoulder.

"Sit down and stay put."

Amy hesitated for half a second but the sharpness of Fallon's glare left no room for argument. Amy sat back down, gripping the seat in worry and looking to the Doctor for answers but the man was too busy rushing out the door after Fallon when she stormed out.

"Fallon, please!" He tried as she walked quickly out of Amy's home and down the road. "At least tell me what you're doing! Where are we going!"

"I told you that I was going to deal with this," she said shortly. "And where else would a stag do be than the only damn pub in town?"

"A stag—Hold on, but that doesn't explain what you're doing! You said Amy needed to apologize!"

They stopped outside the pub where the boisterous laughter of men echoed the celebrations going on within, and Fallon silenced the Doctor with a dangerous look.

"Oh, she does but you're not the only person she needs to apologize to."

Fallon's gaze caught onto something then and she slipped around the Doctor to a shivering, scantily-clad woman trying to climb into a fake cake. The Doctor had no choice but to hurry after her as she spoke to the woman.

"Hello, sorry, you're here for the stag do, right?"

She nodded as Fallon took off her coat. "Yeah, sorry. Am I too early?"

"No, no. It's just that things have changed a bit, Miss…"

"Lucy," she muttered, shrinking away when Fallon wrapped her up in her coat. "O-Oh, you don't need to—"

"Take it. I have plenty of others and I can hear you wheezing. Asthma?"

She flushed sheepishly and bowed her head with a nod, tugging the coat tighter around her. Fallon sighed softly and dug into her pants pocket, handing her something that made her eyes go wide.

"Oh, no! I-I couldn't—"

"Take the money," Fallon pressed. "Consider it payment for making you come out here only to have to leave. Use that card if you need to. Take it to the job center in the next town over and ask for Jessie MacDonnell. She'll help you find better-paying work."

Lucy looked about ready to burst into tears as she rushed forward and hugged Fallon. Said woman awkwardly pat her back with a look at the Doctor that told him he would regret the smile on his face in a moment.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Yes, well, do you need a cab?"

She shook her head, nodding to the pub. "I've got my ride waiting for me. Thank you though."

Fallon grunted and made for the door, opening it for Lucy to walk in before that dark look flickered back onto her face. Her eyes scanned the room for half a second before she found her target and made a beeline for him. The Doctor couldn't do much of anything other than offer tiny apologies to those she pushed past. Then, she stopped and spoke up—voice heard clearly and sharply over the noise.

"Oi. You're the fiancé, right?"

Rory Williams—partially tipsy from drinking already and rather confused by the woman he'd never met—nodded. "Yeah, um, sorry. Do I know you?"

"Rory!" The Doctor chimed, peeking his head around Fallon despite her angry expression as he addressed the man who may or may not be in trouble as well. "How are you? I was just telling my friend here how, uh, great you and Amy are!"

Rory's brows furrowed and he looked over at Fallon as she scoffed.

"Yeah, we're not doing this. Rory, right? Come on. We need a talk."

She took a step toward him but a large man stepped between them looking a bit more drunk but also suspicious.

"Hold on. Whatcha need him for? 'e's the groom ta be and we're having a party."

Fallon barely blinked at the man as the Doctor eyed the two uneasily. "Either you move so I can step outside to talk to him, or I'll move you."

The man chuckled, looking to his buddies as they shuffled awkwardly, sensing some sort of danger from the woman that he was missing in his half-drunken stupor. He leaned down a bit to eye Fallon with a smile, lightly bumping her cast on her wrist.

"Ya can't do nothin' like that, lady. Not even if you had both hands."

The Doctor wasn't the only one to notice Fallon's patience snap, and as the man's friends tried to lightly coerce him away, the Doctor attempted much the same with Fallon.

"F-Fallon? We don't really need to make a scene, do we? We can just wait a minute or—"

"He's got three seconds," she stated bluntly and the Doctor winced when the man just laughed. "One."

The Doctor gave Rory a pleading look but even he couldn't get the man to step aside.

"Two."

The Doctor's gaze went upward in a silent prayer to anyone who would listen to help him with the mess that was about to happen.

"Three."

The Doctor winced as her hand snapped out, slamming a hard left hook across his jaw and sending him to the floor completely unconscious. Fallon scowled down at him and shook out her hand lightly before turning her gaze to Rory, who stiffened in slight fear.

"Outside. Now."

Fallon led the way back to the Tardis with the Doctor and Rory walking cautiously behind her. Rory leaned over to the Doctor in concern.

"Doctor, who… who is she? Why is she mad at me?"

"I-I don't think she is. Mad at you, I mean, and she's Fallon. I met her before Amy and left her behind temporarily. It's a long story. Point is, something has, um… happened, and apparently she is very angry about it."

"What happened?"

"Um—"

Fallon stopped them and pushed open the Tardis door, jabbing a finger at it. "In."

The two shut up immediately and stepped in where Amy had been fidgeting uneasily in the jumpseat. She'd wanted to get up but the sharp look Fallon had sent her before worried her and she hadn't gotten the courage to actually stand. Now that they were back, she finally felt she could but once they were all inside, tension settled over the room.

"So," Amy drawled with an awkward smile and waved over at Rory. "Hey, Rory."

Rory glanced at Fallon as she walked past him and toward the console before offering a small wave back. "H-Hey."

Fallon leaned on the console and took a deep breath, head bowed and hands tightening on the edge of it as the Doctor attempted to ease things up a little by giving Rory a small nudge.

"So, tiny box, huge room inside. What's that about?"

"It's another dimension," Rory said as he went to explain.

"It's basically another—What?"

"After what happened with Prisoner Zero, I've been reading up on all the latest scientific theories. FTL travel, parallel universes," Rory explained before Fallon spoke up again.

"Not everyone is stupid, Doctor," she said, turning around and leaning back against the console as she turned her heated gaze to Amy. "Though sometimes I wonder."

"Excuse me?" Amy questioned, insulted.

"I mean, I won't go out and say that I know what your relationship is like," Fallon went on, ignoring her angry look. "No one knows what goes on behind closed doors until someone speaks up or something is witnessed but last I checked, no abusive or hateful fiancé stands around in a pub getting drunk while happily wearing his fiancée's face all over his shirt."

Rory looked down at the large heart-shaped image of him and Amy plastered on his bright red shirt. He then realized what Fallon had said and his head snapped up.

"Sorry, abusive?"

