A/N: "Fear is temporary. Regret is forever." –Anonymous (I'm honestly not sure who actually said this)

Part 4 of 10 of the episode "Living Nightmare."

Just a quick note that I have referenced a ton of stuff from the Doctor's past (NOT counting the "Timeless Child" stuff) in this chapter, and I apologize in advance if I've gotten some stuff wrong. Please let me know if I have so I can correct them when I have time later.

Also, on another side note, it was really tough writing for Strax, so again I apologize in advance if he seems to be out of character.

Chapter 27: Fear is Temporary; Regret is Forever

For the next several minutes, I drift in and out of consciousness, even after we return to the carriage, where a nervous-looking Madame Vastra is waiting for us. She struggles to keep me upright and awake while Dad deals with his own struggle to patch up my shoulder again, the wound having reopened after my initial jump. Once my shoulder is fully patched up, I begin to gradually feel less woozy; though the pain is still present, but even that eventually dies down a bit.

I am able to stay conscious once we arrive at a magnificent multi-story house in the middle of the square, titled 'Paternoster Row' in bold lettering and a large plaque labeled with the number '13.'

Dad half-drags, half-carries me out of the carriage and up to the stoop, where the cloaked driver stands waiting for us, standing straight like a soldier greeting his General. As we approach, the driver lets his hood fall, revealing a brown, wrinkly face, like the skin of a potato. This must be the Sontaran, Strax, I think to myself. I'd recognize that ugly, bulbous head anywhere.

"Do not attempt to escape or you will be obliterated!" he growls at us before attempting a smile—and a downright creepy one at that—and saying, "Enjoy your stay in this glorious domicile, Number Thirteen, Paternoster Row."

I frown at this. If I weren't in so much pain, I would've laughed. I also would've laughed if the person who said those words wasn't a Sontaran.

'Enjoy your stay, even when I may or may not decide to kill you later.' Ha! 'A questionable individual,' indeed.

After we enter the house, Vastra kindly instructs Strax to escort Dad and I to our rooms, and suggests that I use one of Jenny's old rooms. Dad kindly declines the offer of having his own room, saying that he won't be sleeping at any time during our stay, but thanks them anyway. With his arm around my waist to keep me upright, Dad helps me up the stairs as we follow Strax close behind (even though, needless to say, I would rather be as far away from the Sontaran as possible).

"This will be your room," Strax says as he gestures to the first room on the landing. He then growls at me again and says, "Do not attempt to touch or destroy anything, or I will reduce your feeble form to atoms!"

"Um…thanks?" I say with a raised eyebrow. Who the hell talks like that?

"Thank you, Strax," Dad says with a nod. "You may leave us alone for now. I will rejoin you momentarily." Admittedly, hearing these words sends a wave of relief through my body. No freaking way am I going to be alone anywhere with a Sontaran.

"As you wish, sir!" the Sontaran says, standing at attention, again just like a soldier would when being acknowledged by his General. "I shall stand by to prevent any foul scum from tearing you and your hideous boy to pieces!"

'Hideous?!' 'Boy?!' What the actual freak?!

"Speak for yourself!" I snap at him, feeling great offense. "And that's 'girl' to you!"

"How dare you speak to me that way!" Strax screams back at me, evidently more offended than I am. "I should tear you to pieces, you filthy little—!"

"Okay, that's enough, Strax!" Dad interrupts him, stepping between us. "I said I'd be with you shortly. Please just leave us entirely. Go brew us some Earl Grey tea, or something. There's a good chap!"

'Earl Grey tea?' You're gonna make a Sontaran brew us some Earl Grey tea? Are you kidding me right now?!

I then chuckle to myself, thinking better. Then again, if that's the best excuse he can come up with to get the Sontaran to leave, I'm all for it!

"But, sir—" he attempts to protest, but Dad stops him.

"Go, Strax!" Dad says in an insistent tone. "I'll be perfectly fine. I just need a moment with my daughter."

Strax makes another pathetic attempt to protest, but he fails, sighing in defeat, "As you wish, sir. Sorry, sir." He then glares accusingly at me as he walks away, grumbling about shooting annoying humans' faces off, or something of the sort. I didn't quite catch what he said, and frankly I don't give a damn.

"I think that went pretty well; what do you think?" Dad chuckles slightly as he gently leads me into the cozy room and shuts the door behind him.

What do I think? I say in my head, seating myself on the side of the bed, before saying out loud, "That Strax is an ass, as well as a mega-twisted psychopath."

Dad pauses, glancing at me, before admitting, "I was actually talking about how I handled that confrontation, but…yes, Strax can be a bit of a git sometimes. Like I said before, he doesn't quite know how to be kind. All that talk about 'reducing your body to atoms' and such, that's his way of being friendly. He doesn't mean to literally destroy you; he's just looking out for your well-being as well as others."

"Well, that may be how you think he is," I say with a shrug as he sits beside me, "but as far as I'm concerned, he was actually being serious about reducing my body to atoms." I then think about the way the Sontaran looked at me when he passed by before going back downstairs, like he legitimately wanted to do just that. If he tries to come in my room and kill me in my sleep, I'll be ready to turn him into a literal mashed potato. "I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. He's as twisted as he is ugly."

