The Doctor popped his head down over the banister of the stairwell of the 80s themed hotel they had found themselves in.
Contrary to the excitement of the Doctor, the Ponds were less than amused, even Thea looked put off by where they'd ended up.
"'Let's go to Ravan-Skala,' he says." Amy muttered as she and Rory made their way to the Doctors level, "The people are 600 feet tall. You have to talk to them in hot air balloons and the Tourist Information Centre is made of one of their hats,' he says. I'm sorry, but I don't see any huge hats."
"What if were inside one of the hats?" Thea gasped.
"Amy, Beaky," the Doctor looked at them, "this could be the most exciting thing I have ever seen."
"You're kidding." Rory deadpanned.
"How can you be excited about a rubbish hotel on a rubbish bit of Earth?" Amy asked.
"Because, assembled Ponds," the Doctor grinned, "this is not Earth. This has just been made to look like Earth. The craftsmanship involved. Can you imagine?"
"What?" Amy shook her head, "Then where are we?" She turned to Thea for an answer knowing the girl would have a better chance of knowing.
"No idea." She sighed, "something pulled us off course."
"Look at the detail on that cheese plant!" The Doctor walked over and sniffed it.
"Right, but who would mock up an Earth hotel?" Rory wondered.
The Doctor picked up an apple sitting in a fruit bowl on the table besides the plant, "Colonists maybe, recreating a bit of home, like when ex-pats open English pubs in Majorca." He took a bite, "No, whoever did this, I am shaking his/ her hand/ tentacle."
Thea wandered off down to where they had landed the TARDIS nearby, seeing a small collection of photos on the wall.
"So what about these?" Rory called, seeing Thea frowning at the photos. He took that to mean they must be rather important, far more interesting that the cheese plant the Doctor was caught on, "Look at the labels underneath. Commander Halke, defeat." He read the label under the photo of a Sontaran, before going onto the two humans next to it, "Tim Heath, having his photo taken. Lady Silver-Tear, Daleks."
"Interesting." Thea mused.
"Paige Barnes, other people's socks." Amy continued, "Tim Nelson, balloons. Novice Prin, sabrewolves. Royston Luke Gold, Plymouth? Lucy Hayward, that brutal gorilla. What does it mean?"
The Doctor frowned at them, it almost sounded like they were listing peoples fears, and Thea was eying them rather intently which he could only assume they would be important later even if she didn't know it yet.
He was starting to notice more when she noticed things. She would occasional stare off at something that seemed rather random but then it would end up being incredibly useful later on. It was similar to how she said things without meaning to.
"I don't know." He shrugged, "Let's find out."
They made their way down to the hotel reception, the rest of the hotel look identical to the parts they had seen, same halls, same plants, same ugly carpet that made Thea want to rip it up, even the same pictures, just not the same people or aliens. All different, with different fears, because they had to be fears, as odd as some of them were. They had to be peoples worst fears, it just didn't make sense why they were announced on the wall like that, nor why the hotel was so quiet if all these people had been here. Where were they now?
As the Doctor rang the bell at recption three people came running over, a humaniod looking alien, looking like a mole rat, waving a white flag, a specticled young man with curly hair and an Indian woman in blue scrubs, holding a chair leg like a weapon.
"Blimey, that was quick." The Doctor remarked.
"We surrender!" The mole rat alien, cried.
"No, it's okay," Rory held his hands up, trying to reassure them, "we're not...were nice."
"She's threatening me with a chair leg." The Doctor accused at the woman banishing the chair leg at him.
"Who are you?" The Indian woman demanded.
"Oh god, we're back in reception." The specticled man gasped.
"We surrender!" The alien repeated.
"I've never been threatened with a chair leg before." The Doctor muttered.
"You're nearly 1000 years old and not once have you been threatened with a chair leg?" Thea looked at him, surprised at that. Even she had been threatened with one, used one plenty of times, usually with the rest of the chair attached.
The Doctor considered that, "No, hang on, I tell a lie."
"So you have been threatened with a chair leg?"
"I think so." He frowned, trying to recall. He was certain once in his life someone must have done.
Amy turned to her husband, caught on his words to defend themselves, "Did you just say, it's ok, we're nice?"
Thea looked over at her, "that's what you're caught on?"
"Ok, I need everyone to shut up, now." The Indian woman shouted.
"Rita, be careful, yeah?" The spectacled man called as the young woman approached the group.
"Their pupils are dilated." Rita noted as she assessed them, "They're as surprised as we are. Besides which, if it's a trick, it'll tell us something."
"Oh, you're good." The Doctor smiled, "Oh, she's good. Amy, with regret, you're fired."
"What?" Amy blinked.
"He's kidding." Thea told her.
The Doctor looked at Rita, mimicking holding a phone, whispering, "We'll talk." before glancing at the mole man, "I take it from the pathological compulsion to surrender, you're from Tivoli."
"Yes. The most invaded planet in the galaxy." The Tivolian nodded, "Our anthem is called Glory To Insert Name Here."
"You with the face." The Doctor pointed at the boy.
"Howie," Thea whispered to him, the boy seeming surprised she knew that.
"Howie," The Doctor noted, "you said you were surprised to be back in reception."
"The walls move." Howie replied, "Everything changes."
"You, clever one." The Doctor pointed at Rita.
"Rita." Thea reminded him, "Howie," she pointed at the human boy, and then at the Trivolian, "Gibbis."
"I'm Amy." Amy introduced pointed to them in turn. They knew there names thanks to Thea it was only fair they got to know their names as well, "my husband Rory. The Doctor and the annoying little one is Thea."
"Hello." She grinned, swinging her legs over the desk, "and if you think I'm annoying daily you should see me when I'm actually trying to be."
"Please don't." The Doctor nearly begged before continuing on with what he had been trying to say before the introductions, "Rita, what's he talking about?"