Fallon turned to him and gestured a hand over at Amy. "It would be the only somewhat reasonable excuse for someone who tried to force themselves onto someone else. Much less without their consent."

Amy's anger at Fallon slipped away into guilt, causing her to quickly turn away as Rory stared at her in stunned disbelief.

"Amy?"

Amy pursed her lips, staying silent after being called out in front of him, someone she was supposed to marry.

"As I told the Doctor," Fallon continued, eyeing the couple, "I don't usually get involved in domestics. It's none of my business. However, I do not put up with sexual assault in any form or fashion."

Amy whipped around. "I didn't—"

"Did you not force yourself on the Doctor after he repeatedly told you no?" Fallon cut her off icily.

"I—"

"Did the Doctor not push you away repeatedly as you tried to take his clothes off?"

Amy's mouth opened and closed but no words were coming out at this point as Fallon stepped over to her, making her shrink away.

"Last I checked, no means no, and consent is required in order for something to not be considered assault. Tell me I'm wrong," Fallon said through her grit teeth and Amy bowed her head in shame as she swallowed thickly, honestly terrified of the woman who was scolding her. "Didn't think so and you are damn lucky that you didn't succeed and that this isn't my ship because if I had my way, you would be gone."

Fallon stepped away from her and faced Rory who stiffened but Fallon walked past him and dropped a hand on his shoulder in passing. She then walked over to the Doctor who eyed her in uncertainty. He'd never really seen her angry like this and it worried him. There was obviously some underlying issue he was missing here but he wasn't sure how to approach it. He also knew it would probably need to be a more private conversation.

"I'm going to step away for a minute," Fallon muttered, bringing a hand up to rub at her eyes. "It's not my place to deal with your companions so come get me whenever. I just need a moment to… deal with some things, if that's alright."

"Yeah. Yeah, of course," he said, giving her hand a squeeze. "I'll come get you when I find someplace to go."

She nodded and gave his hand a small squeeze of thanks in return before stepping out of the console room and into the hall, leaving the Doctor to glance at his two companions and sigh. Right. How to deal with this…


I stepped into my room and sat on the edge of my bed, dropping my head in my hands with a shuddering breath. The memories were coming back sharper and clearer now that I'd moved into my room. The carpet under my feet gave way to wood floors and the echoing silence of my room allowed my ears to play tricks on me.

Hard, quick breaths and muffled whimpers as the scent of sweat and dirt mixed with the stale odor of oak. Hands wrapped tightly around my wrists and the weight of a body bearing down on me.

A shiver rolled through me as I clenched my eyes shut and reached up to grab my hair in my fists.

Pain rolled through my body as hands left their mark on my neck, my wrists, my thighs.

It felt stifling like the air was being choked from my lungs.

Fingers tightening on my throat until I began to black out and then air being allowed to rush back in as my vision spun and a sense of weightlessness fogged my mind. Then, the soft words spoken with a seemingly kind voice but whispered through smirking lips from the devil himself.

"You know I love you right?"

"Such a good girl."

"You enjoy it. Makes it easy."

"Say my name. Say it."

"S-Silas."

"Fallon?"

A hand touched my shoulder and I jerked onto my feet, breathing heavily in my panic. The old oak cabin from my memories dissolved back into my room on the Tardis and the image of the tall, strong, dark-haired man from my nightmares slowly crawled back into the recesses of my mind. His presence still felt overbearing even now though, and I was glad that the Doctor hadn't stepped any closer as I struggled to ground myself.

I closed my eyes and brought a hand up to cover my face, muttering a strangled apology. "S-Sorry."

"No, no. Don't be sorry," he said, reaching toward me but pulling away. "Is there anything I can help with? Anything, Fallon."

"I just… Sorry. It's… It's not easy to talk about," I admitted, bringing my hand to my mouth as a roll of nausea rolled through me for a moment.

I felt sick remembering what had happened. What I'd allowed to happen because I was naive and lonely. What had happened here with Amy was hardly that but it stirred up those memories anyway. It brought back the anger and disgust and shame and left me feeling sick at the thought of doing anything like a relationship ever again. B-But I am… I glanced over at the Doctor who just stood there, close but holding back trying to comfort me for my sake. And he doesn't even know… He doesn't know and I-I can't tell him. Not yet… Not now.

"I'm sorry," I repeated again but he offered me a small smile.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me. I understand. Even I have things I… I struggle to talk about. I just want to make sure you're okay." He slowly reached out and I let him touch my arm with only the smallest of habitual flinches while those memories were still fluttering about in the back of my head. "And I will do anything to make sure you're okay."

I remembered similar hands grabbing my arm tight, dark bruises overlying old ones, but the Doctor's grip was a feather-light touch in comparison. There was no anger or lust or threat. He wasn't telling me kind words through lying lips. He genuinely cared and the feeling suddenly felt so foreign to me; the feeling of someone caring that much about me.

I took a small step forward, eyes flickering over his face as my fingers lightly grabbed the edge of his coat and a small plea escaped me. "C-Could I…?"

He smiled softly. "Whatever you need, Fallon."

I swallowed thickly and took a larger step forward, reaching around him and burying my face into his shoulder as my hands clenched around his coat. I took in a shuddering breath, clinging tightly to him and crushing him up against me as his own arms wrapped around my back and held me in return.

"'m sorry," I muttered into his coat, feeling tears soak into the tweed I clung to.

"It's okay," he murmured back, bringing a hand up to run lightly through my hair. "I promise. Everything's okay."


"Oh, the life out there, it dazzles," the Doctor hummed from under the grating of the console where he was working on the Tardis—parts sparking every so often. "I mean, it blinds you to the things that are important. I've seen it devour relationships and plans. It's meant to do that," he said when Fallon shot him a look as the ship rattled. "Because for one person to have seen all that, to taste the glory and then go back, it will tear you apart. So, I'm sending you somewhere, together."

Amy, who'd been uneasily eyeing Fallon as the woman stayed down below with the Doctor, jumped up and peered down at the Doctor. "W-What? Like a date?"

The Doctor took off his goggles and started back up the steps, pulling Fallon lightly with him. "Anywhere you want. Any time you want. One condition. It has to be amazing. The Moulin Rouge in 1890. The first Olympic Games. Think of it as a wedding present, because frankly, it's either this or tokens."

