5x05: The Stuff of Nightmares

[leighleighla]

Apologies on the delay. Your author for this week has a case of the stupids, apparently.

Title: The Stuff of Nightmares
Author: LeighLeighla
Rating: PG-13/R
Pairing: Rose/Ten II
Summary: On a search to find some good old fashioned Halloween flavored scares, the Doctor and Rose get more than they bargained for with an old abandoned seminary school that is much more than it seems.

Under the cut



"Here we are! Fell's Point!"

"Fell's Point?" Rose asked, pulling her jacket tighter around herself as the autumn wind whipped over them. She watched the Doctor lock up the TARDIS.

The alley they'd stepped out into was dark, and lit orange with warn-looking streetlamps. If it weren't for the modern car parked across from the blue box and the light pollution over their heads, Rose might have mistaken her surroundings for sometime in the past. The road beneath their feet was cobblestone and the buildings sandwiching them were old brick.

The Doctor took her hand and started them off walking. "Welcome to Baltimore, Maryland."

"What, in America?"

"Oh yes! You wanted Halloween, Rose Tyler, and there are few things scarier than Halloween in this town."

Rose felt a chill move up her spine as she looked around. She thought she could see someone watching them from the other end of the alleyway. "I'll believe that," she muttered.

The Doctor paid no attention. He kept guiding her toward the end of the alley. He grinned and slowed down. "Round this corner are brilliant costumes, music, streets teeming with people, all celebrating the spookiest night of the year. So!" He pulled her out into the street and then stopped. "Allon-oh, bother."

Things on Fell's Point's main avenue were quiet. A couple of people walked down the street and off in the distance, someone who had obviously had too much to drink hollered loudly.

Rose smiled and cuddled against his side. "It's not Halloween, is it?"

The Doctor pouted slightly. "Suppose not." He looked to the ground and found an orange streamer, left for dead. Ahead of them there were a few more. "Though I'm guessing we just missed it by a day...Could have sworn I'd gotten it right this time..."

Rose nodded. "Well, we're here. Might as well have a drink." She gave his hand a playful tug, looking to the different bars and restaurants that lined the streets. They rounded a small traffic circle with a fountain in the middle.

"This place is filled with ghost stories, you know," the Doctor said as he swung their hands. "People have reported running into the spirits of prostitutes, sailors, the founders of Fell's Point, and even Poe himself."

"He really lived here?" Rose asked.

"Frequented it enough," the Doctor replied. "There's also the yellow fever victims."

Rose quirked an eyebrow.

"They say the majority of them are buried under this very square."

Rose's face became horrified, but she didn't get a chance to reply before the Doctor pulled her onto a side street.

"If you want a drink." he said, stopping in front of one of the older looking buildings. "This best place is the Cat's-" he stopped and frowned. "What?!"

Rose laughed. "Different universe, different pub. The Kitten's Behind," she read, still laughing a little.

The Doctor pouted again. "It was the Cat's Eye!"

"Not here," Rose replied. "Still wanna go in?"

The Doctor sighed dramatically, but then grinned. He nudged her and then walked up the narrow front steps and into the dark but welcoming atmosphere of the Kitten's Behind.

There were only a few people sitting at the bar, and the bandstand off to the right was empty. Behind the bar stood three women. The oldest of which looked to be in her early fifties with shoulder-length straight brown hair and thin glasses perched on her nose. She had a wide smile and looked to Rose like the kind of bar tender who didn't mind listening to her customer's woes.

The other two women were younger. The older of the two had short spiky blonde hair and a loud laugh that echoed through the otherwise quiet establishment. The youngest bar tender had long brown hair and a bemused smile on her face, directed at the blonde next to her. Both girls were relatively tall and looking at them, it was apparent they were sisters.

The Doctor sat down on a stool close to the door and smiled at bespectacled woman.

"Hi there," she said. "What can I get you guys?"

"D'you do banana daiquiris?" the Doctor asked hopefully.

"Sorry," the woman replied. "I'm all out from last night."

"Which was...Halloween, wasn't it?" the Doctor asked.

"You musta been at some party if you don't remember," the bar tender joked.

Rose settled into the stool next to the Doctor, grinning. "He never could hold his liquor."

The Doctor turned and gave her an offended look.

"Aw, that's okay," the older woman said. "We can't all have iron guts."

"I'll have a Coke, thanks," Rose said.

