A/N: Welcome back, yall! I know it's been a little while. I've been so busy over the last few weeks and barely could find time to write, but now I've finally gotten this chapter done. Also, I just got a new laptop, and thankfully all of my files and apps have transferred over, so I didn't have to worry about starting the chapter completely over.

This is the final chapter of this particular episode, but the ending will go immediately into the next episode. I have tons of ideas for it, and I think you'll like the ideas too once I've written them.

This chapter also has multiple scenes that I have separated with hashes (#####), and one of them is written completely in italics. This particular scene is written in italics to show it written as a flashback scene. You'll see it when you get to it in the reading.

Also there's going to be a temporary character death at some point in the chapter, but the chapter ends on a somewhat happy note.

I hope you enjoy :)

Chapter 9: Wake Up

"Oh my god!" I gasp at the grisly injury before immediately wrapping my fingers around the hilt of the knife in preparation to pull it out of his chest.

"No…" my father protests weakly while wincing in intense pain. "Don't touch it. Leave it alone…"

"I can't! It has to be pulled out!" I gently press down on his chest around where he was impaled to make it easier to pull the knife out.

"Sydney…leave it," he protests once more. "I'll just…bleed out faster if it's pulled out. Plus, I don't…want you to get cut."

I shake my head, careless about my own safety. "Fine! Then we'll pull it out once we get back to the TARDIS! Surely she can help you! I know she can!"

"I'm sorry…Sydney," he shakes his own head, sweat beading on his brow and blood staining his jaw. "There's…nothing you or the TARDIS can do for me. There is no cure."

"What do you mean, 'there is no cure?'" I frown, confused. "Anything can cure a stab wound!"

"Not this one… Not if it's laced with Judas Tree poison…"

I gasp in disbelief. The Poison of the Judas Tree… The most incurable poison in the universe, and the strongest to even disable a Time Lord's power of Regeneration. Nova must've coated the knife's blade with the stuff, knowing that if the stab wound wasn't going to kill the Doctor first, then the poison surely would. She got the last laugh. This was her ultimate goal all along, just like Mom when she was still a psychopath and used the same poison, but back then it was with a kiss instead of a knife.

My mother's words from that very moment from my father's memory echo in my mind: "It was never going to be a gun for you, Doctor. 'The man of peace,' who understands every kind of warfare except, perhaps, the cruelest."

God, why didn't I shoot her at the very beginning?

"Feels like a triple dose this time…" the Doctor grunts between breaths, "which means it will kill me three times as fast…which means I've got only a few minutes left to live. Less than five… Probably got…about three left at this point…"

"No, no, no, you can't die!" I begin sobbing, thinking back to my first adventure with him, when he was bludgeoned to death by the pirates and how vulnerable I felt when I had to watch him die without being able to help him, much like how I feel right now. "Not this time! I won't let you! There has to be a cure; one that hasn't been invented yet, but maybe it has in the future! If we travelled there—"

"Nova…" he sighs sadly as he takes my hand in his own. "It's too late. As I said, I've only got…a couple of minutes left to live. That's not enough time. I'm afraid…I'm out of time."

"No!" I snap. "Don't say that! Of course you're not—" I then pause, suddenly realizing something.

Wait… Did he really just call me that?

"What is it?" my father questions me in puzzlement, clearly having not paid attention to what he said; specifically, the name he called me.

"You…" I pause again, hesitant to admit it, but I ultimately decide to admit it anyway. "You just called me 'Nova' again." I didn't expect him to call me by that name at all, especially after the original Nova had killed him without the slightest bit of mercy. "You didn't mean to call me that again…did you?" I ask him. He certainly didn't mean to call me by that name last time when we first arrived here (he admitted that he didn't…unless that was a lie), but perhaps he legitimately did this time.

"Perhaps I did…" he admits with a smile after seemingly having read my thoughts, "this time…"

"Why?" I ask, sensing that he is, for once, telling the truth.

He shrugs like it should be obvious. "Because you are Nova; are you not? You told me so yourself…"

"Yeah, but you didn't fully believe me," I frown in reply.