"So, this date. I'm kind of done with running down corridors. What do you think, Rory?" Amy asked as the Doctor brought Fallon's hand up to his lips with a cheeky grin.

She lightly wrinkled her nose but didn't pull away as he reached for the dematerialization lever.

"How about somewhere romantic?"

The Tardis landed after a moment and the Doctor was quick to bring Fallon outside with him, hoping that this trip would not only help them grow closer but also help calm her down after what had happened. He had a vague idea of what had triggered her and what her panic had been about but he was leaving it to her to talk to him about it. If it was what he suspected—his blood boiled at the thought—then talking about it would be extremely difficult. All I can do right now is offer her support. He glanced at her as they stepped out into the marketplace he'd landed the Tardis. Support her and distract her from it. She'll talk when she's ready.

"Venice!" He chirped, holding up his arms as Amy and Rory followed them out. "Venezia. La Serenissima. Impossible city. Preposterous city. Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun. It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the middle of the marsh, but became one of the most powerful cities in the world," he rattled on, moving them through the market. "Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding, constantly just beautiful. Ah, you got to love Venice. So many people did. Byron, Napoleon, Casanova." He paused then, remembering something and checking his watch. "Ooh, that reminds me… 1580. That's all right. Casanova doesn't get born for a hundred and forty-five years. Don't want to run into him. I owe him a chicken."

"You owe Cassanova a chicken?" Rory asked before anyone else could.

"Long story. We had a bet."

Fallon shot him a look. "And you couldn't just give him a chicken?"

"Well—" The Doctor was cut off as they went to walk into the next area only for an official to stop them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Papers, if you please. Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection."

The Doctor was quick to pull out his psychic paper. "There you go, fellow. All to your satisfaction, I think you'll find."

The inspector took the psychic paper and was quick to stare in shock and offer a bow. "I am so sorry, Your Holiness. I didn't realize."

The Doctor pretended to bless the man as Fallon raised a brow at him. "No worries. You were just doing your job. Sorry, what exactly is your job?"

"Checking for aliens," the inspector said, getting a snort from Fallon as he continued. "Visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them."

"Oh, that's nice. See where you bring me? The plague," Amy complained but the inspector reassured her.

"Don't worry, Viscountess. No, we're under quarantine here. No one comes in, no one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri."

The Doctor and Fallon frowned, though she was the one who spoke up first.

"I thought the plague died out."

"Not out there, Duchess. No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. Streets are piled high with bodies, she said."

"And you honestly believe the word of one person?" Fallon challenged, making the inspector stumble for words until the Doctor herded her past him, leaving the man to stop another person trying to get through.

Rory had grabbed the psychic paper when he passed, brows furrowed. "Uh, according to this, I'm a Viscount?"

Amy paused, shaking off the slight feeling of uneasiness as the Doctor hauled Fallon away ahead of them. "Yeah, I'll explain later," she said, rushing off after the two. "Doctor, wait!"

They stopped at the railing near a canal where the Doctor finally released Fallon's hand to lean over it and eye the procession of women stepping out of the building across the way. Murmurs started up from the people around them as Amy chuckled at the beauty of the canal. Fallon though, spotted a man running up toward the girls, lifting their veils in search of someone. He was soon knocked back by one of the women as they were herded away and a man rushed toward him briefly.

"Isabella! It's me!" The man on the ground called but none of the women stopped as the guards picked him up.

Fallon went to question the Doctor but he'd already grabbed her hand again with a wink and rushed off—leaving Amy and Rory behind. He found the man after he'd been released from the guard and gave Fallon's hand a pat before letting her go to move toward him.

"Who were those girls?" He asked, drawing the disgruntled man's attention.

"I thought everyone knew about the Calvierri school."

"Our first day here. It's okay. Parents do all sorts of things to get their children into good schools. They move house, they change religion. So why are you trying to get her out?"

"Something happens in there. Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn't recognize me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face, like an animal."

"Let me guess," Fallon muttered, shooting the Doctor's eager face a look. "Something's up and we're going to poke our noses into it?"

The Doctor smiled, draping an arm over the man's shoulder. "I think it's time we met this Signora Calvierri."

Fallon just sighed. "Well, if we're going to be breaking in, might I suggest actually having a plan this time?"

The Doctor sent her a cheeky smirk. "I thought you were making the plan this time."

Fallon raised a brow but was unable to help the slight upturn to her lips. "Oh, am I being given permission?"

"My dear, you don't need my permission to do anything," he said, surprising her by leaning over and kissing her cheek.

If anything though, it only made her more eager to get going and she cracked a wicked smile.

"Well, then, here's the plan."


"You have my daughter. Isabella!" Guido shouted, approaching the gate where the guards were while the Doctor and I slipped past toward a gated side entrance next to the canal.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and opened the gate for us to duck down the stairs into a cellar room. I eyed the vaulted ceiling as the Doctor did a quick spin around, stopping at an ornate mirror on the wall. There were three doors leading into other corridors or rooms—I wasn't sure—but I glanced at the Doctor as he fiddled with his tie.

"Hello, handsome," he cooed at himself as I moved up next to him with a raised brow.

"Vain much?"

He gaped at me. "Vain? I'll have you know, this is the least vain regeneration yet."

"With the amount of product you had to put in your hair in your last body, I highly doubt that."

He went to argue when a number of voices spoke up from behind us, making us jump.

"Who are you?"

Five young women were standing there in white robes and I eyed them uneasily as the Doctor whipped back around to the mirror.

"How are you doing that? I am loving it. You're like Houdini, only five slightly scary girls, and he was shorter. Will be shorter."

"You're rambling," I muttered, making him wince.

"Right. Sorry."

"I'll ask you again, signor, signora. Who are you?" The girls repeated and he pulled out a wallet to show them.

"Why don't you check this out?"

The girls stared at it without reaction and he turned it around to see that it wasn't what he thought.

"Library card. Of course, it's with—"

"Rory," I reminded him, shooting him a glare. "You left it with the inspector."

"I need a spare," he muttered before looking back at the girls. "Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen. Ha. Are you thinking what I think I'm thinking? Fallon?"

"Yes, I'm thinking what you're thinking," I grumbled, "but can we talk about that after getting out of here? My plan was to not get caught."

Not that he was really listening, given his mind was running a mile a minute.

"But the city. Why shut down the city? Unless—"

"Leave now, signor, or we shall call for the Steward, if you are lucky."