Dad chuckles again, saying, "You may be right about 'ugly.' You should've seen the Sontarans back in my early days. Blimey!" He then shakes his head as if trying to shake the vision out of his memory.

I chuckle as well; however, I can't shake the disturbing thought out of my head. "I don't think you're here to give me a history lesson on Sontarans," I admit with a sigh. He's obviously here for a much more important reason—one that I honestly don't have the nerve to talk about. One that makes me think of Mom.

"No," he sighs as well. "Well, yes. Actually, I'm here to talk about Strax; specifically, what I want you to do with him."

Oh, god. Here it comes.

"I think I see where this is going," I groan, rolling my eyes. "You're gonna ask me to trust him, aren't you?" I then say before he can answer, "Well, before you answer, I've already made my decision eighteen years ago: Not. By. A. Longshot." Seriously, how could he ask me to do such a thing? It's literally impossible, especially a Time Lord to a Sontaran, and maybe even vice versa!

"Nova…" Dad sighs in exasperation, but I don't want to hear it.

"No, I'm serious!" I snap at him. "I told you how I feel about Sontarans, and I'm never gonna change my opinion of them. One Sontaran turned out to be a bounty hunter sent out by the Vokanari to find me and turn me in to them." This I found out, after I asked Dad what he and Mom did with that Sontaran at the arcade, while I was recuperating after my three-day-long coma. "And the other was just downright rude. And as far as I'm concerned, Mr. Potato Head downstairs could be just like the other two. In fact, he could be the other two, for all I know; I mean they do look identical to one another." How that's even possible, I have no idea. "Sorry if I'm sounding racist, but I just don't trust Sontarans, any of them."

Dad sighs again in contemplation. "I understand, Nova, I really do. You haven't had any good experiences with Sontarans, I get that; but that doesn't mean that all Sontarans are bad. Strax is truly a good person…although it might be because I had influenced him into becoming a better person. He was a real nasty piece of work back in the day."

"I don't care what he was like in the past!" I say seriously. "For all we know, he could still be like that, deep down, even to this day. All that 'enjoy your stay' crap was just an act."

"It's not an act," Dad says, and he legitimately sounds honest. "I know what's an act and what isn't. Trust me, I've been around for twelve-hundred years. You'll eventually learn to tell the difference as well. But Strax isn't acting; and even if he was an actor, he'd be terrible at it. Because of me, he's changed into a better person. A good person. I hope you can learn to see that, while we're here. That's the real thing I wanted to talk to you about."

I scoff loudly, crossing my arms over my chest, wincing as I do. "Well good luck, because I'm not. You're not getting me to be friends with a Sontaran. That's utter lunacy!"

A Sontaran being besties with a Time Lord?! Yeah right; like that's ever gonna happen! I'm surprised Dad is friends with Strax, though I don't know if their friendship is actually legit.

Dad sighs again. "I'm not asking you to be friends with Strax; although I would like for you to. I'm asking you to at least get along with him. Accept that he's a true ally, just like Vastra. You trust Vastra, don't you?"

"Yeah, a little," I nod with a shrug.

"So learn to trust Strax the way you trust Vastra," he says with a nod, having made his point. "Or better yet, learn to trust Strax the way you trust me."

Dude! Don't do that to me! That's not fair!

"You're my father," I sigh. "That gives me automatic rights to trust you. Not to mention that we're telepathically linked. I'm not telepathically linked with Strax, so I never know what he's thinking. For all we know, he's thinking of killing everyone in this house, maybe even the whole planet." That seems to be all that Sontarans care about, from my past experience. If something doesn't go their way, they immediately kill the person who did the wrong without a second thought.

"He's thinking of battlefields and raging fires," Dad says casually, "and how Nova is the most beautiful creature he's ever laid eyes on, and imagines how she would look when standing in the middle of those battlefields and raging fires." He suddenly pauses, realizing the last thing he said. "Ooh, sorry. That last one was meant to be a secret. Blimey, that's an image I'll never get out of my head. Ugh!" He then scrunches up his face in disgust and straightens his bow tie, even though it's already perfectly straight.

What the freak did he just say?!

"What?!" I yell, appalled.

"His thoughts; not mine!" he defends himself while straightening his bow tie again.

"Yeah, but you read them!" I point out the painfully obvious. "Strax fancies me? Are you serious?!"

Please, for the love of God, tell me you're joking! PLEASE!

But he's not joking. "Again, his thoughts; not mine!"

I sigh, feeling no choice but to accept this bizarre truth. "Still, who in their right mind… Especially a Sontaran…" I then shake my head, feeling disturbed enough. "You know what, never mind. I don't even want to know what goes on in that creep's head. All I'm saying is that at the very least, it'll be difficult for me to trust him, especially when I haven't had any good experiences with Sontarans in the past, as you already know."

"I know," Dad smiles sympathetically, "but I want you to at least try. It's not really that much to ask; in fact, it's very little. I want you to at least try, if not for yourself then for me. Please, Nova." He then brushes my cheek lovingly, and I unconsciously lean into his touch.

After a minute of silence, I sigh, giving in. "Okay, I'll try." Although I'm only doing it for him, not for myself, needless to say.