"Maybe not then…but I do now. I can see it in you. I can sense it. You are the true daughter I've always wanted. That we have always wanted—River and me. If only River had seen it too, before she…" He pauses, again refusing to say the 'D' word.

I shake my head. "No, she has seen it. I told her the same things I told you. The exact same things. Before I even finished telling my story, she saw me for who I truly was—that I was her true daughter." I then pause, remembering River calling me 'Nova' in the arcade parking lot, and continue. "Actually, she saw me as her true daughter long before I told her my story, back in the parking lot at the arcade. You weren't there, but she called me 'Nova' then and meant it. She told me she did. She saw who I truly was from the very beginning. That's why she wanted you to help me, and to help yourself see me too. The real me. Not…'this' me."

"I understand…" he nods. "And I'm sorry I didn't believe you sooner. I wanted to…but I was too focused on Nov—" He abruptly pauses and glances shamefully at his daughter's lifeless form lying on the opposite side of the room before continuing without using her proper name, "—on her, hoping I could save her… But I see now that there was no saving her… Not ever. All this time I should've been focusing on saving you instead. Help you to get back to your world… I'm so sorry, Sydney… You have to wake up… You have to wake up now… Come on… Wake up…" The moment he begins telling me to wake up, his facial expression seems to drop to a deadpan one, like he'd just entered some sort of trance, and his eyes begin closing, like he's gradually losing consciousness.

I frown at him, confused as to why he's talking in this way, while shaking him slightly to keep him awake. "Dad? What're you saying? What do you mean, I have to wake up? I'm already awake…aren't I?"

Then again…what if I'm not? What if I've never been awake in the whole time I've been in this 'world?'

I frown again, my senses seeming to change in a very unnatural way. "Are you…are you saying this was never a simulated reality I created, but rather a dream? In real life I'm stuck in a coma? Is that what you're saying?"

That's when I begin remembering things. Strange things:

An outdoor marketplace filled with otherworldly beings…

An antique store that's run by a shopkeeper that's not really a shopkeeper…

Being locked inside the antique store against my will by the 'not-really-a-shopkeeper' after having discovered my being a Time Lord…

As all of these new (rather, old) memories pop into my head, my father continues to ramble seemingly incoherently as if an outside force is speaking through him, "Nova… Please… Hear me. Hear me and wake up… Wake up…" before taking one final exhale and falling silent.

However, I ignore him as all of these memories combine into one giant memory in my head, and it flashes behind my closed eyelids.

"I remember…" I mutter to myself as I begin to feel myself falling into the memory.

#####

I remember my father taking me to a planet, called Vintosis, with an outdoor marketplace where he allowed me to wander around alone since it was a very small area. We agreed that we needed a short break from training, so we decided to travel somewhere peaceful and be normal tourists for a while (or at least until things got hectic). While I was wandering around the tight alley that was filled with stalls and booths that were each run by various humanoid locals, I was offered by several of them to check out and buy the goods that they were selling, and I politely declined. However, one shopkeeper in particular was very persistent towards me, and even though it was a little unnerving to me, I remained polite about it and agreed to enter the shop for a short browse but did not plan to buy anything, while my father was busy conversing with some of the other locals across the way.

"So, where are you from?" the shopkeeper, who appeared to be a humanoid man in his late eighties, spoke up while I was browsing the various antiques on display. "I've never seen you around here before."

"I'm not from around here, no," I smiled politely. "In fact I'm not even from this planet. I'm just passing through with my dad. We thought we'd come here for a break from…work stuff. He's the one who suggested this place; he's been here multiple times."

"Ah, perhaps I might know him," the man nodded. "What is his name?"

I paused, not wanting to use my father's title, thinking it'd be safer not to just in case, as I was getting sketchy vibes from this guy without really knowing why. "Uh…John Smith. Or maybe he introduced himself as a doctor, but his real name is John Smith. Dr. John Smith." This last statement was a lie, of course.

The shopkeeper nodded again. "Ah, a doctor. I was a doctor many years ago…until I retired. I didn't retire by choice, mind you. I was forced out of business."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said sympathetically. "I imagine how rough it must've been to be laid off like that." Perhaps he got this job after he was forced to quit his medical job, I thought. Though, at the same time, being his current age, I would've thought he'd just retired right there and then, the moment he got laid off; then again, maybe that was several years ago for him.