They smiled and their teeth shifted into something far more dangerous as I reached over and smacked the Doctor in the chest with the back of my hand.

"Y-Yeah, perhaps now would be a good chance to run?"

"Right." He started back toward the stairs with me only to stop and spin around. "Tell me the whole plan!"

"Doctor," I snipped as he huffed.

"One day that will work. Listen, we would love to stay here. This whole thing. I'm thrilled. Oh, this is Christmas."

"Shut up and let's go!" I called out as he hurried up after me and we closed the gate and worked our way to the other side of the canal.

I double-checked that our escape hadn't been spotted by any guards as the Doctor ran into Amy, both of them talking over one another.

"I just met some vampires."

"We just saw a vampire."

"And creepy girls and everything."

"Vampires."

Rory joined us as well, as the Doctor and Amy shook one another in their excitement. "We think we just saw a vampire."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Amy was just telling me," the Doctor said with a grin as Amy attempted to drape an arm over his shoulder, only for myself to slip between them.

"As much as this little…" I lightly pushed Amy's arm away from me. "...situation is amusing for some of us, might we get to the point?"

"Fallon's right. We need to get back in there somehow."

"What?" Rory questioned, though Amy was more than eager.

"How do we do that?"

"Back in where?" Rory pressed as I sighed with a shake of my head.

"I'll explain but we're going to need Guido to help us. It won't be that easy to break in again since we were spotted."

The Doctor smiled, clapping his hands once and pointing down the street. "Come and meet our new friend."

The walk to where we were meeting up with Guido wasn't far and he brought us into his home as I asked for a layout of the building we'd snuck into.

"As you saw, there's no clear way in. The House of Calvierri is like a fortress," Guido explained as I pointed to his map.

"These are tunnels though, right?"

He nodded. "There's a tunnel underneath with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor."

"You need someone on the inside," Amy said only for myself and the Doctor to speak up.

"No."

"Nope."

Amy frowned. "You don't even know what I was going to say."

"You were going to offer yourself as bait to become one of the Calvierri, thus being our person on the inside to open the trap door and let us in once night falls," I rattled off, not lifting my gaze from the map.

"Oh. So you do know what I was going to say…"

"Obviously. The Doctor tends to pick up the same sort of people." I glanced over at her. "Needlessly reckless."

Rory was more concerned about her plan though. "Are you insane?"

"We don't have another option."

"They said no, Amy. Listen to them."

Even Guido agreed with that. "There is another option," he said, pointing to a bunch of barrels near Rory and I went over to check them out. "I work at the Arsenale. We build the warships for the navy."

I sniffed and wiped a finger over some of the dark soot on the rim of one of the barrels. "Gunpowder."

"Most people just nick stationery from where they work," the Doctor complained. "Look, I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosives."

"What do you suggest, then? We wait until they turn her into an animal?" Guido challenged as Amy agreed, still wanting to do her plan.

"I'll be there three, four hours, tops."

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," the Doctor rattled on before sitting and dragging a hand over his face. "It can't keep happening like this. This is how they go… but I have to know."

I sighed. "I'll go."

"What? No!" The Doctor argued, getting up as I rolled my eyes.

"Someone has to sneak in and it's better to not go alone, especially when we don't know what the… alien vampire people are doing to the people who get in. We can be sisters so it's fine."

"But they've already seen you, haven't they?" Amy argued.

"The creepy girls in the basement, sure, but I can adjust some things," I mused, tugging lightly at my short hair. "The people who take us in probably aren't the other girls but better safe than sorry."

"This whole thing is mental," Rory complained. "They're vampires, for God's sake."

"We hope," the Doctor pointed out, gesturing to me. "Fallon's got the right idea, anyway. Probably alien but still makes you wonder what could be so bad it doesn't actually mind us thinking it's a vampire."

"Right now though, it doesn't matter what they are, just that we figure out what they're up to," I said, turning to Guido. "Do you have any clothes that might fit us?"

He nodded, leading Amy and me to his daughter's and late wife's rooms. "You can look through these."

I offered him a small smile. "Thank you, and apologies for using these. I'm sure they're precious to you."

He cracked a sad smile himself. "Anything to get my Isabella back."

Once he'd left I closed the door and didn't bother to spare Amy a look as I searched through the clothes. The air between us was awkward given how things had turned out with her trying to force herself onto the Doctor, and I hadn't bothered to do more than tolerate her presence since then. In the end, it's the Doctor's decision what to do. He wants them to try and repair their relationship so it's not my job to interfere with that. I stripped off my clothes and slipped on a chemise, pulling on a pair of socks and working on the ruffled partlet to cover my shoulders.

"Hey, uh, Fallon?" Amy called out, holding up a few pieces of clothing in confusion and I sighed as I pulled on the dress I was to wear over a high-necked white shirt.

I moved over toward her and handed her what she needed to put on first, though her outfit was far simpler than mine. She turned so I could loop her waist cloth around and then found a belt for her to hold it together as she spoke up again.

"You're, uh, really good at this."

I glanced up at her briefly as I adjusted her skirt at the bottom. "I'm immortal. You honestly think a woman wearing pants was normal in the 1500s?" I dropped my gaze and got up, moving to grab a set of shoes and see what I could do with my shorter hair. "I had to blend in, learn the customs of different cultures, how to dress, etiquette, nobility and working class differences, anything and everything I could or I'd be hung for witchcraft."

Amy winced at that as I abandoned hope for my hair and drew out a veil instead.

"I'm… I'm sorry too, for the whole…" She waved a hand vaguely, sending a tendril of annoyance through me. "...kissing the Doctor thing. I didn't know you two were together."

I took a steadying breath, though internally I wasn't exactly pleased with her, for obvious reasons. "That isn't why I'm angry with you."

"What? But I thought—"

"I'm angry because you tried to force someone into doing something without their consent while also taking no consideration for your fiancé who—from everything I see—is head over heels in love with you," I said bluntly. "If you should be apologizing to anyone, it would be the Doctor for sexual assault and your fiancé who's a far better man than anyone I know for staying with you to try and work things out."

Amy frowned and turned to adjust her hair as I grabbed some cosmetics lying around to help hide my features even further.

"Sounds like you're angry to me," Amy muttered.