"Atta girl!" Dad says, smiling contently. "I know you have it in you." He then pauses, sensing my great reluctance, and sighs. "I know. You don't have to start tonight. In fact, I'll give you the night off to at least think about it, and in the morning you can officially start then. For now, get some sleep."

Really? Again with the resting?!

"Dad…" I groan, rolling my eyes.

"Don't give me that," he shakes his head back at me. "You need it. You've lost a lot of blood, but at least you're not bleeding anymore." He then does last-minute checks on the bandages around my shoulder. "You're lucky it wasn't your left shoulder," he murmurs in a soft whisper.

"Why is that?" I ask with a puzzled frown. I've never had issues with my left shoulder in the past, so I don't understand how or why that would be a big deal.

He then pauses, feeling flustered. "What? No! Sorry! Dunno why I said that. Forget I said that." He says that like what he said before was meant to be an internal thought, but he'd accidentally said it out loud. Guess I get that from him, I think to myself, since this often happened to me when I was younger, and it still occasionally happens today. He then gets up and prepares to leave but sits back down again. "Actually, there is one more thing I want to talk to you about…"

Oh no, I think to myself, feeling nervous. Please don't let this be the topic about Mom. Please, please, please…

"About your mother."

Fudgeknuckle!

At this point, my eyes are welling up with tears, and I feel a painful tightness in my chest and a heaviness in both of my hearts.

"You've been having visions," Dad says knowingly, and I'm genuinely surprised he knows. "Of the Vokanari. You've seen them hurt your family. You sense their suffering. And you recently saw your mother, haven't you? They've got her too…haven't they?" He then pauses, sensing me struggling to fight back tears, as well as thoughts about Mom. "Tell me," he says gently but also insistently.

I can't hold back the tears any longer. "I can't…" I sob, burying my face in my hands and having no choice but to allow the tears to spill. "I don't…"

"Nova, I need to know," he says calmly but also encouragingly. "What happened to River?" He uses her real name, like her being my mother isn't nearly as important as her being his wife.

"I can't tell you!" I sob uncontrollably at this point. "You've… You've got enough to worry about! This… Trenzalore…" As much as I hate to admit it, what happened to Mom isn't anywhere close to being as important to me as Dad's inevitable, as well as what I fear to be permanent, death.

Dad shakes his head and gently cups my face in his hands, forcing me to look him straight in his eyes. "None of that matters right now. Right now, I need to know what happened to River—my love, your mother. Please, Nova, tell me what you saw."

But I can't! I really can't! I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, spilling tears down my cheeks. I attempt to pull away from him, but he holds my head firmly.

"Nova, look at me. Look at me." I reluctantly look up at him with puffy eyes as he says in a calm voice, "It's okay, I won't be mad at you. I just need to know what you saw." He then brushes a stray curl away from my tearstained face. "It's alright, Nova, you can tell me. No need to be afraid."

After a minute, I sigh and nod, wrapping my arms around Dad's waist. "Take your time," he says in an encouraging tone, rubbing my back up and down in an effort to calm me.

I remain silent for a minute before I reluctantly give in and confess everything. "I saw my parents and Haze. They were being held in a dungeon somewhere. And my dad…they attacked him. They electrocuted him with some probe, and he collapsed. I don't know if he's dead or alive. And Mom…" I bury my face in Dad's chest, squeezing him more tightly. "She was strapped to some kind of operating table. There was an older woman there—the Eye-Patch Lady."

"Madame Kovarian," Dad nods understandingly as I continue.

"She taunted Mom, talking about how she failed to save my family, just like she failed to kill you. She said the only reason she was doing all of this was to get back at Mom for refusing to kill you at the lake. She planned to make Mom's initial brainwashing return, only this time they were gonna make it return tenfold; in other words, absolutely nothing will make it go away this time; she is totally under their control now." I frown, trying to remember more. "There was something else there too… A figure. A shadowy figure…but I can't remember what it looked like. The only thing I do remember about it was that it somehow got into Mom's head and repeatedly whispered commands, specifically to find us, apprehend us, and deliver us to Madame Kovarian without fail. Then, when they had us, they were going to make sure that I would succeed in killing you while everyone, including Mom, watches, making me become the so-called 'New Woman to Kill the Doctor.'" After I finish, I sob more. "Dad, it was horrible. We shouldn't have let her go. Now she's gone." At this point, I feel like I have truly lost a mother, and it feels just like how I felt when Dad took his final breath after we initially left Multi-Eyes behind on the dead planet during our previous adventure.

Dad attempts to calm me by combing his fingers through my tangled hair and pulling me closer against his body. "Shh… It's alright, Nova. Your mother isn't gone. She's just…lost. Lost in her own mind. I'm sure we'll find a way to bring her back. We'll save her. Together."

I really want to believe him, but I don't know how. How can we save someone who's so deep under one's control, especially if they've used technology so advanced that it's possible that Dad may not be able to break through it?

"I wanted to tell you," I say honestly. "I really did. But…I didn't know how."

"It's alright, Nova," he says, continuing to caress my back. "Like I said, I'm not mad at you. I'm glad we could talk about it now. I sensed that there was more than just your injured shoulder that was weighing you down."

"It's gonna continue weighing me down until Mom, my guardians, and Hazel are safe," I admit with a sigh.