"I suppose you could say that," he shrugged like that wasn't entirely true but decided to go along with it anyway, which was a little strange to me, but I ignore the feeling. He then smiled at me with a toothless grin that sent chills through my spine, "Imagine how you'd feel if you could go back in time and change that."

This statement made me frown, feeling like he somehow knew about the TARDIS, but I tried to remain chill. "You mean, like, change the past? Like, prevent yourself from being laid off from your job?"

He nodded. "Exactly! Imagine if you could go back in time and change a certain event in your life where it never even happened? Imagine if you could change a decision that you made in your life that you regretted making in the first place? Imagine if you made a different decision than the one you made before, and it changes your life for the better?"

'So you want to change your past?' I thought but didn't say out loud, which, in theory, is entirely possible with a TARDIS, but not ideal since it's extremely dangerous. In any case, it sounded like that was what the shopkeeper was thinking of doing, assuming he, indeed, knew about the TARDIS, and therefore knew what I was, hence why he was specifically suggesting the idea to me.

This, of course, made me feel immensely awkward. "Oh, uh… I don't know," I stuttered. "That sounds like wishful thinking to me. One thing my dad taught me is that you can't change the past, whether you have a time-machine or not." I then paused and added quickly in an attempt to throw him off, "Uh, not that time-machines actually exist, but theoretically, if they existed, it's not recommended. There are certain events that are fixed; in other words they can't be changed, or all of history could change, including your own. Where I come from, we call that 'The Butterfly Effect.'"

"Of course I'm familiar with the 'Butterfly Effect,'" the man said, deepening his brow, "but what if you could change your life without breaking history?" From his tone of voice, it sounded like he was, indeed, on to me, which sent creepy vibes up my spine.

However, I continued to keep my cool.

"I-I-Is that even possible?" I stuttered, pretending like I didn't understand what he was talking about. Sure, it was possible, but again, it was exceedingly risky. Then again, maybe he was fully aware of that fact.

"In my younger years as a doctor," the man explained as he walked around the counter toward me, "I studied ways to make it possible. Using advanced technology from my world, one would enter a coma-like state and relive a moment in their lives and have the opportunity to change said moment to see what could've been."

I raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. "You mean, like, see alternate futures of what their lives would've looked like, had they made a different decision, or if someone else impacted their lives differently, or whatever?"

He nodded again, this time seeming highly impressed. "Exactly! Your comprehension is quite extensive for a young lady your age."

"I was a very studious kid growing up," I replied with a casual shrug, despite the voices in my head telling me to get out of the store and never come back.

"Or perhaps it all just comes naturally to you because of your historical background," he said, raising a knowing eyebrow, which indicated that he, indeed, knew (or at least seemed to know) who and what I was.

At this point, I was getting extremely weirded out by this guy, and so decided to take my leave quickly. "Uh…yeah. I guess," I said as I slowly backed away toward the exit of the shop. "Anyway, I should probably get back to my dad; he might be looking for me. It was wonderful meeting you. Have a nice day." The moment I turned to leave, I heard a swift clicking sound from the door, specifically from the door locking. I tugged on the door handle, but it was stuck in place. It was definitely locked, and it had been locked from the inside mechanically.

Okay, now things were getting creepier. I could tell, because I could feel my senses of danger heightening by the thousands. This guy definitely knew who, and even what, I was; he wouldn't have locked me inside if he didn't.

"I'm sorry, young lady," the man said in a low voice that didn't sound so friendly anymore, "but I'm afraid I can't let you leave quite yet. You still haven't seen my latest work. Besides which, if you walk away now, you'll be missing out on a grand opportunity. Surely, there's at least one time in your life that you wish you could change. Imagine if you could actually change it. It is entirely possible. I can show you right now."

"Thanks, but I'm really not interested," I said as I continued to tug on the door, but it refused to budge. "I should really get back to my dad." I looked through the windows to see if I could get someone's attention and alert them of my situation, but they carried on walking past, completely unknowing or uncaring of my safety. Not even my father was anywhere to be seen. Surely he must've sensed me in danger, right?