"The corridors twist and stretch." Rita explained, "Rooms vanish and pop up somewhere else. It's like the hotel's alive."
"Oooh spooky." Thea commented, "oh its like Hogwarts, always wanted to go to Hogwarts."
The Doctor reached over to turn of the soft music playing over the speakers, "that's quite enough if that."
"Yeah, and it's huge, with, like, no way out." Howie remarked.
"Have you tried the front door?" Rory asked gesturing to the doors behind them.
"No. In two days it never occurred to us to try the front door." Rita replied sarcastically, "Thank God you're here."
The Doctor chuckled at her words moving to the doors and opening them to reveal a brick wall, "They're not doors, they're walls. Walls that look like doors. Door-walls, if you like, or dwalls. Woors even, though you'd probably got it when you said they're not doors. I mean, the windows are..." he pulled back the curtains to reveal more wall, "Right, big day if you're a fan of walls." he turned to Thea, "can you sense an exit?"
"Its like..." She furrowed her brow trying to place the feeling into words, "there is a way out but...not to everyone?"
Something had purposely pulled them here, it made sense whatever that was didn't want them leaving and so would hide the exit preventing Thea from leading them to one.
"It's not just that." Rita spoke again, "The rooms have things in them."
"Things?" The Doctor perked up at that, "Hello! What kind of things? Interesting things? I love things, ask anyone."
"Bad dreams." Rita stated.
The Doctors grin faltered, "Well, that killed the mood. How did you get here?"
"I don't know. I'd just started my shift. I must have passed out, because suddenly I was here."
"I was blogging." Howie shook his head, "Next thing, this."
"Oh, I was at work." Gibbis told them, "I'm in Town Planning. We're lining all the highways with trees so invading forces can march in the shade. Which is nice for them."
"So, what have we got. People snatched from their lives and dropped into an endless, shifting maze that looks like a 1980s hotel with bad dreams in the bedrooms." He pulled out a rubiks cube from his pocket, "Well, apart from anything else, that's just rude."
"And you'd know all about being rude." Thea smirked at him, jumping down from the counter.
"Yeah, well," he chuckled, "if I think somethings rude then it must be rude."
~.~
"We'll pop back to the TARDIS," the Doctor was saying as he led the way back to wear they'd parked the TARDIS on the first floor, "I'll do a planet-wide diagnostic sweep, and then we'll have a sing song."
"Oh, I love a good sing song." Thea gushed, "I always visit Luke in Oxford on Karaoke nights."
The boy learnt the hard way to find out just how much Thea loved karaoke, she really did go for it, belting out the song, sometimes even doing the choreography to the dance along with singing.
Oh, she loved seeing Luke at karaoke night at Oxford, she just loved seeing him making his own way in his life as well, seeing him making new friends at university. It was so good to see and even better when he introduced her to his other friends. He always called her his big sister in front of them. Always reminded her she was there first and would always be his number one girl.
"Cant wait for the next one if we ever find the TARDIS and leave this place." Thea continued as they reached the place they'd parked.
"What?" The Doctor glanced at her only to huff seeing the TARDIS wasn't where they had left the old box. He quickly checked to make sure she hadn't just turned herself in invisible but no, the old girl was gone.
"Huh. I'm sure I put the breaks on."
"Where's the TARDIS?" Amy asked, "You parked it there, didn't you?"
"What's a TARDIS?" Howie shook his head.
"Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." Thea answered as Howie just gave her a look. That didn't really answer his question.
"Our way out." Rory rubbed his hands over his face in exasperation, "And it's gone."
Thea looked up as the music started up again, "if that's going to keep starting I'd appreciate better music." She called to nobody, "give us a bit of ABBA, no one hates ABBA."
"Ok, this is bad." The Doctor frowned hearing the music starting again despite none of them bear the controls, "At the moment, I don't know how bad, but certainly we're three buses, a long walk and eight quid in a taxi from good."
"Is it just you three?" Thea asked Rita, "or is there more of you?"
"Joe." She replied, "But he's tied up right now."
"Doing what?" the Doctor asked.
"No, I mean he's tied up right now."
"Rope, cuffs or duct tape?" Thea questioned, not at all perturbed they'd done such a things. Finding themselves in a place like this and even walking around with the Trivolian, for Joe to be tied up, something must have made them want to tie him up. "personally I like handcuffs."
~.~
The group entering the dining room, finding the room rather easily despite the claims that the hallways shifted, apparently the main room stayed the same on the ground floor, it was the guest rooms and floors that changed.
Joe, a rather well dressed man sat in the middle of the room, tied to a chair at a table surrounded by ventriloquist dummies, more dummies sat at the other tables, all laughing and bobbing their heads as Joe laughed along with them, almost dazed. The dummies fell silent, all turning their necks to look at them.
"Hello." The Doctor stepped over, silently signally for Thea to keep back with Amy and Rory, "I'm the Doctor."
"We're going to die here." Joe interrupted.
"Well, they certainly didn't mention that in the brochure. Is Joe there? Can I have a quick word?" He grabbed an empty chair and sat opposite the man.
"Oh, it's still me, Doctor, but I've seen the light. I lived a blasphemous life, but he has forgiven my inconstancy, and soon he shall feast."
"Love a good feast." Thea cut in, "unless I'm on the menu," she tilted her head at Joe, "which I'm assuming we are."
The Doctor waved a hand to her and she rolled her eyes and slapped her lips shut again, "Well, you've been here two days." The Doctor continued to Joe, "What's he waiting for?"
"We weren't ready. We were still raw."
"But now you're what, cooked?"
"If you like. Soon you will be, too. Be patient. First, find your room."
"Our rooms?" Thea eyed Joe as she silently moved to stand besides the Doctor. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the horseshoe tie clip and dice cufflinks the man wore.
"There's a room here for everyone." Joe continued, "Even you two."