"I understand," he nods sincerely. He then hugs me and kisses my forehead lovingly. "Get some sleep now." He gets up and prepares to leave the room when he suddenly stops in the doorway, shaking his head. "No! No! What am I saying?! Stupid Doctor! No, you can't sleep, not without dreaming, which is totally unacceptable, considering the situation!"

I nod, suddenly understanding. "Oh, right! Because if I start dreaming, whatever I'm dreaming would come to life and start killing people."

"Exactly," Dad nods in confirmation.

Looking back, that does make sense. "Yeah, now that you mention it," I admit, "I'm not so sleepy anymore." I don't want to be responsible for having an innocent person killed because of my dream come to life, even if it's something random, like a fuzzy pink unicorn or something (not that there are such things as unicorns, but you know what I mean).

"No, you still need sleep," Dad shakes his head. "Just…don't dream."

"I'm not sure if it's possible to sleep without dreaming," I shrug with a raised eyebrow, "but I'll try."

"Brilliant!" Dad smiles at me. "G'night then."

"Goodnight," I say uncertainly as he properly leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

Okay…that wasn't weird at all, I think to myself as I listen to Dad's footsteps fade away as he descends the stairs to the ground floor of the house.

After a few seconds, I feel the pain in my shoulder again, and I think about healing it with my energy, despite Dad's protests. Once I manage to muster up the strength to at least stand on my feet without feeling too dizzy, I go into the bathroom and stare at myself in the mirror, seeing my face covered in dirt and grime, and my dress covered in two different colors of blood—red from Jack the Ripper and orange from my own blood.

Damn, I think to myself. I look like shit!

I then look at my bandaged shoulder in the mirror, thinking about healing it with my regeneration energy. I nervously glance toward the door, hoping Dad won't walk in on me using my energy against his consent. In fact, I decide to go over to the door and lock it to make sure no one gets in at all. I go back to the mirror and shake my head at my reflection.

"Screw it!" I mumble under my breath.

I stare at my shoulder and will my energy to appear and heal the injury. After a few seconds of deep concentration, I see my shoulder eventually begin to glow gold. As the glow intensifies, I begin to feel the pain ebbing away as the injury heals. Once my shoulder stops glowing, I sigh in relief, no longer feeling any pain; however, I do feel more energetic, unlike when I use my energy to heal other people's injuries.

"That feels so much better," I sigh with content as I rip off the bandage to see my shoulder still slightly bloody but completely healed; there isn't even a scar present.

I decide to change out of my bloody dress as I prepare a bath for myself. As the tub fills with warm water, I pick out a nightgown from the wardrobe in my room and undress before getting into the bath and soaking in the water. I scrub the dried blood off my body and watch as the water turns light pink in color. I then wash my hair before I get out of the bath, change into the nightgown, and wrap my hair in a towel.

After I finish in the bathroom, I wander around my bedroom, examining all of the various antiques (or what will be considered as antiques in the future) on the tables and bookshelves. I browse the bookshelf and pick out a book about the early eighteenth century and read it on my bed for a few hours, no longer feeling sleepy.

At about three in the morning, I start to feel bored from reading. I take out my phone from my purse and attempt to browse the Internet, only to get no Internet connection. I grunt. "Of course; no Internet, because it doesn't exist yet. Duh." I then attempt to plug in my phone to charge, only to discover that there are no power outlets in the room, again something that won't exist for another half a century. "Can't charge my phone either." Even if power outlets did exist in Victorian London, it would be amazing if I could literally charge my 21st Century cellphone when plugging it into a 19th Century wall. I'd probably be breaking over fifty laws of Time just by doing it, but it would be really funny regardless.

Instead, I spend time flipping through my photos and videos of my family, which make me think of home so badly. After watching a funny video of Hazel and I reacting to being in a new country shortly after our arrival in Modern Day London, I decide to make a commentary video of myself in Victorian London, thinking about sending it to Hazel when I next see her…when she's safe from the Vokanari. I stand up, walk to the center of the room, and tap the 'record' button on the touch-screen.

Once my video begins recording, I begin talking. "Um…hi. I'm…not really sure how to do this. I mean, I know how to record videos; it's just weird doing one right now, I guess. I just kinda felt like it, you know?" I laugh awkwardly. "I feel like a YouTuber right now, blogging about my life. That's funny; here I am, talking about YouTube in 19th Century London. Can you believe it? I'm actually in Victorian London! Check it out!" I then point my camera toward the window where I can see Victorian buildings in the distance. "No, this is not a green screen; this is the real deal! How freaking awesome is that? Imagine this scenery being what you see when you wake up in the morning every day; that would just be so cool, wouldn't it? A part of me wishes we were born in this era…but then again, there's no Internet or Wifi, which really sucks. Like, earlier, I tried plugging in my phone to charge, and I suddenly remembered that power outlets don't yet exist. Imagine if they did; I'd probably be breaking over fifty laws of Time just for charging my 21st Century cellphone in 19th Century London. I'm not even sure if there are such things as 'Laws of Time.' I should ask Dad when I next see him. He's probably downstairs, raiding the kitchen or something."