The shopkeeper's next few words felt like a giant bomb having been dropped directly on top of the store; though at the same time, I sensed it coming the moment he began talking about the topic of changing history. "I'm afraid that's no longer an option for you…Time Lord."

However, I paused and attempted (very poorly) to play dumb. "I don't…know what you're talking about…"

"Don't play that game with me. You know exactly what you are. I've installed a DNA scanner above the doorframe that scans everyone who comes in the shop," he shrugged. "It automatically tells me what species they are." He then smirked at me while approaching me with nefarious intentions for me. "Although for you, it had a bit of a challenge determining your exact species. It came up as 'human' for a while until it ultimately settled on a mix of 'human' and 'unknown.' However, with a bit more research, I eventually narrowed it down to 'Time Lord,' which should be impossible, yet here you stand. And the way you talked about the 'theory' of time-travel and your father being 'a doctor' were dead giveaways. People just never think before they speak anymore." He began sniggering at me as I attempted to unlock the door with my sonic screwdriver, but even that refused to work for some reason. He revealed the reason by saying with a chuckle, "Don't bother trying to unlock that door. It's triple-deadlocked. No one can see you waving either. I've tinted the windows from outside and muted all sounds. I'm afraid you're not getting out until I let you out."

At this point, I had pretty much given up trying to unlock the door. I reluctantly turned back to the shopkeeper—if he was even a true shopkeeper—and glared daggers at him as he came closer to me. "What do you want with me?" I spat at him. "You're not just offering me the chance to legitimately change my life, however that's possible. What are you really after?"

"I want your lives," he replied. "All of them."

I frowned. "What? Why?"

"I'm an old man now," He said in a tone like it should've been obvious, "and unfortunately I can't 'regenerate' like you can. That's what makes you perfect. You can help me."

"To do what?" I snapped back.

"By giving me back my life. No living creature can live longer than a Time Lord, especially one starting out so young. There are so many years I can gain from you. I can gain back all of my years and remain young for centuries, maybe even millennia, with your energy."

"You mean steal my life from me?" I scoffed. "What makes you think I will let you do that?"

The creepy old man sniggered again before saying, "Oh, you won't have to 'let' me do anything. I'll be taking those years from you…one way or another."

In that moment, before I had any chance to react, the man took out a small syringe from his pocket and plunged it into the side of my neck, and I immediately passed out. The last thing I remembered was seeing my entire life—from the moment I regenerated for the first time to my latest adventure with the Doctor—flash before my eyes before waking up back in my guardians' house in this 'fake' world.

#####

"I remember!" I gasp, returning to the present. "I remember everything! We were on a trip together… We were taking a break from my training… I went into this shop… I was offered by a man to 'change my life'… He stole my life! He's still stealing my life, the longer I stay here! He's draining me of my life! That's why I have to wake up! He tricked me, and now I'm stuck here!"

I pause and glance down at the Doctor, who lays on the bloodstained floor, lifeless, his emerald eyes closed and mouth slightly open as if in mid-sentence. He doesn't appear to be breathing, which automatically makes me fear the worst. I place my fingertips against the side of his neck, but I feel no pulse, which could mean only one thing.

He's dead. The Doctor, my beloved father, is dead. Nova succeeded in her mission, which means the Silence have won, which also means I've failed. I was supposed to protect him; that was why I insisted on taking the gun instead of him. I should've taken the shot at the very beginning, from the moment I first entered the room, then he wouldn't have been stabbed. Now he's dead, all because I wasn't fast enough to stop her. To save him.

No!" I sob uncontrollably, cradling his body and burying my face in his chest, ignoring the blood soaking his clothing and knife protruding from his left heart. "No, come back! You can't die! You have to help me! I have to wake up, but I don't know how! Please, Dad, you have to help me! Help me, please!"

He was supposed to get me home. He promised. Now he's dead, which means I'm stuck here. I'm stuck here in this hellish 'Limbo' world forever, and there's nothing I can do about it. Not ever again. Both of my parents are dead, and my guardians may as well be too since they technically shouldn't be alive anyway since they both died trying to save me in my other life, which means that I am alone. I don't think I can live in a world without them—my true parents, The Doctor and River Song.