"A room with my worst fear inside," Thea mused, "don't partially want to go looking for that."
"You said you'd seen the light now." the Doctor recalled the man's words.
"Nothing else matters anymore." Joe laughed, "Only him. It's like these things." He nodded to the dummies, "I used to hate them. They make me laugh now. Gottle o' geer. Gottle o' geer." The dummies joined in with his laughter. "You should go. He'll be here soon."
The Doctor stood, sliding a luggage trolley under Joe's chair, "I think you should come with us."~.~
The music was still playing as they gathered back in reception. The Doctor, Amy, Rory, Thea and Rita standing on the guest side of the counter with Gibbis and Howie on the other side with Joe.
"Why you four?" The Doctor wondered aloud, "That's what I don't understand. Aside from all the other things I don't understand." he reached over to turn the music off once more.
"What does it matter?" Gibbis sighed, "Sooner or later, someone will come along and rescue us or enslave us."
The Doctor shook his head at him, "First, we find the TARDIS. Quick thing before we go. If you feel drawn to a particular room, do not go in, and make sure someone else can see you at all times."
"Joe said, he will feast." Rita said quietly, "Is there something here with us?"
Joe laughed and the Doctor turned to him, "Something to add, Joe?"
"Here comes a candle to light you to bed." he recited, "Here comes a chopper to chop off your head. Chop, chop, chop, chop."
"Can we do something about him?" Howie mumbled.
~.~
The Doctor was leading the way down the halls with Thea, the rest of them following as Gibbis pushed Joe still tied up, with his mouth now shut with some duct tape, the Trivolian commenting to Joe that they should just surrender, while Howie had a conspiracy that they were in Norway. Thea was hardly listening as she tried to get a sense of the changing halls, while they had been walking she was certain they'd changed twice now, but she couldnt figure out the pattern.
They stopped when the door to room 158 opened and a PE teacher stepped out.
"Hello." The Doctor blinked at his appearance.
"Have you forgotten your PE kit again?" The man eyed the Doctor, "Right, that's it, you're doing it in your pants!"
"Fine by me." Thea shrugged turning away as the man headed back inside only to see Howie reaching for a door, "Howie! No!" She reached out to stop him but was too late.
Inside were a group of beautiful girls, "Oh, look, girls, it's H-H-H-Howie!" one girl laughed, forcing a stutter as she looked over.
"What's loser in K-K-K-Klingon?" another mocked.
"Shut the d-d-d-door." Howie stammered, as the Doctor quickly did so, "This is just some m-m-messed up CIA stuff, I'm, I'm, I'm telling you."
"You're right." the Doctor patted his back, "Keep telling yourself that. It's a CIA thing, nothing more."
They walked off, the Doctor and Thea behind the group now to keep Howie in sight.
Howie glanced behind him and the Doctor copied but saw nothing there.
"You know, I speak Klingon too." Thea remarked to Howie.
Howie looked at her in surprise, "you do?"
She nodded, "Hija."
Howie smiled at bit at that, glad to find a girl who didn't think knowing Kingon was weird and knew it herself, happily talking to her about Star Trek as they moved on.
~.~
They headed up a stairway to another floor, the Doctor running his hand along the wallpaper, tapping the light sconces and feeling where the wallpaper had been peeled back.
Amy frowned, crouching down seeing a handful on notes on the ground, picking them up to hand them over when something growled.
"Ok," Amy began, "whatever that is, it's not real, yeah?"
"No. No, I'm sure it isn't," the Doctor agreed.
"It is." Thea said quietly.
"So let's run away and hide," he opened a random door, "In here."
He ushered Amy and Thea inside, shoving Howie and Gibbis after them as Rita pulled Joe into another room.
"Rory!" Thea called, seeing him standing in the hall, tying his shoelace.
"No, but..." he tried to argue.
"Rory, come on." The Doctor pulled Rory inside, shutting the doors behind them and turning to see a Weeping Angel in the middle of the room.
"Don't blink." Amy instructed.
"What?" Howie frowned.
The lights flickered and the Angels moved forwards.
"Is that it?" Thea eyed the Angels unimpressed, "couldn't try making them a bit more realistic."
"What?" The doctor pulled his gaze from the Angels to her.
"What makes you think they're not real?" Amy asked, keeping her gaze locked on the Angels.
"If they were real they would have got us by now." She said simply.
The Doctor frowned at that, that was true, Weeping Angels were faster than the blink of an eye, they should have gotten them by now. He cautiously reached out to one, only for his hands to go through it, "right as always, they're not real."
"Does that mean this hotel also isn't real?" Thea tilted her head in wonder.
"I don't even think they're for us." Rory commented as Gibbis screamed and locked himself in the wardrobe, more scared than Amy.
"Shh." Thea whispered as they fell silent, "listen..."
They listening closely hearing a faint growl in the distance.
"What is that?" Rory shook his head.
The Doctor turned and headed for the door, "Doctor, what are you doing?" Amy hissed.
"I'm sorry, I just have to see what it is." He replied, looking through the peephole as a shadow passed, "I just have to see. Oh, look at you. Oh, you are beautiful." he jumped back as a minotaur like beast turned towards them, "Oh, dear."
"What is it?" Thea wondered.
"I think it's going after Joe." Thea nodded, grabbing the door handle to go out after it when the Doctor reached out and blocked the exit, "what do you think you're doing?" He demanded.
"Come to me!" The heard Joe call from the hallway.
"I can help." She turned to the Doctor.
"Absolutely not."
"But I can help." she insisted, "I can find him and help before..." she swallowed not wanting to say what she thought might happen to Joe if she was too late. She sighed, "the longer you keep arguing the less chance he has." she ducked under his arms and out the room, running down the hallway after Joe, ignoring the Doctors shouts as he chased after her.