"Because I know what it's like to be on the other side of that," I said sharply, shooting her a glare in the mirror. "Being in a position where your pushing away, your denial, and your lack of consent means nothing to the other party is the worse place in the world to be. Given I'm immortal and have been on this Earth for millennia, I suggest you see that for what it is. Torture and death mean less to me than that Hell, so stop pretending that what you did wasn't wrong. He might be a man but that doesn't change the fact that no means no."

She went quiet as I finished up and turned to face her, making her eyes widen in surprise.

"Yes, I know. I look amazing. Shut up and let's go."


Fallon and Amy stood before Calvierri and her son, though Fallon bowed her head and spoke with the ease of someone who'd lived in Venice all her life.

"Signora Calvierri, apologies for disturbing you while we look like this." Fallon grabbed Amy by the sleeve and made her bow as well. "And for my younger sister who knows little of proper manners."

Amy grumbled under her breath but Calvierri smiled and waved at them.

"No need for formalities. Why is it you wished to seek an audience with me?"

"Our parents have passed from the plague and while I do my best to sell my stitching for money for food, I fear I am not doing what's best for my sister nor for myself. We wish to offer ourselves to you and your school. We have heard many a great things and surely you could help us be better than our current selves."

Her son Francesco approached then, eyeing the two women with a suspicious look.

"Have we met?" He asked and before Amy could attempt to reply, Fallon cut in.

"I occasionally have my sister help me by selling flowers in the town. It's possible you may have seen her there."

Calvierri hummed and glanced at her son, pleased herself. "What say you, Francesco? Do you like them?"

Francesco was eyeing Fallon now, seeing the fighting spark of challenge in her gaze and smirking. "Oh, I do, mother. I do."

"Then, we would be delighted to accept you both. Carlo, if you would."

Carlo brought the two into the dormitory where stone stairs led the way to a large, domed room full of beds for the many pale girls they'd passed along the way. He told them to change into the clothes on the bed and then left, leaving them with one other girl.

"Wouldn't using the psychic paper have gotten us in faster?" Amy complained, picking up the white nightgown with a grimace of disgust.

"If they're aliens, then it could have given us away," Fallon huffed, removing her layers of clothes to put on the nightgown. "And how fast we get in isn't a problem since we have time until it's night. The problem is, getting to the trapdoor without getting caught." She turned to the quiet girl that had been left with them. "You're Isabella, right? Guido's daughter?"

The girl nodded shakily, a little surprised. "Yes. How did you—"

"He asked us to help you escape but in order to do so, we need to know what happens here. Can you help us?"

Isabella bowed her head in fear. "They come at night. They gather around my bed, and they take me to a room with this green light and a chair with straps, as if for a surgeon."

"What happens in there?" Amy asked, worried.

"I wake up here. And the sunlight burns my skin like candle wax."

Fallon clicked her tongue, handing Isabella the veil she'd used when she came in. "They have to do something that either traumatizes them into forgetting or they forget as a result of something. Keep this veil. You can use it when we get you out of here should the sun be up. Hide it under your clothes."

"But if they're doing something that dangerous—" Amy started.

"It wouldn't make sense," Fallon explained, thinking. "They're doing something that slowly turns these girls more animalistic over time. First the sensitivity to the sun, then the vampire-like abilities and monstrous appearance… and then what? They're turning these girls into something but for what purpose?"

"God, you even sound like him," Amy drawled, sitting on the bed and smirking. "Did you see his face when we came down? I thought you gave him a heart attack!"

Fallon rolled her eyes though a fond smile appeared on her face for a moment when she remembered the Doctor's flabbergasted expression and stumbling of words when he saw her dressed up for this. She lightly brushed the thought off though, knowing they had to focus.

"We need a plan."

"Don't we wait until night and then open the door?" Amy asked.

"And risk being overpowered or drugged and sent to this surgeon's chair without the ability to get away and open said door? Absolutely not. Besides—" Fallon smirked. "—the Doctor said I'm in charge. I say we leave just before they come in. Stick together and make our way through. Isabella, you can show us the trapdoor, right? You've been here the longest and know the layout best."

"But we'll get caught."

Fallon shook her head, placing her hands on Isabella's shoulders as she knelt before the girl. "No. I promise I'll get you out, even if I risk myself."

"But Signora—"

"Trust me," Fallon urged and she hesitated but soon gave in with a nod as Fallon stood up. "Not that I'll go down easy though if it comes to that. Now… we wait."


A gondola slowly moved across the dark water with Rory wringing his hands uneasily until the Doctor spoke.

"She'll be fine."

Rory shot him a glare. "You can promise me that, can you?"

The Doctor, surprisingly enough, nodded. "Fallon will take care of her. That, I can swear on."

Guido announced they were where they needed to be and the Doctor climbed out and onto the steps with his torch, clearing his throat.

"Right. Okay, I'll go first. If anything happens to me, go back."

"What happened, between you and Amy?" Rory asked then, making the Doctor grimace. "Fallon said she kissed you."

"Now? You want to do this now?" The Doctor bit out.

"I have a right to know. I'm getting married in four hundred and thirty years."

The Doctor groaned. "She was frightened. I was frightened. But we survived, you know, and the relief of it, and so she tried to kiss me."

"Tried?"

"Yes, tried. Haven't you noticed anything in the short time you've been here? I hold no such feeling for Amy. Nothing more than a friendly partnership, if anything." The Doctor huffed. "Fallon's the only one I care about right now. Amy tried to kiss me because I was there. It would have been you. It should have been you. That's why Fallon made sure to get you. We're about as happy about this mess as you are."

Rory was quiet for a moment. "Why did she come get me? Fallon, I mean."

The Doctor's expression softened before he turned away to hide it. "Fallon is… a complicated person. Even I struggle to figure her out sometimes, but I think… I think it's because she's been terribly hurt and knows what it feels like more than anyone. So, in a way, she's doing it as retribution; to make sure no one else has to go through the same thing."

A harsh wind flew through the corridor, snuffing out their torches and the Doctor glanced at Rory.

"Can we go and see the vampires now, please?"


Fallon, Amy, and Isabella slipped out just as dusk fell with Isabella taking the lead since she knew where the trapdoor was. Fallon hung near the back and remained cautious and alert, ears perked for any hint of sound as old memories of hunting came to mind.

Need to be quiet. Not a sound or they'll run, she thought, tucked low in the grass and hungrily eyeing a small group of rabbits. Her stomach clenched after so long without food and her hand tightened its grip on the rudimentary spear she'd crafted after repeated failed attempts. She inhaled slowly, readying the weapon, and took a half step forward, not seeing the twig underfoot.