I continue recording, no longer feeling uncomfortable. "Also, we are currently staying the night at a lizard-woman's house. That's right, you heard that correctly! The lizard-woman, Madame Vastra, runs the place, and she's a private detective; you know, like Sherlock Holmes, which is really cool. And the weirdness doesn't end there. Her butler is a Sontaran named Strax, who is the biggest, dumbest, pigheaded piece of shit that you will ever meet! Apparently, he can't tell the difference between a boy and a girl; and I say that because he called me a boy earlier. Also, and you're not gonna believe this, HE HAS A CRUSH ON ME! Like, what?! Why in all of Space-Time would a Sontaran fancy a Time Lord? I mean, we're practically enemies of each other; at least that's what Dad says. Though he claimed he changed this Sontaran into being a better person, but I'm not convinced. Basically, it's not in a Sontaran's nature to be kind, because all they care about is war, and fire, and such. That being said, Dad changed this one, Strax, into a better person, teaching him how to be kind to others; though he's royally bad at it. Like, earlier, when we first arrived at the house, Strax said something like 'Don't try to escape, or I'll kill you!' and then smiles creepily and goes 'Enjoy your stay.' I'm like, 'Wow, could you be any creepier?' Anyway, Potato McCreeper is somewhere around here, doing who-knows-what, and frankly I don't want to know. If he comes in here, I'll turn him into a literal mashed potato.

"At this point, you're probably wondering why we're in Victorian London. It's very weird, actually. Apparently, people's worst fears are coming to life all over the world. Originally it started here in London but then spread to the rest of the world. Vastra thinks there's some kind of device that's causing all of this; like, there's a force field wrapping around the entire planet and projecting people's fears to make them appear real and scare everyone to death. Vastra briefly told the story of a massive spider killing an entire town in just a few hours; how crazy is that? Anyway, she called Dad here to find this device and stop the fears once and for all. Also, Vastra's assistant, Jenny, is missing, and Vastra wants Dad to find her as well.

"But that's the thing. I don't know how to say this…but Jenny might be dead. I'm not entirely sure, but there's this ghost of a pale woman in a hospital gown that's appeared to me, and I'm pretty sure this woman is Jenny. She kept calling me 'Doctor,' although I'm pretty sure she's actually calling for my dad; that would make more sense, since Jenny and I have never met.

"And here I thought I was just being haunted for no reason, but I think it's Jenny calling for help. Calling for Dad. Maybe she's not actually dead; maybe… Maybe's she's trapped. She could be trapped somewhere, but I'm not sure where she could be. Maybe this image of her isn't actually a ghost but rather an astral projection. It might make sense, especially if she's time-traveled with Dad before. I remember Dad once say something about how time-travelers can develop powers over time, such as astral projection. That being said, Jenny is in fact alive and is astral-projecting herself across the city to ask us for help…or possibly to warn us. Perhaps she knows what kidnapped her, as well as the other people who went missing. If she appears again, maybe she could lead us to where she's being held, and we could save her and everyone else." I pause, sighing again. "Then again, this is all just speculation. Either way, I should tell Dad about this; maybe he has similar theories." I then glance to the camera, like I'm speaking to an actual person. "What do you think? Just speculation, or could this actually be happening?"

I pause for another ten seconds, like I'll get an actual answer, but I don't get one. I roll my eyes saying, "Of course I'm not going to get an actual answer; technically I'm just talking to myself, which isn't exactly helpful in this scenario. God, I wish I could talk to someone proper, like Haze or my parents. Not my bio-parents, but…my other parents. My real parents." I then feel my eyes watering with tears again. "I miss you guys. God, I miss you so much! I shouldn't have left you. I should've stayed and protected you. I'm so sorry." I then say, managing to swallow back a whimper, "But I'll find you. I'll find you and rescue you, and I'll make sure those sons of bitches never touch you again. In fact, I'm gonna kill them. I'm gonna kill every last one of them, including that witch, Madame Kovarian! They will pay after everything they did! I swear it! They did all of this just to get back at Mom for refusing to kill Dad! They're gonna force me to kill Dad, and they're gonna make Mom watch as punishment; I guess they're gonna brainwash me too! It's sick! It's just sick! They all need to die! Only then would all of us be truly sa—Geez!"

I am suddenly startled to see a ghostly woman—the same woman from the alley where I fought Jack the Ripper—standing in the room right behind me, standing to the side of my bed. I drop my phone out of shock and immediately turn to her.

"Doctor!" the woman, who I believe to be Jenny, calls to me, and again her voice sounds like she is near and far at the same time.

"I saw you back in the alley," I answer. "Who are you? Are you Jenny? If you are, and you're looking for Dad—I mean the Doctor, I'm not him. I'm his daughter, Nova. Why do you need his help? Are you in danger?"

"Doctor!" she says again, and this time she says more. "You need to leave! They'll know you're here, and they'll come for you! They've been after you from the start!"

I frown at her strange words. "Why do we have to leave? Who's been after us? Is it the Vokanari; are they behind this? Where are you? A hospital, I guess, from the looks of your gown. Which hospital are you at? We can find you."

"No!" she says, shaking her head. "You have to stay away! Stay away from here! Get back in the TARDIS and just leave! Leave me! Leave everyone! They want your fear! They're gonna use it to… No…no…" She says that last bit as she begins fading away, like she's losing control.