~.~
Thea sighed as she walked down another hallway, having momentary paused at a four way intersection, it was like the hotel's was purposely trying to prevent her from finding Joe, but she had, she had followed her senses down the right hallway and found one of his cuffs links in the carpet before finding the man himself propped against the walls on his knees.
She knelt before him, checking for a pulse despite knowing he was gone before looking over seeing a room at the end of the hall, and instantly felt drawn to it, hearing 'praise him' echoing in her mind as she walked over to it, her hand reaching for the handle...
When the Doctor moved in front of the door.
Thea gasped, taking a step back in surprise from his appearance.
"Don't open that door." he warned her, "don't leave my sight."
Thea could only nod as the Doctor put his around around her shoulder, leading her away from her room.
~.~
Thea watched from a bar stool as the Doctor scanned Joe's body with the sonic before rubbing his head in frustration. She sighed, standing up and moving to his side.
"Even silent they're still creepy." She remarked, eying the dummies they'd moved behind Joe's body.
"Do you know what's in your room?" He asked her quietly.
"No," she replied just as quietly. He raised his eyebrows at her, she sighed, "I don't expect to see a clown or a Dalek." She shook her head, rubbing her arms as she turned away hearing Rita announcing she had made tea.
The woman was rather calm about all this, so was Howie now and she knew they had seen their rooms, even Gibbis had seen his. She knew Rita had to have been in her room, why else would she have pulled Joe into another room and not hide with them if not for the fact she had been drawn to that room?
The Doctor watched as Thea looked over at the others, Howie and Rory have finished barricading the doors with the tables, Rory now speaking to Amy who had just finished a conversation with Gibbis as he sat at a table agaisnt the wall, when Rita walked over with the tea.
"What exactly happened to him?" Rita asked, setting the tray down, looking down at Joe's sheet covered body.
"He died." Thea stated.
Rita eyed the Doctor closely, "You are a medical doctor, aren't you? You haven't just got a degree in cheese-making or something."
"No!" The Doctor laughed before thinking about it, "Well, yes, both, actually. I mean, there is no cause. All his vital organs simply stopped, as if the simple spark of life, his loves and hates, his faiths and fears were just..." he trailed hearing small clattering as Thea helped herself to some tea, stirring in her sugar, "taken."
"Tea is good." Thea shrugged off their looks taking a sip.
"I'm British," Rita smiled, "tea is how we cope with trauma. That and tutting."
"But how did you make it?" The Doctor frowned, taking a cup himself.
"All hotels should have a well stocked kitchen, even alien fake ones. I heard you talking when you arrived. Look, it's no more ridiculous than Howie's CIA theory, or mine."
"Which is?" the Doctor pressed.
"This is Jahannam."
"Are you practicing or raised but lost faith?" Thea asked her.
"Practising." Rita answered.
"And you think this is Hell." the Doctor nodded.
"The whole '80s hotel thing took me by surprise, though."
"And all these fears and phobias wandering about, most are completely unconnected to us, so why are they still here?"
"Maybe the cleaners have gone on strike." Rita tried to joke.
"Ha! I like you. You're a right clever clogs. But this isn't Hell, Rita."
"You don't understand." Rita said calmly, "I say that without fear. Jahannam will play its tricks, and there'll be times when I want to run and scream, but I've tried to live a good life, and that knowledge keeps me sane, despite the monsters and the bonkers rooms. Gibbis...is an alien, isn't he?"
Thea took another sip of her tea, "so are we."
Rita laughed but sobered seeing the pair weren't joining in with what she assumed to be a joke, "Ok." Rita took a breath, "I'm going to file that under Freak Out About Later."
"Doctor, look at this." Amy called, heading over with some paper in hand, "I found it in a corridor, I completely forgot I had it."
The Doctor took the note, reading it aloud, "Er, my name is Lucy Hayward and I'm the last one left. It took Luke first. It got him on his first day, almost as soon as we arrived. It's funny. You don't know what's going to be in your room until you see it, then you realise it could never have been anything else. I just saw mine. It was a gorilla from a book I'd read as a kid. My God, that thing used to terrify me. The gaps between my worships are getting shorter, like contractions. This is what happened to the others, and how lucky they were. It's all so clear now. I'm so happy."
"Praise him." Both the Doctor and Howie finished.
"What did you just say?" Thea turned to Howie sharply.
"Nothing." Howies eyes widened as he realised what he said, "praise him!" And quickly covered his mouth.
"This is what happened to Joe!" Gibbis exclaimed.
And just like that the room turned to chaos, as everyone talked over each other, Howie panicking about being the next one to die.
"Scared humans." Thea murmured, "never a good sign."
"No," the Doctor agreed, "you're good at getting the gang to quiet down, anything for this lot?"
She broke into a wide smile, "sonic please." and held it high above her head as he handed it over, letting of a loud screeching whir, causing them to cover their ears.
"Thank you, kiddo. Now give it back." The Doctor held his hand out as Thea pouted and handed the sonic back over to him.
"But don't you see?" Gibbis cried, "He'll lead it right here."
"What do you suggest?" Rita huffed.
"Look, whatever it is out there, it's obviously chosen Howard as its next course. Now, tragic though that is, this is no time for sentiment. I'm saying if it were to find him, it may be satisfied and let the rest of us go. All I want to do is go home and be conquered and oppressed. Is that too much to ask?!"
"It's okay." Rita cut in, trying to keep the peace, "I'll stay with Howie. You take the others and go."
"No. We stay together." The Doctor cut in before making his way over to Gibbis, "Your civilisation is one of the oldest in the galaxy. Now I see why. Your cowardice isn't quaint, it's sly, aggressive. It's how that gene of gutlessness has survived while so many others have perished. Well, not today. No one else dies today."
"The stars a not in position for that today!" Thea announced.