She whipped around with narrowed eyes, scanning the dark passageway behind them that was poorly lit with a few scattered torches on the wall. Nothing moved or made a sound and soon Isabella spoke up, breaking the heavy silence that had come over them.

"It should be just here," she said, bringing Fallon to the front of the group. "Are you certain this will work? Signora Calvierri—"

"Will be dealt with," Fallon cut her off as Amy stood not too far away, eyeing the passage they'd come through. "You can go first, Isabella. It's still dark out and you don't need to stay here any longer. Let me just get these latches off."

Fallon struggled a bit with the rusted metal, not seeing a subtle green glow light up down the corridor they'd come from. Amy went to say something but stopped herself. She and Fallon weren't on good terms anyway, and she could already imagine the woman brushing her off. She already made us stay quiet and demanded we follow her plan. "No deviating," she said. Amy mentally scoffed but the longer she eyed the light the antsier she got.

She glanced at Fallon again and bit her lip. Though, the Doctor does want us to figure out what's happening, right? A little peek won't hurt and if I get answers before they even show up, then… She smirked, imagining how stunned the Doctor might be, and nodding to herself as she quietly slipped away. She walked back through the passage and just as she reached the corner, a hand reached out, covering her mouth before she could scream and hauling her away.

"Ha! There we go," Fallon called out quietly as she pulled up the trapdoor and turned. "Isabella, you fir—Amy?"

Isabella turned around, growing worried herself at seeing the other woman was missing. "Where is she? W-Were we caught?"

Fallon sighed in frustration but looked at Isabella and gestured to the door. "Go through here. I'll go back and look for her."

"Signora, you can't!"

"Trust me. You need to be safe first though. I promised Guido I would get you out of here. If you're really worried, wait for two men to show up. One will be wearing a bright red shirt with an image on it. The other will be childish with a red tie around his neck. You can trust them. Tell them I went back for Amy, okay? Now go. I'll close this behind you but I won't latch it. They need to get in. Go, Isabella."

She hesitated only a moment but nodded and slipped through the hatch before Fallon lowered it and turned to the dark corridor. A heavy sigh escaped her as she ran a hand through her hair in annoyance.

"Damn kids. You'd think they'd know not to wander off," she grumbled, moving back through the passage in search of Amy or her captors.

It wouldn't have taken long either if the stone passages didn't echo as much as they did. Amy's cries of fear and complaints could be heard for miles in the tunnels, which did nothing to help Fallon's growing unease. Because while Fallon was rather displeased with Amy, she also wasn't the type to wish others pain. Or, well, not usually.

Amy was very much an annoying child in her eyes, but a child nonetheless. Children did stupid things like running off when they weren't told but that hardly meant they deserved pain of any kind. A stern scolding, sure, but without knowing what these aliens were up to, Fallon could only blame herself for what Amy was going through.

When Fallon finally did find where Amy was, she encountered a totally different problem. Calvierri and her son were in the room while Amy was strapped to a chair. To have enough time to get Amy out of the straps and prevent the two aliens from stopping her, Fallon needed a plan. And time. I can handle one though, and knowing her… she'll send her son out because he can fight. I'll get rid of him first.

Fallon crept a bit down the hall and snuffed out one of the torches, sending her passageway into darkness before taking a deep breath and calling out.

"Amy! Amy, where are you!"

As expected, her voice echoed through the corridors and Francesco stormed out of the room Amy had been in, sword drawn and a hiss escaping his lips. He rushed down the corridor, passing Fallon's darkened one without a thought and Fallon waited a moment longer before ducking out and back to Amy's room, overhearing their discussion.

"This is how it works. First, we drink you until you're dry. Then we fill you with our blood. It rages through you like a fire, changing you, until one morning you awake and your humanity is a dream now faded. Though, not everyone survives the process."

"And if I survive?" Amy asked, voice slightly slow and slurred, making Fallon click her tongue quietly in annoyance.

"Then there are ten thousand husbands waiting for you in the water."

Fallon wasn't sure what that meant but she knew she had no time to really find out. Francesco would realize he'd been sent on a wild goose chase and they didn't know how many others were in the tunnels or when the Doctor would catch up. She had to move quickly.

"Sorry," she spoke up, pulling a small cloth pouch from under the neckline of her nightgown and holding it tight as she moved into the doorway to face Calvierri. "She's getting married."

The woman eyed her with a small frown and Fallon moved further into the room, putting Amy between them. While it left Amy at risk, Fallon assumed the contraption she was hooked up to was worth enough that Calvierri would think twice before destroying it to reach her. Calvierri, of course, slowly circled around Amy as well, doing what Fallon expected and putting herself in front of the only exit. Predictable.

"Fallon," Amy breathed, but Fallon shot her a scolding look.

"You don't listen very well, do you? What part of don't wander off did you not understand?"

Amy rolled her eyes tiredly. "Yeah, okay. Save the lecture for later and get me out of this."

"But where will you go?" Calvierri hummed with a smirk. "I'm blocking the only exit and my darling Francesco will return before you even get the chance to try and escape."

"See, the thing with aliens that I've discovered while working with the Doctor, is that they really tend to lump all the stupid humans together," Fallon said, eyeing the woman before smirking. "Problem is, I'm not like them. I've got too much experience and knowledge and millennia of memories packed into this head of mine, so I know quite a bit about what happens when you underestimate your opponent."

"So? How will being clever get you out of here in one piece?" Calvierri spat with a smirk as she gave Fallon a once-over. "You're not even armed."

"Not with a weapon, no, but I don't need a weapon. Not really. See, my experience taught me that in order to deal with a room full of rats, you need to control the exit. I also learned that dresses in this day and age are rather heavy, bulky, and full of unneeded frills and laces to make them look nice. Not to mention the dyes used to add color to those more impressive-looking ones."

"Your point?"

"My point is," Fallon hummed, smirking devilishly as she held up a hand full of black powder. "I knew exactly where you would put yourself and I know how very flammable those layers of dresses are. Apologies, Signora. This may hurt."

Fallon threw the powder at the nearby torch, making the flames burst blindingly bright as Fallon rushed to Amy to start undoing the straps of the chair. Calvierri assumed that the light had just been a distraction but upon taking a step forward she incidentally placed the edge of her dress in a trail of gunpowder that Fallon had purposefully created while moving around the room. Said powder was already ignited from the flare and sparks of the torch, so the dress caught the flames easily as well.