Even if I moved back in with my guardians and began a new life here, it wouldn't be the same as my other life. I preferred my other life, even when it wasn't the 'normal' life I wanted as a non-human. Before all of this happened, I was starting to get more accustomed to my Time Lord life; more than that, I was starting to accept it, but now there's no hope for me to gain back that life, possibly ever. The Doctor was supposed to help me gain back that other life, but now he's dead, and there's no way for me to bring him back to life. I am no longer a Time Lord, and I—we—killed the only other person who could've been able to save him, but we didn't have a choice. Any and all hope of bringing him back is gone, as is any and all hope for me to return home to my world.

"Wake up…"

That's when I hear it. A voice, like an echo in the far-off distance.

And, strangely enough, it's the voice of my father.

But that's impossible, I think to myself. My father is dead. I know, because I am literally staring down at him, and he hasn't moved, absolutely no signs of life whatsoever. So if it's not my real father…

"Wake up…" the voice whispers again a little clearer.

…then who, or what, is that? Could that be his ghost, perhaps, calling out to me from the spiritual realm? Or is it someone or something else entirely, pretending to be him? Could it actually be some trick that the sketchy man from the shop is playing on me?

I can't help but call back to the mysterious voice, "Dad? Is that you?" Maybe it really is him, calling out to me, not from the afterlife but rather from my other world. Perhaps I'm not entirely stuck here, after all. Perhaps there really is a chance for me to return to the Waking World, back to my true family.

"Nova…"the Doctor's voice whispers once more, this time sounding like he is standing right behind me. "I know you can hear me… This world you're living in, it isn't real. The longer you stay in it—the longer you believe it's real—the more it drains your life-force… You have to wake up…"

"I can't!" I whimper while clinging to my dead father's body tighter, refusing to let him go. "I don't know how! Please help me!"

"I am trying to help you…"the voice replies in a sigh, "but you must find the strength to wake up on your own. I can't wake you up… You must wake yourself up..."

"I don't know how!" I repeat, sobbing harder into his unmoving chest.

"Focus on me… Don't think about anything else… Only focus on me… Focus on my voice… Reach out to it with your mind… Use our psychic link… You know how to do that… you've done it many times before…"

I sigh in relief, a small part of me believing that the voice is truly my father's from my world, but a larger part of me still isn't very sure. "I don't…I don't think I can," I stammer. "He may not let me." For all I know, the man who put me in this world may be much stronger than me or anyone else. How would I be able to fight him?

"You're stronger than him…" my father says, clearly reading my thoughts. "Your mind is stronger than his… No mind is stronger than a Time Lord's… Use that clever Time Lord brain of yours and fight him… Fight back… You can do it… Come on, Nova… Beat him… Beat him and wake up!"

At this, I squeeze my eyes shut while squeezing my dead father's body tightly to me, using his body like a lifeline to pull me back to my living father in the Waking World. "I can do this…" I mutter to myself. "I can do this… I can do this… Come on, Nova, you can do this. Wake up. Wake up! WAKE UP!"

At that final 'wake up,' I finally manage to literally awaken from my apparent coma in a dim room that looks like a storage room in a basement or bunker. Thankfully, the first face I wake up to is my father's, smiling down at me and wearing his typical tan tweed jacket instead of the dark-green coat he wore in my 'dream' world. I automatically sit up straight, almost knocking him into his forehead, but thankfully he dodges out of the way in time.

"Whoa!" he chuckles. "Easy there, Nova! You'll give yourself whiplash! And you very nearly gave me a concussion!"

"Dad!" I exclaim, relieved to see him alive and well and without a scratch.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Or 'good afternoon,' I should sa—"

I interrupt him mid-sentence when I automatically wrap my arms around him in a tight hug, refusing to let him go once again.

"Well," he chuckles again as he awkwardly returns the hug, "someone's excited to see me. A little too excited, it seems. Missed me that much, have you?"