The Doctor could only shake his head as he moved to Howies side, putting a comforting arm around him, leading him to a table, "Howie, any second, it's going to possess you again. When it does, I'm going to ask you some questions. Please try to answer them."
Howie nodded slowly as he sat down, "I hope my mum's all right, she's going to be w...worried." He muttered before he stared to smile, dazed.
"Howie?" The Doctor called seeing the boy was now possessed, "Howie. Howie, you're next. We're all dead jealous. So, tell us. How do we get a piece of the action? Why isn't he possessing all of us?"
"You guys have got all these distractions, all these obstacles." He tapped his head, "It'd be so much easier if you just let it go, you know? Clear the path."
"You want it to find you even though you know what it's going to do?" Amy frowned.
"Are you kidding?" Howie laughed, "He's going to kill us all. How cool is that?"
"Sounds amazing." Thea deadpanned as the Doctor pulled her aside, gesturing the others to follow.
"It's as I thought." The Doctor began, "It feeds on fear. Everything, the rooms, Lucy's note, even the pictures in reception, has been put here to frighten us. So we have to resist it. Do whatever you have to. Cross your fingers, say a prayer, think of a basket of kittens, but do not give in to the fear."
"Ok, but what are we actually going to do?" Amy shook her head.
"We're going to catch ourselves a monster."
~.~
"Bring me death!" Howie shouted over the speakers they'd set up in the beauty parlour, the boy himself safe back in reception, "Bring me glory!"
The Doctor looked around the room, at the mirrors he had positioned allowed him to see the whole room from one position, glancing over to Thea as she hid behind a water feature.
He didn't really want her in the room where they were trapping the Minotaur but at the same time he wanted to be able to see her in his sight, see for himself she was safe.
"My master, my lord, I'm here! Come to me. I'm waiting here for you. He has promised me a glorious death. Give it to me now. I want him to know my devotion..."
Thea looked up hearing something scraping on the low beams, knowing the Minotaur was close.
"Praise him."
The door opened and the Minotaur entered the room. A second later the door slammed shut with Amy and Rita jamming the door shut, shouting to Rory, "Rory, he's in!" As the Doctor turned of the lights in the room, as Rory locked the other doors keeping the Minotaur in the room.
"Let his name be the last thing I hear. Let his breath on my skin be the last thing I feel. I was lost in shadows, but he found me."
The Minotaur made its way across the room, looking for Howie only to find the speaker on a chair. It growled, turning, catching itself in the mirror.
"His love was a beacon that led me from darkness to light, and now I am blinded by his majesty. Humbled by his glory! Praise..."
"That's quite enough of that." The Doctor muttered, reaching over to disconnect the speakers.
"...him." Howie finished at the connection cut off.
"Nothing personal." The Doctor called to the Minotaur, watching it carefully through the mirrors, "I just think we should take things slowly. Get to know each other. You take people's most primal fears and pop it in a room. A tailor-made hell, just for them. Why?"
The Minotaur growled in response.
"Did you say they take? Ah, what is that word? The guard? No, the warden?"
"So this is a prison?" Thea frowned, "for us or for you?"
"So what are we?" The Doctor questioned, "cell mates? Lunch? We are not ripe. This is what Joe said, that we weren't ready. So, what, what, you make us ready. You what? Replace? Replace what, fear?"
"You have lived so long even your name is lost." Thea murmured, slowly stepping out from behind the water feature, "I'm so sorry." She whispered, "you want it to stop."
"Because you are just instinct." The Doctor frowned at the Minotaur growls, "Then tell us. Tell us how to fight you."
"Howie!" Thea gasped suddenly.
Barely a second later they heard Howie shouting, "My master, my lord. I'm here! Oh, bring me death."
"No, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor yelled as the Minotaur swung at the water feature, forcing them back as he pulled Thea behind him to shelter her from the glass.
"Rory, look out!" Thea shouted in warning as the Minotaur ran to the door he was guarding.
The door behind them burst open and Amy and Rita ran in, hearing the commotion, "stay back!" The Doctor ordered as the Minotaur charged out the other doors. "Pond, bring the fish."
"What, the fish?" Amy frowned as the Doctor ran out after the Minotaur, seeing a small fish bowl, "Oh, the fish."
The Doctor knelt besides Rory where the Minotaur knocked him down, "Where'd he go?"
"Somebody hit me." Rory groaned, "Was it Amy?"
The Doctor chuckled before running after the Minotaur as Thea knelt besides him, "don't rub you're head," She lowered her arm as he moved to do just that, "you'll go bald."
~.~
The Doctor ran down the corridors, trying to follow the Minotaur, running down a staircase and down another corridor, slowing when he caught sight of Howies glasses on the floor.
~.~
Thea swallowed, knowing the Doctor had found Howie. The Minotaur had found him first as she helped Rory to his feet.
"Rory, are you all right?" Rita asked him.
"We should find the Doctor." Amy started to trail off as she caught sight of Room 7, slowly stepping over to it, reaching out for the knob. She peeked inside for only a moment before the door slammed shut and Thea stood before her, arms crossed, glaring.
"I'm not allowed to look inside my room, you're not allowed to look inside." Thea told her firmly.
Amy shook her head, "sorry, I..." she blinked, "you've seen your room?"
"I've seen the door." Thea admitted, "what was in there?"
"Nothing. Nothing. I don't know. It was weird."
Thea eyed her a moment before taking her arm and tugging her off to find the Doctor.
~.~
The Doctor sighed, finding Howie kneeling, like Joe, against the wall. He set the boys glasses on his face, looking up as Thea, Amy, Rory and Rita approached. He followed Theas gaze seeing it wasn't on Howie but behind him, he turned, seeing Gibbis appear around the corner.