Fallon hailed Amy to her feet, ducking down and scooping her up in a fireman's carry, much to her displeasure. Fallon ignored her complaints as they rammed into Calvierri's side to shove her and her burning dress away and escape—catching a glimpse of her true fish-like form before they ran down the corridor.

"Put me down!" Amy complained as Fallon grimaced at her squirming.

"Shut up and stop squirming! You were slurring your speech a moment ago and I'm not going to have you get taken again because you're too prideful to just let me carry you out of here!"

The two turned into another corridor and paused, seeing the Doctor and Rory armed with a UV lamp while facing a group of alien girls, Francesco, and Carlo.

"Rory!" Amy called out as he stared in relief.

"Amy!"

"Fallon!" The Doctor chirped as well and Fallon scowled.

"We can have a reunion later! Move!"

They hurried back through the corridors as the aliens rushed after them and Amy spoke to the Doctor from Fallon's back.

"They're not vampires!"

"We already established that!" Fallon snapped, sweat running down the back of her neck as she tried to remember the way they came while also carrying Amy.

"Yeah, but we saw them! They're definitely aliens. Fish aliens!"

"Classic," the Doctor chirped, opening the trap door as Rory stared at them in disbelief.

"That's good news? What is wrong with you people?"

"Finally, someone with some sense!" Fallon complained, putting Amy down and having her go through first. Rory went after and Fallon gave the Doctor a glare as he held back the aliens with his light and she started down. "If we're keeping the redhead, I want to keep the other one."

"What!"

"You heard me!" She called back as he ducked down next.

The exit wasn't far from there and the group managed to all escape with sighs of relief. The Doctor though eyed the building with a frown and Fallon caught the look, knowing he was thinking something stupid.

"What? What now?"

"Hm?" He hummed, facing her with an innocent look.

"Don't give me that. I know that face. What are you thinking? You going to just walk back in there and have a chat?"

"Well, I need to offer them a choice," he admitted.

"A choice?" Rory asked, more than confused.

"Yes, well, maybe they have a reason and I can help. They don't know I'm alien too. Might be able to offer them an alternative to whatever they had in mind."

Fallon scoffed. "Yeah, good luck with that. Given they've been killing people under the guise of some formal school and I set that Calvierri woman on fire, I don't think you're going to get a good response."

He turned to her in shock. "You did what!"

Fallon tossed him the near-empty pouch and he caught it, stunned. "She was planning on draining us dry and if your companion hadn't decided to wander off, I wouldn't have needed to use it at all."

Amy shrank under Fallon's dark look.

"I did what I had to in order to get her out of there alive. If she was smart, she'd have torn off the dress before it got worse. I'm not going to apologize for that."

He turned his gaze to the pouch, closing his eyes and clenching a hand around it but nodding. While he didn't approve of the use of violence, he didn't doubt that given the option, she would have done something different. She did it to save someone. Someone she didn't like, even. He couldn't fault her for doing what she did when there was no other choice.

"I still need to give her a choice," he finally said, lifting his gaze briefly to hers before turning away. "We'll meet at Guido's. I'll only be a minute."

And he rushed off without looking back. He didn't want to see what sort of expression Fallon was making.


"Ow!" Amy complained, swatting at my hand to get it away from the two puncture holes in her neck.

"If you would stop squirming, I could get a proper look, you know," I drawled in return, stepping away with a huff and moving to sit at the table as we awaited the Doctor's return. "Honestly, I've treated infants with less complaining."

"Since when were you a doctor?" She huffed, annoyed.

"I've lived a long life," I shrugged. "Being a doctor was only one of many occupations I dove into to ease my boredom." I glanced at Rory who was eyeing Amy nervously. "And she's fine, Rory. Lost a bit of blood but with a few moments of rest and something to snack on, she'll be right back to normal. She lost far less than if she'd gone to donate blood at the clinic. Wouldn't have happened if she hadn't wandered off."

"Hey! I wasn't—"

"You weren't trying to get more information to impress the Doctor?" I challenged, brow raised as I folded my arms over my chest.

"H-How—"

"Perks of living as long as I do. You start to know the kind of people humans are and typically, the loud, boisterous, cocky ones go out of their way to try and impress people they respect and/or have crushes on."

She flushed with anger but then Guido came downstairs with his daughter, giving me a chance to stand up and check on them both. Guido had no qualms about hugging me tight and shaking my hand with both of his in thanks.

"Thank you. Thank you so much for saving my Isabella."

"I already told you we would," I calmed him, giving Isabella a small smile. "I'm no expert in what happened but my suggestion would be to slowly expose her to sunlight over a few weeks and she should be back to normal in no time. You can ask the Doctor to be certain but she isn't as altered as the other girls. She should be fine and the process reversible."

"Yes. Yes, of course. I'm just glad she's back," he said with a smile, hugging his daughter close as she offered a small grin as well.

There was a knock then before the door was opened and the Doctor came into the room with a frown on his face. His gaze locked onto me for a moment and I raised a brow but he turned away and drew his sonic, heading right for Amy.

"Show me."

She moved her hand away from where she'd been rubbing her neck lightly and he used his sonic to check on the injury.

"I already told her she'd be fine with some time," I informed him, moving back to my seat and eyeing his back as he stayed silent. He's avoiding me now. Why? Because of the fire thing? She didn't seem very cooperative to me, so being a little singed shouldn't have changed anything. "How'd your talk go?"

"You're fine," he said to Amy, pulling out a humbug from his coat pocket and offering it to her. "Open wide."

She did and he popped the sweet in her mouth, stepping over to the table with a small shout of annoyance.

"I need to think. Come on, brain. Think, think, think. Think," he said, sitting down as Amy spoke around her candy.

"If they're fish people, it explains why they hate the sun."

"Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush," he silenced her, covering her mouth.

"It's the school thing that I don't understand," Rory added, only for the Doctor to repeat himself and cover his mouth too.

"Stop talking. Brain thinking. Hush."

"I say we take the fight to them," Guido offered, holding his daughter close but still angry about what had happened to her. "No one else should have their daughters torn from them like me."

"Ah, ah, ah," the Doctor said, making him confused.

"What?"