"No, wait!" I call out to her as she fades away entirely. "Don't go! What fear? What do they want to do with it? Who's 'they?' Come back!"

I then immediately notice something strange. The moment I say 'come back,' I hear my father say the exact same words from downstairs, followed immediately by, "If you touch her, I'll make you regret it!" I turn to the door as I hear two sets of footsteps coming up the stairs at a brisk pace.

"Just you try and stop me, Doc-y!" an unknown male voice says with a snigger. "Ooh! I bet it's this one. Shall we knock and investigate?" Immediately after those words were said, there is a loud knock on my bedroom door. "Oh, Novie!" the voice says in a sing-song voice. "Novie Susie Song! Are you decent in there? It's your Uncle Master popping in to say hi!"

'Uncle Master?' Who the hell could that possibly be?

More aggressive bangs can be heard outside the room, and along with them my father yelling, "Stop! Don't go in there!" Thank God I decided to lock the door when I did.

As yet more banging can be heard, as well as my sense of danger immediately reaching peak point, I sift through the drawers nearby and manage to find a small letter opener. I swiftly slip it inside the sleeve of my nightgown as the man dubbing himself 'Uncle Master' manages to bust the door open without waiting for an answer.

A blonde man dressed in baggy clothes enters the room and grins triumphantly. "Ah, so this was the room." He then pauses and grins creepily once he sees me standing in the farthest corner from the door. "And look who we have here. Little Novie Susie."

"Who the hell are you?" I snap at him. "Who said you could come in here?" I then see Dad enter the room anxiously behind him, and I frown. "Dad? What's going on? Who's this creep?" Why would Dad allow a complete stranger into my room? He would never!

Unless he had absolutely no control over this man. In which case, this is someone even Dad is genuinely afraid of; I know, because I can sense his fear through our link.

In fact, this man is his fear, come to life.

Also, I can't help but feel a sense of familiarity toward the blonde creep. This guy looks identical to the guy—or guys—I saw on that fateful Christmas, when every single person on Earth, except for me, transformed into him.

"Now, now, Novie," the man says, shaking his head disapprovingly as he slowly approaches me like a predator toward his prey, "that's not a very nice way to treat your Uncle Master, is it?"

"'Uncle Master?'" I frown in suspicion, gripping the letter opener more tightly.

"He's lying!" Dad speaks up. "He's not your uncle; in fact, you don't have an uncle. He's not related to us in any way."

"'Not related in any way?'" the creepy blonde guy says, appalled; though he doesn't sound appalled at all. "How can you say that? Of course we're related; we're Time Lords! That practically makes us family! I think I have the right to visit my own family members, eh? Believe it or not, Doc-y, back in the day we used to be friends. Brothers. Now you're not gonna let me see my own niece for the first time?" Once he reaches me, he immediately begins reaching out to stroke my hair with his greasy hands, his body smelling like sewage.

"Don't touch me!" I spit in his face, and I almost use the letter opener on him right there and then, but I don't.

"Oh, I'm not gonna hurt you," Dirty Blondie assures me, but it doesn't assure me at all. "Why would I want to destroy this pretty little face?" At this point, he is practically pinning me to the wall in a way where it's impossible to wiggle out of his grasp. He intimately strokes my cheek, and I attempt to pull away but to no avail. He smiles and sniggers, directing his words toward my father, "She has your chin and eyes, I see; and the rest, I presume, is from the wife? She must be quite the looker to be able to produce a child as perfect as this! Then again, you've always been better with the ladies than I ever was, Doc-y. When do I get to meet her, the lovely Melody Song? Or is it River Pond? I always get her name confused. That's what happens when you get to be nine-hundred, Novice. You'll understand soon enough…depending on how long you get to live." He says all of this, clearly expecting me to be scared, but I'm nowhere close.

"It's Nova," I snap back at him, "and if you don't get out of my face in the next two seconds, I'll slit your fucking throat!" I'm pretty sure this guy isn't real and is actually Dad's fear come to life. I mean, how else would he be threatening me in this way, while Dad stands by and watches, unable to do anything? Dad is practically seeing a ghost; in fact, he is seeing a ghost, since this guy is supposed to be dead, like Jack the Ripper. At least, that's what's going through Dad's head, which I can sense through our link.

Dirty Blondie laughs, turning to Dad. "Did you hear that, 'Daddy?' She'll slit my throat! Blimey, what have you been teaching this kid? I like her! She might as well be my kid. Maybe I'll keep her!"

"In your dreams!" I scoff at him before I immediately take the opportunity to act. I let the letter opener slide into my hand, and I literally go to slit the sicko's throat. Unfortunately, he is quicker than me and catches my wrist in mid-swipe.

"Nice try, cutie-pie," he sneers at me as he grips my wrist so hard that I feel the bones breaking, and I end up involuntarily dropping the letter opener to the floor in pain, "but not fast enough." He then releases me and throws me to the floor hard, forcing me to fall on the wrist that he had broken. "Did you really think I didn't see that coming when you said you were going to slit my throat? You wouldn't have said that if you weren't actually planning to do it."