"He got free." Gibbis lied, that was obvious. They had left Gibbis alone with the tied up Howie. Gibbis had been the one who wanted to give the Minotaur the possessed. "He overpowered me. It might leave us alone now. Maybe now we'll be safe." The Doctor stood up and walked over to the others, putting an arm around Thea, seeing her glaring at Gibbis, "Wait!"
~.~
The Doctor stood with Thea looking at Howies photo that had now been added to the wall.
"Have you found your room yet?" the Doctor asked Rory as he joined them.
"No. No." He shook his head, "Is that good or bad?"
"Depends what's in it." Thea murmured.
Oh, there was a lot of things that she feared, some more ridiculous that others. Daleks were a big fear of hers. She never said it allowed but even Bane scared her, she was terrified of history repeating or them trying to kidnap Luke again. Anyone harming her friends.
She didn't think she'd find a Dalek in her room though, more her deepest fear would be like Lukes, afraid of her friends moving on and abandoning her.
That sounded more likely.
Or perhaps it was far, far worst, like her past coming back to haunt her.
"Maybe you're not scared of anything." The Doctor suggested.
"Well, after all the time I spent with you in the TARDIS, what was left to be scared of?"
"Everything and anything." Thea sighed.
Oh she knew how typical blokes were, never admitting they were scared. Rory, he had lost his child on Demons Run and said child grew up to be a psychopath, of course River was free from the Silence programming on her, but that was a crippling fear of any parent, even if Rory didn't admit it aloud she knew deep down he was afraid of having another child and history repeating itself, or even just the fear of failing another child.
Sometimes you didn't even know your worst fear until it was staring you in the face.
The Doctor frowned at Rory at his words, "You said that in the past tense."
"No, I didn't." Rory looked at the photos, "You know, Howie had been in speech therapy. He'd just got over this massive stammer. What an achievement. I mean, can you imagine? I'd forgotten not all victories are about saving the universe."
"Sometimes the most amazing victories come from the smallest things." Thea sighed, resting the palm of her hand against Rorys cheek, "never loose that humanity." She kissed his cheek before heading down the corridor.
Rory blinked watching her walk off, glancing at the doors, not sure if he should be worry that it might be a warning or just a compliment. He shook his head as the Doctor quickly walked off after the girl.
The Doctor quickly caught up with Thea as she walked, trying to get a better sense of the hotel. Not that it was working much, but at least they hadn't found their rooms. Again, in Theas case.
It did worry the Doctor quite a bit knowing that she had a room here and knew which one it was and had been very close to looking inside. He didn't want her to leave his side right now and risk her looking in her room and the Minotaur only being round the corner.
"Rita!" The Doctor greeted the woman, "Brilliant! How are you? Not panicking, are you? Good, good. Because I am literally an otter's toenail away from getting us out of here."
"Why?" Rita asked, smiling.
"Excellent question." the Doctor nodded, walking past her, "Excellent question."
Thea, however, frowned at Rita, "Why what?"
"Why is it up to you to save us?" Rita elaborated, "that's quite a God complex you have there."
The Doctor sighed, looking over to see Amy setting the fish bowl on a table, "I brought them here. They'd say it was their choice, but offer a child a suitcase full of sweets and they'll take it. Offer someone all of time and space and they'll take that, too. Which is why you shouldn't."
"Which is why grown-ups were invented." Thea added, "like Sarah Jane."
"All of time and space, eh?" Rita called as they headed off again.
"Oh, yeah." the Doctor looked back at her, "And when we get out of this, I'll show you too."
"I don't know what you're talking about, but whatever it was, I have a feeling you just did it again."
"And don't you just love it." Thea laughed, skipping down to the next level when she caught sight of something in the corner of her eye, "Ooh, that is interesting."
"What is?" the Doctor looked at her, following her gaze to the camera in the corner on the ceiling, "got you, Mr Minotaur." He grinned as Thea grabbed his hand and pulled him off.
~.~
Thea huffed as she rounded a corner only to realise the Doctor was no longer following and quickly back tracked to see him slowly approaching a door marked '11'. She rolled her eyes at his hypocrisy, all day he had been telling them to not look inside their room while here he was about to do just that.
The Doctor reached out for the door knob not even getting the chance to turn it as Thea stepped in front of him, arms crossed, looking very unimpressed as she knocked his arm back.
"If you look in there I get to look in mine." She said.
"No." He shook his head.
She rolled her eyes, "we both know what's in there. You don't need to risk taking a look and having Milo coming after you."
The Doctor blinked, frowning, "Milo?"
"He doesn't remember his name." She defended, "so I thought I'd give him a new one."
The Doctor closed his eyes, letting out a small chuckle before shaking his head and placing a 'do not disturb' sign over the door, "Come along, kiddo." He pulled her back down the corridor before she started to lead the way, pushing open a door to see monitors set up against a wall on a desk.
"Oh, you beauty." The Doctor smiled, "Come on, big fellow, where are you?" He paused, smile fading, spotting Rita on one of the, screens, "Rita, where are you going?" He muttered, picking up the phone and dialling for room 311 as the woman passed by, "Come on, come on, come on! Come on." Rita looked up at the camera, seeming to know they were watching her and went inside the room to answer the phone.
"Rita, where are you going?" The Doctor demanded the moment she picked up, "Can you take the phone into the corridor? Will it reach?"
Rita walked outside into the hallway with the phone.
"You started to praise it." Thea said, a statement more than a question.
"Yes." She admitted.
"Rita, come back, please." The Doctor pleaded, "We'll find a way to stop it, I swear to you."
Rita knelt on the floor with the phone, "No, I need to get as far away from you all as possible."
"No, no, no, you don't. The creature only wants whoever's praising it."
"And then you'll put yourself in its way."
"I'll go find her." Thea murmured, moving to the door, knowing she would have the best chance of sensing the moving hallways and actually find her.
The Doctor nodded, keeping his eyes on Rita, "just hold on. Thea will come and get you. Block out the fear and stay focused on your belief."