"Something like that," I mumble in a barely audible tone, before adding in my head. So much has changed, including—

"Fudgeknuckle!" I gasp before immediately pulling away from him and checking my entire body to make sure I have my proper Time Lord body back. I pet my head to confirm that I have my large halo of curls that mirror my mother's (Check!), press my hands against both sides of my chest to confirm there being a double-heartbeat (Check!), and finally attempt to conjure up a small amount of Regeneration Energy from both of my hands (Check!). "Thank God," I sigh in relief, grateful to be back in my proper Time Lord body again.

"I take it I've missed out on a lot," Dad says slowly, frowning at my seemingly strange behavior, like he's wondering why I seem to believe that I've regenerated again, when I clearly haven't. Well, not in this world, anyway, I think but do not say.

"You could say that," I say instead with a small snort.

Deciding not to think too much of it, he shrugs and continues, "Anyway, while you were 'napping,' a lot has happened in the last ten minutes since we've been separated. Apparently, you—"

"Wait, what?" I interrupt him. "I've only been here ten minutes?" How in the hell is that possible?

"Yes," he confirms. "That's how long you were in the coma for. At least in real time."

"It felt like days," I admit, in total disbelief. Maybe weeks, or even months.

"More like years," he corrects me. I frown at him as he explains, "While you were in the coma, you physically aged sixteen years."

"What? How?" I check my body once more for changes, but I find none; at least any obvious ones.

"It's a long explanation. Apparently, the man you met in the shop upstairs was run by a long-time wanted criminal named Jakah Sutek. He was a doctor who studied ways to physically drain people of their life-force and steal the years for himself by forcing them into a lifelong coma. The longer the 'patient' stayed in the coma, the more their life-force would drain from them and eventually kill them. Also, the more their life-force was drained, the faster they would physically age."

"So how come I aged sixteen years even when I've only been in the coma for ten minutes?" I frown in confusion.

"In recent years, Jakah found a way to upgrade his technology to the point where his 'patients'' life-force would transfer to himself to prevent him from aging," Dad continues. "At least that's what I heard him say to the police. At the same time, it would have the opposite effect on the 'patient.' It would rapidly age the person the same number of years as the number of years he'd stolen from them."

"That's why he wanted me," I nod. "With a Time Lord's body, especially a young one like mine, he could drain my life-force for centuries and remain youthful for just as long, maybe longer. He could've kept me locked up forever, had you not found me when you did."

"Exactly. And to prevent anyone from waking up, he forced them into an everlasting dream-state that would appear and feel real. The dream would look and feel just like the 'patient's' real life as it already is, or it's altered in some way where they end up making a different decision, and they end up seeing an alternate life based on that different decision, and again it would feel real. Ever since he escaped prison, and before you showed up, he drained over two-hundred people of their lives, and three more were just now added to the stack."

That would explain why he was so adamant about knowing how I wanted my life to be changed, I think in my head before asking curiously, "What happened to the other people who didn't die? Are they alright?"

"They will be," Dad nods. "As will you. As I said, thankfully he only 'stole' sixteen years from you, therefore aging you sixteen years. In your 'dream-life,' you must've changed an event that happened around the time when you were sixteen years old, and he stole all of the years from your birth leading up to that point. I can imagine what moment you chose to change…" He then pauses before continuing, "But I can also imagine that that 'change' didn't work out in the way that you intended."

Well, it wasn't one moment I chose to change so much as choosing to change my entire life; more than that, my entire species, I think about saying but don't. "Trust me, it was a much bigger change than what you're thinking," I say instead. "And no, it didn't work out very well. I will say there was one thing that changed that I appreciated. I got to see my guardians one last time." At least I got to have a bit of proper closure from that.

"Oh, that's good. You got to give them a proper goodbye?"