I don't even fight back the regeneration energy as it manifests in my wrist, healing the broken bones. Upon noticing this, Dirty Blondie gasps in shock as Dad yells disapprovingly, "Nova, don't!" However, I don't have control of my regeneration energy as it finishes its job before vanishing.

"Ah, looks like she can regenerate," Dirty Blondie says with a slight chuckle. "I wasn't sure. You think she'd be able to change bodies as well? We could find out. What do you think, Dad?" He then immediately grabs me by my hair and pulls me to a sitting position, holding me tightly against his chest, where I can feel his hearts pounding with manic energy. He then grabs the letter opener from the floor and holds it at my throat. "Should we slit her throat and see what happens?"

"No!" Dad cries on pure instinct, making Dirty Blondie snigger, relishing in his fear toward him.

"What?" the bastard shrugs. "If she can heal herself with regeneration energy, she should be able to change bodies as well, right? Last I checked, that's how Time Lord Regeneration works. I'm curious to know who she could turn into. Who knows, maybe she'll look like me next."

"Master, don't!" Dad says seriously. He sounds genuinely scared now, and it makes me scared too. Scared that this might actually be the end for me.

"Or what, Doctor?" he snaps, glaring at him. "What are you going to do? You failed to stop me from turning every single human on Earth into me. Maybe next time, I'll turn every single Time Lord into me…although, I suppose it'll just be you and little Novel here who'll turn into me. There's no one else besides the three of us. Then again, on the plus side, with you looking exactly like me, we'll be proper brothers—twins! More than that, we'll be triplets! The Masters of Time!"

"You're insane!" I say. It's literally the most insane thing I've ever heard! Me?! As this guy?! NO! FUCKING! WAY!

"That's never going to happen, Master," Dad says, wholeheartedly agreeing with me (and who the hell wouldn't?). "Besides which, you failed to turn even the Time Lords into yourself last time."

"Not to mention he's not even real," I add.

I suddenly feel Dirty Blondie's grip on my hair tightening at this, making me cringe. "Hey! You keep your mouth shut! I'll cut out your tongue first and then slit your throat!"

"No, she's right," Dad says, shaking his head, "you aren't real. You were sent back into the Time War just like all the rest of the Time Lords. That's where people like you deserve to be. In Hell!"

Ooh! He just got roasted!

Dirty Blondie sneers at Dad, knowing he's been defeated. "If 'Hell' is where you think Time Lords belong, then that is where we shall go! Starting with your daughter! Hope she survives the trip!" He then positions the letter opener at my throat, and I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, preparing for the worst.

"NO!" Dad screams.

Suddenly, there is the sound of a laser shot from across the room, followed immediately by Dirty Blondie's grunt of pain. I feel him release me, dropping the letter opener to the floor beside me. I crawl away from him as I see his body slump in deadweight with a burnt laser hole between his eyes. I then glance at the doorway, and I'm surprised to find Strax standing there with a large laser gun in hand. I stare incredulously at him, at a total loss for words.

"Strax!" Dad exclaims, as equally shocked as I am.

"What're you staring at me for?" Strax frowns at us, looking offended for some unknown reason. "I just saved your child from savage decapitation! It was a difficult decision to make, but I made it! You're welcome!" He then walks off, muttering under his breath about how he should be 'rewarded like a proper warrior,' or something that, again, I don't care about.

Okay… So that just happened. I've just been saved from a maniacal homeless guy—and saved by a Sontaran, no less.

"Nova!" Dad cries, dropping down on his knees beside me.

"I'm alright," I nod to him as he cradles me in his arms, holding me tightly against his chest, his hearts pounding a million beats per minute, as are mine. After a minute, I glance toward the blonde guy's body, and I'm surprised to see it reduce to ashes and disappear entirely, like he was never here to begin with. "Whoa!" I exclaim in shock. "He just disappeared!"

"That's what happens to fears over time," Dad says as he continues to hold me against him, rocking me gently back-and-forth. "They fade, but they don't fade away entirely. Fear is only temporary…but regret is forever."

In that moment, I begin sensing Dad's past regrets as they come to him, one after the other—his regret to not save the Master after he saved Dad from Rassilon's (whoever that guy is) attack before his final regeneration; his regret of what he did to end the Last Great Time War, an event that I definitely do not want to see anytime soon; and especially his regret of trying and failing to save so many people who had died in his name, including his companions. Dad has no choice but to live with the guilt and regret for the rest of his life.

However, despite everything, I am thankful that Dad and I survived in one piece, thanks to Strax the Sontaran. Since he did just save my life, I think I will actually try to be friends with him.

We'll see.

"Oh, sorry!" Dad suddenly says after he accidentally squeezes my once-injured shoulder. "I totally forgot about—" He then pauses, realizing. He feels along my shoulder and notices that I'm not wincing in pain (of course not, because I healed my shoulder ages ago). He gently pulls down the sleeve of my nightgown to reveal my fully mended shoulder. I immediately look away in shame, expecting him to be mad at me. "Your shoulder… You…"

I sigh, rolling my eyes. "Yes, I healed it with my energy a while back! So what?" I then sense what Dad will say next, and I stop him. "I know! I shouldn't have, but I couldn't handle the pain any longer. It was getting annoying, and I figured it was going to slow me down later. I had to do something, and that was the only thing I could think of, so…I did it!" I shrug, groaning, "It shouldn't matter anymore, anyway, since it's already been done." I then prepare to get up and leave, but Dad stops me.