"The hotel will keep us apart." Rita argued, "I could be 50 miles away by now. How fast can she run?"
Thea paused, seeing the Minotaur on another screen, "or only round the corner." She countered despite knowing how unlikely that was.
Rita shook her head, "I want you to do me one last favour, Doctor. I can feel the rapture approaching, like a wave. I don't want you to witness this. I want you to remember me the way I was."
The door opened and Amy and Rory stepped inside, "what's going on?" Amy asked, seeing them watching the screen's, "Rita's disappeared." she noticed Rita on one of the screens, "What's she doing there?"
"Rita." The Doctor grew more frantic, "Rita, please. Let me find you."
"You stay where you are." Rita ordered, "Please, let me be robbed of my faith in private."
"Look, Rita. Rita. Go into the room. Lock the door."
Rita just smiled, "I'm not frightened. I'm blessed, Doctor. I'm at peace. I'm going to hang up.
"No. No, no, Rita."
"Goodbye, Doctor."
"Rita!"
"Thank you for trying."
"Rita, please! Please! Please."
They could only watch as Rita hung up the phone, her gaze on the Minotaur as she moved into the middle of the corridor, opening her arms wide as the Minotaur ran towards her...
When the Doctor quickly flashed the sonic on the screen, turning it off as Thea turned into Rorys chest to not have to look, the man putting a protective arm around her.
~.~
They sat in the dining room, having moved Rita's body to lay on the dais besides Joe and Howie.
Amy, Rory and Gibbis sat at some tables waiting awkwardly as they heard the Doctor shouting and smashing glass in another room, Thea sitting opposite them, waiting patiently for the Doctor to get his anger out, knowing sometimes it was far better to let the anger out and rage and throw things to release it all. It was far better than bottling all that anger up, but right now she wasn't angry, just upset.
"Ok." The Doctor took a breath as he moved to join them, sliding into a seat besides Thea who instantly rested her head on his shoulder, "It preys on people's fear and possesses them. But Rita wasn't afraid. She was brave and calm."
"Very calm." Thea agreed, "because she had her faith..." she trailed off, blinking, "Oh."
"Oh?" Rory frowned, "Oh, what?"
"It's not fear, it's faith!" The Doctors eyes widened as he realised it too, "not just religious faith, faith in something. Howard believed in conspiracies, that external forces controlled the world. Joe had dice cufflinks and a chain with a horseshoe. He was a gambler. Gamblers believe in luck, an intangible force that helps them win or lose. Gibbis has rejected any personal autonomy and is waiting for the next batch of invaders to oppress him and tell him what to do. They all believe there's something guiding them, about to save them."
"Like Amy believes dad will get us out of this." Thea nodded.
"Every time someone was confronted with their most primal fear, they fell back on their most fundamental faith. And all this time, I have been telling you to dig deep and find the thing that keeps you brave. I made you expose your faith and show them what they needed."
"But why us?" Rory shook his head, "Why are we here?"
"It doesn't want you." Thea stated, "it kept showing you a way out."
"You're not religious or superstitious, so there's no faith for you to fall back on. It wants her."
"It's like I just said," Thea rested her elbows on the table, resting her chin on the palms of her hands, "which not one of you picked up on. It wants Amy."
She was quite surprised she had actually picked up on that herself. It was really annoying at how often things slipped through and never knew until too later. Now wasn't the time to be smug, but she was proud of herself she had seen through that.
It had to be Amy, she hadn't opened her room, it wasn't in her head yet, but Amy. The girl had peeked inside her room.
"What?" Amy blinked, startled that they all had completed missed that, "me? Why?"
"Your faith in me." The Doctor sighed, "That's what brought us here."
"But why do they lose their faith before they die and start worshipping it?" Rory wondered.
"It needs to convert the faith into a form it can consume." The Doctor explained, "Faith is an energy, the specific emotional energy the creature needs to live. Which is why at the end of her note, Lucy said..."
"Praise him." Amy finished.
"Exactly." The Doctor nodded.
"It's weird how words easily go over everyone's heads." Thea mused before the others realised what Amy had just said.
Rory jumped to his feet in horror, "No. Oh, please, no."
They heard the Minotaur growling from elsewhere.
~.~
The group ran down the halls, as the changed around them, leading the Minotaur closer to them.
They ran past a cross road when Amy suddenly stopped, staring at the Minotaur at the end of another corridor.
"Amy?" Rory shouted at her.
"What are you doing?" Gibbis demanded.
Amy just stared at the Minotaur, "He is beautiful."
"Leave her! Just leave her!"
"Come on!" Thea grabbed Amys arm and pulled her off again, running into the closest room, room 7, the others quickly running in behind them, the Doctor slamming the door as they stopped and stared seeing a young Amelia Pond, sitting on her suitcase, staring out the window at the night sky, waiting for the Doctor.
Gibbis scrambled to hide under the bed as Thea moved to help Rory hold the door shut as Amy sank to her knees, staring at her younger self.
"Doctor," she gasped, "it's happening. It's changing me. It's changing my thoughts."
The Doctor lowered his head a moment, "I can't save you from this. There's nothing I can do to stop this." He told her bluntly.
"What?" Amy looked at him, alarmed.
"I stole your childhood and now I've led you by the hand to your death. But the worst thing is, I knew. I knew this would happen. This is what always happens."
Thea quickly pushed Rory away from the door as the Minotaur burst inside as the Doctor knelt before Amy.
"Forget your faith in me." The Doctor told her, "I took you with me because I was vain. Because I wanted to be adored. Look at you. Glorious Pond, the girl who waited for me. I'm not a hero. I really am just a mad man in a box. And it's time we saw each other as we really are." He kissed her forehead as the Minotaur staggered back, "Amy Williams, it's time to stop waiting."