"Sort of," I say before deciding to tell him what really happened. "At the time I was dealing with much bigger problems, such as trying to get back to the 'real world'—in other words, 'wake up.' As much as I appreciated to have my guardians as my real parents for a while, at the same time I felt that things weren't as right as I wanted them to be. Somehow, I wished you and River out of my life, and I became a legitimate human. At the same time my friendship with Hazel was significantly more complicated, which was something I didn't expect. I would've thought my being a Time Lord would've complicated things more, but that wasn't the case at all this time, surprisingly. At least I was still able to retain all of my old memories of this life. That was what made our relationship so strained. Whenever I talked about my 'old life,' she always thought I was talking nonsense, and she got easily annoyed. Things got even more complicated when I discovered that there was another version of me running around the universe, causing chaos for the Silence; apparently, she—the other me—had been raised by the Silence her whole life, just like River would've been, but she was much more dangerous than River ever was back then. She actually succeeded to kill both of you, and I ended up having to kill her in return, again. It was horrible."

I originally thought that killing my 'fear' self in Victorian London was one of the most (if not the most) horrible things I've ever had to do, but no; this time was excruciatingly worse, mainly because of how real she seemed as well as everything else, and how scared I was that that had seemingly become my new life rewritten in stone. Thank God that wasn't the case; otherwise I don't know what I would've done.

"Don't worry, Nova," Dad says as he wraps his arm around me to comfort me. "You're safe now; you're awake now. None of that was real." It's also nice to hear him calling me 'Nova' again, just as it always should be.

"I know," I nod. "But back then, I wasn't even sure if I was ever going to come back—to this world, I mean. Back to my old life. You have no idea how relieved I am to be back."

"No, I do know," he shakes his head. "I can see it in your eyes and sense it through our psychic link. You went through a lot of pain in so little time. You didn't deserve any of it. I'm so sorry I wasn't here to stop all of this sooner. I shouldn't have left you to go off by yourself."

"It's fine, Dad; really," I shake my head back at him. "At least I'm back in the real world now, so none of it matters anymore. I can put it all behind me." I suddenly feel a wave of drowsiness hit me, and I feel myself falling backwards into him involuntarily.

"Nova?" he exclaims as he wraps his arms around me again. "Are you alright? You're looking very pale." He caresses my cheek in concern as he says this.

"I'm fine," I say as I shake my head again, shaking away the drowsiness. "I'm just tired." I then ask curiously to distract me from the feeling, "What about you? Did the creep try to steal any of your years?" Surely from seeing the Doctor, the man must've realized how many more years he had than me, and he decided to try to steal all of his years in addition to mine, at least before Dad stopped him and he was caught by the police.

Dad nods and shrugs. "Yes, but of course I stopped him before he could. Once I did, I called these 'Big Chief Rhino Boys' over here." He gestures to a small group of (I kid you not) literal rhinoceroses dressed in strange black police uniforms and seemingly tending to the other 'patients' the man had kidnapped.

One of the rhinoceroses enters the small room we're in and announces to us in a deep voice that seemed low and loud enough to cause a small earthquake, "Jakah Sutek has been arrested. The others are safe. They will be taken to the nearest medical facility for examination."

"Thank you," Dad nods his approval. "That's good to hear."

I can't help but mutter to him under my breath as I stare in disbelief at the bipedal rhino, "Um, am I still dreaming, or is that really a talking rhinoceros standing on two feet in a police uniform?" I pinch my arm to make sure I'm still awake and wince in pain. Nope, I'm awake, I sigh to myself dismally, which means that the human-rhino-person-whatever is real. Great. Another odd thing to add to my long list of oddities in my freakishly odd life.

"Technically he's not a rhinoceros," Dad explains. "He's a Judoon. They're a police force that work for the Shadow Proclamation. Last I saw them, they helped me rescue your grandmother at Demons Run. And before that, they helped me locate the Earth that was stolen by the Daleks for a nefarious experiment that I managed to stop with various former friends and companions of mine. And before that, I met them in a hospital that was transported to Earth's Moon when they were hunting for a Plasmavore, a bloodsucking alien that was on the run from them and posing as a human patient at the hospital. Although, the Judoon had tried to kill me back then, but we're friends now."

"Okay…" I raise an eyebrow at him. "Definitely the weirdest thing I've seen so far." A rhinoceros walking and talking like a human is not something one sees every day, certainly not on Earth.

"You will stand," the thing that Dad dubbed a 'Judoon' orders to me as he raises what looks like a weapon. "You are required to be scanned and evaluated."

"I'm sorry; that wasn't meant to be offensive," I defend my earlier remark. "I've just never seen a talking rhinoceros before."