"Ah." The Doctor gave Rory a pointed look and Rory covered Guido's mouth as well, while I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my chair with arms folded again. "Her planet dies, so they flee through a crack in space and time and end up here. Then she closes off the city and, one by one, starts changing the people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool. Got it. But then what? They come from the sea. They can't survive forever on land, so what's she going to do?" He frowned as a thought came to mind. "Unless she's going to do something to the environment to make the city habitable. She said, 'I shall bend the heavens to save my race.' bend the heavens… she's going to sink Venice."

He released everyone as they turned to him.

"She's going to sink Venice?" Guido questioned, the most lost of all of us given we were talking about aliens and changing the weather.

"And repopulate it with the girls she's transformed," the Doctor added.

"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women. You need blokes," Rory pointed out.

"She's got blokes," Amy piped in.

"Where?"

"In the canal. She said to me, 'There are ten thousand husbands waiting in the water.'"

The Doctor's eyes widened in understanding. "Only the male offspring survived the journey here. She's got ten thousand children swimming around the canals, waiting for Mum to make them some compatible girlfriends. Ugh." He grimaced in disgust. "I mean, I've been around a bit, but really that's, that's… ew."

There was a rumble and a creak then from upstairs and I got to my feet, uneasy as the Doctor spoke up.

"The people upstairs are very noisy."

"There aren't any people upstairs," Guido informed him.

"Do you know, I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that?"

"Better question," I said with a mildly annoyed look at him. "What are we going to do about it? I doubt they came for a nice chat."

A window broke and the Doctor held up his UV as the alien creatures disguised as rather toothy women appeared in the windows and from the hall.

"Aren't we on the second floor?" Rory questioned before another window shattered and the Doctor got up to hold back the four women trying to get in.

He pulled out his sonic and revealed the alien fish creatures they actually were, making Guido hold his daughter closer.

"What's happened to them?"

"There's nothing left of them. They've been fully converted. You're daughter's lucky that she got out before she ended up the same. Blimey, fish from space have never been so buxom."

"Eyes up, sir," I scolded him, making him clear his throat.

"Okay. Move."

Everyone hurried down the stairs and I took the lamp from the Doctor to hold back the fish creatures as they followed. Once out the door, I slammed it shut and hoped it would be enough to stop the women for long enough to get away. The others had rounded the corner—Guido and his daughter leaving for safety—and I caught up with them as the Doctor glanced at the quick-gathering storm clouds in the sky.

"Rosanna's initiating the final phase."

"We need to stop her," Amy declared. "Come on."

"No, no, no," the Doctor said, surprising her. "Get back to the Tardis."

"You can't stop her on your own."

"We don't discuss this. I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it!" He snapped at her and she quickly stormed off as Rory gave him a small nod.

"Thank you," he muttered, rushing off after her.

"You're welcome," the Doctor murmured, turning away as I glanced at where Amy and Rory had gone with a small frown. "You too, Fallon. Get back to the Tardis."

I turned back around, eyeing him. "Oh, so now I exist, do I? And since when do I take orders from you?"

He brought a hand up to rub at his face. "Fallon, please, just do as I say."

"What for?" I asked, annoyed with him. "You know, for someone who's always so persistent in getting me to go places with him and getting me to open up to him, you sure are doing the opposite lately," I argued. "What? Is this because I burned that Capellini woman's dress?"

"Calvierri," the Doctor corrected. "Capellini is a pasta, and this is more than just that."

"Oh, is it? Because you started ignoring me right around when you found out about that. I get you being hard on Amy. She's your companion and she's already caused trouble. You could even be doing it for Rory's sake or your own sake even, but last I checked, I don't fall under the same category given I can't die and haven't even gotten close to dying since—" I paused, remembering the last time I died and what had changed since then. "Is that what this is about?"

"Fallon—"

"No. No, it is, isn't it? This is because you changed, right? Because you went from one person to another and we both died. So… what? You were too scared to come get me. Then, we bumped into each other by happenstance so you decide maybe you want me. And now you're having second thoughts?" I asked, frustrated with him as he had still not turned back to face me.

"If you would just—"

I grabbed him and turned him around angrily. "You can't even face me, so why would I let you explain yourself? All I see is someone trying to push me away because of his own selfish feelings about one tiny, stupid thing I did. Go on. Tell me I'm wrong because last I checked, burning a dress is far better than the twenty other things I could have done."

He bristled angrily himself now too. "You set a woman on fire! She could have agreed to stop!"

"She's killed and converted multiple people without an ounce of remorse! She wouldn't have stopped if you'd offered to give her a whole different planet! And any sane woman would have torn the dress off before it did any actual damage! You wanted Amy safe. I kept her safe at the risk of a piece of cloth!"

"It's not your job to do any of that!"

"Oh, so it's yours? Last I checked, you still die, Doctor! You also weren't even there! I was. She was my responsibility! Or would you rather I have escaped and just left her?"

"Fallon!"

I pushed him back in frustration. "Then, just tell me what the hell is your problem!"

"You tried to hurt someone!"

"I saved someone!"

"You set her on fire! You planned to use violence!"

"I planned to cause a distraction! What else could I do!"

"Anything!"

"Oh, because it's so fucking easy, is it?" I scoffed, throwing a hand over at Guido's house. "I could have blown that whole damn house up with a matchstick to keep those creatures from coming after us too, but I didn't! I could have punched that woman in the face but I didn't! Hell, I could have stolen one of Guido's kitchen knives and killed her out of self-defense but I fucking didn't! So, stop pussyfooting around and just tell me what's going on!"

"I don't need you helping me!" He finally snapped. "I need you back in the Tardis! I have to do this alone, okay? So, go!"

I spike of pain went through me at that, making me question what was even going on. I'd thought he'd left me before and had been so determined to find him again when I realized that I might actually need someone again. Then, things were going well. Or I'd thought they were. Amy's aggressive advancements had caused a bit of drama but we'd handled it. We had been making it work. What changed? Seriously, I just don't… I don't understand. I grit my teeth, clenching my fists tight. But he's not going to talk. He's not going to explain. He's just… He's shutting me out and for what? No. You know what? I don't know why I bothered.

"Fine," I spat. "You don't want me around, that's your problem. You can just take me back to Earth whenever you're done with whatever the hell this is."

He didn't say anything or argue or try and stop me, so I just shook my head and stormed off, hoping that I'd be lucky enough to avoid running into Amy along the way. I don't want to deal with anyone right now. God, what was I thinking?