Thea looked over as the Doctor stood and walked away from Amy, needing a moment to compose himself as she headed out into the hall to see the Minotaur collapsed on the ground.
She sat down besides its head, "I'm so sorry, Milo. He poisoned your food, broke Amys faith in him." She stroked his head soothingly, "you can die in peace now."
The lights flickered and the room shifted, the hallways disappearing, replaced by a black room with a light grid floor, a control panel a few feet away.
"What is it?" Amy asked, as Rory helped her up from her knees, "a minotaur or an alien? Or an alien minotaur? That's not a question I thought I'd be asking this morning."
"It's both, actually." The Doctor replied, moving to the control panels, tapping a few buttons to access the database, "yeah. Here we go. Distant cousin of the Nimon. They descend on planets and set themselves up as gods to be worshipped. Which is fine, until the inhabitants get all secular and advanced enough to build bonkers prisons."
"Correction." Rory called from where he and Gibbis were looking out a porthole, seeing nothing but space outside, "Prisons in space."
"Where are the guards?" Amy wondered, seeing it was just them.
"No need for any. It's all automated. It drifts through space, snatching people with belief systems and converts their faith into food for the creature."
"It didn't want just me," Amy said quietly after a moment, looking between the two Time Lords, seeing the Doctor searching the database and Thea staying by Milos side, trying to comfort it, "so you must believe in some god or someone, or they'd have shown you the door too. So what do Time Lords pray to?"
"Supposedly the founding fathers." Thea answered, "I don't, I curse to them."
"According to the in-flight recorder," the Doctor continued, changing the topic from the faith, "the programme developed glitches. It got stuck on the same setting, the fears from the people before us weren't tidied away."
The Minotaur growled. Thea nodded, listening as she patted its snout.
"What's it saying?" Amy looked over.
"'An ancient creature,'" the Doctor translated, "''drenched in the blood of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless, shifting maze. For such a creature, death would be a gift.'" He moved to kneel besides Thea, resting his hand on its own, "Then accept it, and sleep well." He whispered.
The Minotaur growled once more and Thea hesitated to translate this time as the Doctor stiffened, "'i wasn't talking about myself.'" She watched as the Minotaur closed its eyes before moving to the Doctors side, not even needing to look to know its last words had gotten to him as she hugged him tightly. The humans and Gibbis would assume the hug was comfort for her seeing the Minotaur die, when really it was for the Doctor. "I'll make tea." She offered quietly, "and you can have as many jamming dodgers as you want. I won't steal any."
The Doctor chuckled lightly at that as they turned to the TARDIS parked nearby.
"Could I have a lift?" Gibbis asked as the Doctor unlocked the doors, "Just to the nearest galaxy would do."
~.~
Thea smiled as she stepped on the TARDIS into the small street, looking across at the row of colourful attached houses, a light blue house with a TARDIS blue door in front of them with a red jaguar car parked before it.
"Don't tell me." Amy rolled her eyes as she and Rory stepped out after the Time Lords, "This isn't Earth, that isn't a real house. And inside lives a goblin, who feeds on indecision."
"Oh, I wish." Thea laughed.
"Real Earth, real house, real door keys." The Doctor tossed her a set of house keys.
Amy gaped at them, realising they were giving them a house! An entire house! "You're not serious?"
"That's not all." Thea adding in a sing-song voice.
"The car too?" Rorys eyes widened as he walked to the car, staring at it in disbelieve, "But, that's my favourite car. How did you know that was my favourite car?" before shaking his head, "No, psychic, right."
"Correct." Thea giggled, throwing him the keys to the car, "but you also told me it was your favourite car."
"Rory, can you give us two minutes?" Amy called to him, "Two minutes?"
Rory moved to hug Thea and then put his arms around the Doctor, "She'll say that we can't accept it because it's too extravagant and we'll always feel a crippling sense of obligation." heard glanced to the car and back to them, "It's a risk I'm willing to take."
"I'll show you around." Thea took Rorys hand and quickly pulled him up towards the house, "I decorated it!" Rory kept his gaze on the car for as long as he could as he allowed Thea to pull him in the house.
Amy moved to lead against the bonnet of the car, patting space besides her as the Doctor joined her.
"So..." Amy began, "you're leaving, aren't you?"
"You haven't seen the last of us." The Doctor agreed, "Bad Penny is my middle name. Seriously, the looks I get when I fill in a form..."
"Why now?" Amy cut him off before he could start rambling, because this was serious.
"Because you're still breathing." The Doctor told her, solemn.
"Well, I think this is about the washing up, personally."
"I mean, you're right, there's still heaps of stuff out there to look at." The Doctor pushed himself off the car, slowly heading back to the TARDIS, "Do you know, there's a planet whose name literally translates as Volatile Circus? Or maybe there's a bigger, scarier adventure waiting for you in there." He nodded back to the house.
Amy glanced back at the house and back to him, "Even so, it can't happen like this. After everything we've been through, Doctor. Everything. You can't just drop me off at my house and say goodbye like we've shared a cab."
"And what's the alternative? Me standing over your grave? Over your broken body? Over Rory's body?"
Amy sighed, nodding as she pulled him into a hug, "If you bump into my daughter, tell her to visit her old mum sometime."
"And look after him." The Doctor nodded to the house as Thea came skipping out.
"Look after you. And look after Thea. Bye."
The Doctor mock saluted as he walked inside the TARDIS.
"There's a number on the kitchen table." Thea told Amy, knowing she would struggle with everyday life more than Rory, "it's a group chat for old companions, they help each other adjust back to normal life." Amy hugged her tightly, "never forget, this little Gallifreyans for life." She murmured before heading into the TARDIS herself as the Doctor stood at the console ready to leave as she headed up to join him, hugging him from behind, "I love you, very much."
"Why what have you done?" The Doctor chuckled as she snuggled her face in his back, "I love you too, kiddo."