"He's not talking about your comment. He wants to scan you to make sure you're alright," Dad clarifies.

"Oh," I nod as I glance at Dad timidly, not sure if letting 'Big Chief Rhino Boy' scan me is a good idea. Normally, I was always taught to avoid being scanned at all costs, not knowing what sorts of dangers, aside from the Silence, were out there that might want to take advantage of a Time Lord's body, especially a 'Deviant' one like mine.

"You will stand," the alien rhino demands of me again.

"It's alright, Nova. He's not going to hurt you," Dad assures me as he gestures for me to obey (he is a police officer, after all, no matter what his appearance, so the same rules that would generally be followed around normal human police officers still apply here). "He is very friendly, I assure you. Do what he says. I'll be right here. Go on."

I sigh and reluctantly approach the rhino-cop. "Uh… Hi, Mr. Judoon…rhino…person… thingy."

"You will be scanned," the alien says as he points a bright blue laser-pointer at my face, temporarily blinding me. The device makes an odd sound when used. I squint and look away slightly so as not to get too blinded, even though I'm already seeing blurry dots in my vision. However, by the end, strangely, the blue light swiftly changes to a red one seemingly without warning. Or perhaps it is a warning that something is very wrong, specifically with me. "Scan complete," the Judoon says as he puts away his scanner. "You have been registered as Nova Susan Song, child of the Doctor and River Song."

"Um…good," I say with an uneasy smile. "Does that mean I'm free to go then?" Perhaps that red light was simply an indication of a successful scan. Possibly…

Also, thank God I am, indeed, back in the real world, as I always should be.

"Not likely," the alien rhino replies. "Records show you are wanted for the murder of King Astorvox of Margonia."

"WHAT?" Dad and I both exclaim in unison.

I am wanted for murder?! What the actual hell?! And how?! I've been in a flippin' coma for crying out loud! I haven't gone anywhere! How the hell could I have gone anywhere? While in a freakin' coma?

In that moment, a couple of other Judoon enter the room with the first, and they all point legit guns at me.

"Whoa, whoa!" I exclaim in utter disbelief as I automatically put my hands up, hoping they won't automatically shoot me.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Dad exclaims, just as outraged as me, maybe even more so, as he steps between me and the rhinos.

"What the hell?!" I protest out loud this time. "I didn't do anything! How could I ha—"

"Silence!" the first Judoon snaps at us, clearly not caring one bit as he raises his gun higher, as do the other Judoon, like they will legitimately shoot me dead if I try to escape or will shoot my father if he tries to stop them. "Nova Susan Song, you are under arrest for the murder of King Astorvox of Margonia! Any attempt to escape or intervene will result in immediate execution!"

I have no other choice than to remain silent. Not that that's a huge problem, because I am already rendered speechless anyway. This can't possibly be happening, and yet it is, which bears two questions that I am completely unable to find the answers to at this very moment:

Why? And How?

A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and episode. I took partial inspiration from the Doctor Who episode "Turn Left" but I took most inspiration from an episode of the Dreamworks animated series "Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia" called "Unbecoming." Trollhunters is a really good series. I would recommend watching it if you have Netflix. The "Unbecoming" episode is in Series 2, I believe, but I would recommend watching the entire series from the beginning to understand the episode.

Also, from the end of the chapter, it will immediately go into my next episode, which I have a lot of good ideas for. I will go ahead and give away one spoiler: Nova will meet Captain Jack Harkness next, so be prepared for that. It's going to be a hilarious meeting :)

Please let me know in the comments what you liked about Part 2 so far. I don't get enough comments on my stories.

As always, friendly reminder that kudos, comments, and favs are appreciated and will keep me motivated to post more often. I see that many of you are reading my works but not subscribing, favoriting, or commenting on them. I always encourage feedback from my readers and enjoy reading about my readers' favorite moments. I'm sure everyone has at least one favorite moment. Please, please, please share them! I would love to talk about them.

Also, friendly reminder that I tend to have a major habit of rewriting things, so be sure to check back every once in a while (maybe even reread the previous chapter or chapters) to keep up to date on any changes I may make or add.