"Nova!" he says before cupping my face in his hands. "It's alright. I'm not angry with you."

"You're not?" I ask with a suspicious frown.

He shrugs. "Well, maybe a little, but I understand. I know being born with otherworldly superpowers is tough, especially when you're forbidden to use them. You've seen what Time Lord Regeneration can do, and you want to further explore its capabilities. I know. I've been there, I understand. When I was first given my regeneration cycle, I wanted to explore, test the limits, just like you."

"Wait!" I frown, puzzled. "So you weren't born with your regeneration power?"

He shakes his head. "No. I had to earn them. By looking into the Untempered Schism—the Time Vortex itself—for a long period of time. The Time Vortex gave me my vast knowledge and ability to regenerate. It was part of a young Gallifreyan's journey to becoming a Time Lord…and it's very painful." He pauses for a short time before he continues. "Your mother was born from the Time Vortex. She was conceived in the TARDIS while in flight through the Vortex, which gave her Time Lord abilities, despite being born from human parents—your grandparents, Amelia Pond and Rory Williams. You got your abilities from both me and the Time Vortex."

"So I was born with my abilities?" I ask curiously.

Dad nods. "Yes, just like your mother. Though how you got your abilities from me, that's a whole other story."

"What do you mean?" I ask with a frown.

He sighs sadly. "I wasn't born in the traditional sense, like you and your mother. Back when I was 'born'—" Here, I notice Dad using the word in quotes, which I find strange, "—Gallifreyan females weren't able to become pregnant, like most human females. Instead, they used complex machines, called Looms, to create their own children from the biodata of the 'mother' and 'father.' I was 'born' alongside forty-four other children in my House."

"Wow!" I say in amazement. "That's a large family." Forty-Five kids in one house? Damn, that's insane!

Dad sighs sadly again. "Yes, well, I didn't exactly get along with my 'family.' That's why I spent the majority of my childhood alone in the barn on our property. At least until I was old enough to go to the Academy."

"Where you became a Time Lord," I nod understandingly.

"Yes," he confirms. "And after that…well, you know the rest."

"Before that, you obviously married and had kids," I point out, "and then grandkids. You said you had a granddaughter named Susan, who I'm named after."

"Yes, that's right," Dad nods. He then sighs again, hugging me more tightly, like he's afraid I'll disappear if he lets go.

"You must miss them," I say sympathetically, massaging the back of his neck soothingly. "Your family and Gallifrey."

He nods again. "Very much." He then pulls away slightly and cups my face again. "But I'm not alone, because now I have your mother, and your grandparents, and you. You are all the family I will ever want. You are my everything, Nova Susan Song. Now and forever." He then pulls me into him, hugging me tightly again. "Which is why I don't want you to leave my sight. From now on, you stay by my side for the rest of this trip. It's clear no one is safe, especially alone."

I nod in agreement. "Yeah. I wasn't even doing anything earlier, and I was almost killed for it. After what went down with that blonde creep, who'd want to be alone? I mean, really! Who was that guy, anyway? Clearly he was someone you knew."

"I did know him well," he admits. "The Master, or 'Koschei,' as he was called then, was my oldest friend. I met him back at the Academy. We grew up and studied alongside one another…until he started becoming vengeful and power-hungry as the years passed. And then…well, we parted ways. I've tried rekindling our friendship many times, but…" He sighs sadly, indicating that he's given up trying to turn his friend-turned-foe back to the Light Side.

"I mean…that happens," I say gently. "People move on. People change. It sucks sometimes, but it's part of life." My statement makes me think of my friendship with Hazel and how that might change very soon. After she is rescued, Hazel might want to go back home, while I might be staying with my bio-parents to learn the ways of the Time Lords—something that Hazel will never understand, even if she wanted to. "Friendships don't last forever."

"No, they don't," Dad agrees sadly. "Which is why you should always try to keep your friends close. You never know which day you spend with them might be your last."

His statement makes me think of my family again, making me think that the time before I was cornered in the Modern Day alley by the Vokanari was the last I saw of Hazel. It was also the last time that we were just regular friends—normal friends. In other words, we put all differences aside, specifically the fact that we were two different species. We just did what normal teenage friends do in a foreign country: simply have fun. After everything that's happened with the Vokanari, our lives have changed drastically, and I fear that our friendship may have changed for the worst because of it. Much like Dad, I regret everything that's happened, especially when I know I can't change anything.

'Fear is only temporary, but regret is forever.' Oh, Haze, what have I done? You didn't deserve any of this. No one deserved any of this.

I regret leaving my guardians without saying goodbye.

I regret abandoning Hazel when we were pursued by the Vokanari, not knowing that they were after her too.

I regret leaving my father alone out of anger and frustration before those pirates targeted him and bludgeoned him to death.

I regret not going with my mother, River Song, to save my guardians and Hazel and prevent the Vokanari from taking her too.

I now have to live with these regrets for the rest of my life, even after the Vokanari are defeated for good.

And I do plan to defeat them…

Whatever it takes.

A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!