"Same," the Doctor nodded.

"The woman pulled two glasses out. "No problem. You folks visiting? I've never seen you around before, and you've got cool accents."

"Just passing through," the Doctor replied. "I'm the Doctor, and this is my wife, Rose."

"Well howdy, Doc, I'm Tobi." She passed them their drinks. "I own this old place, and those two knuckleheads are my girls, Jenni and Manda."

The blonde, Jenni, walked over and wrapped her arm around her mother's shoulders. "Stop telling people who we are. They could be crazy stalkers."

Tobi gave her daughter a playful shove. "You'll have to excuse Jennifer. She was dropped on her head as a child."

"It was fun, too," Jenni grinned before walking back over to the other end of the bar.

Tobi shook her head and turned back to the Doctor and Rose. "You guys enjoying your stay?"

"We're sort of at a loss for how to spend the rest of our night, actually," the Doctor replied after slurping up some of his soda. "Don't suppose you know of anything? Maybe something scary?"

"Stick around til after last call when all that's left around here are the junkies and the cops," Manda commented. "Talk about scary."

"Not quite what we had in mind," The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "Any other suggestions?"

"There's always Hell House," Jenni suggested.

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow. "Hell House?"

"Jennifer," Tobi said warningly.

The blonde leaned over the bar toward Rose and the Doctor, a wicked grin on her face. "There's an old seminary school in Ilchester, St Mary's, just a half hour's drive outside the city, deep in the Patapsco State Park. It's been abandoned since the '80's, and a few times a year, some dumb kids wander in looking for ghosts and they don't come back out."

Manda gave a loud snort as she cleaned out a martini shaker. "That's so no true."

Jenni turned to her sister. "Then how do you explain all those missing people?"

"People go missing all the time," Manda replied. "It never has anything to do with ghosts. Just plain ol' human malice."

Tobi turned to the Doctor and Rose, a worried look on her face. "I'd stay away from that seminary if I were you."

Rose frowned. The serious look on the older woman's face sent a chill down her spine. "What's up there?"

"The caretaker, among other things," Tobi replied. "A man by the name of Bob Samson. He was hired by the former owners and even when the property was turned over to the state, he didn't leave; chases people off with a shotgun full of rock salt rounds and two or three nasty dogs."

"He sounds like a little ball of sunshine, doesn't he?" Rose said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Tobi gave her a small smile and patted Rose's hand gently. "If you guys wanna be scared, go find a good horror movie. Leave Mr Samson and his old patch of land to themselves."

The Doctor gazed at Tobi, leaning in closer. "You've had dealings with Mr Samson, then."

"A long time ago, when I was young like these two dummies," Tobi replied. "You don't want to mess with Samson, and he chases people off for a reason."

The Doctor became even more intrigued. Rose could tell by the glint in his eyes and the slight grin on his face.

"You really believe there's a ghost up there."

Tobi took a few steps away from them. "I don't know what's up there. Whatever it is, it's dangerous."

*****

They left the Kitten's Behind at last call, heading back the way they came.

"So, Ilchester, then?" Rose asked, leaning against the TARDIS, waiting for the Doctor to unlock it.

"Ilchester it is," the Doctor nodded as he pushed the door open, letting Rose in ahead of him. He followed her and bounded over to the console. "Whatever's there, it's not a ghost. But if people are going missing, it's worth having a look."

"Tobi looked properly scared of it," Rose pointed out as she sat on the jump seat. "How do you know it's not a ghost?"

"Because, Rose Tyler, I have the brain of a very old time traveling alien and that big old brain has seen many, many things, and not once has one of those things been a ghost."

"In the old universe, maybe," Rose teased, nudging the back of one of his long legs with her foot. "But there might be ghosts here."

His knee bent reflexively, as he released the hand break. "One way to find out!"

The TARDIS rumbled to life, sending them into the vortex. Rose watched the Doctor move swiftly around the console, pressing this or that button. She paid careful attention, knowing it could be valuable knowledge for her next flying lesson.

They came to a stop and Rose could hear leaves rustling outside the doors. A dog's howl echoed from far away.

The Doctor replaced the parking break and then turned to her. He gave her a wide grin. "Happy Halloween, Rose."

She got to her feet and pecked his cheek. "It's November first," she told him with her own grin, before taking his hand and heading for the door.

"Close enough!" the Doctor groused.

Rose gave a laugh. "Actually, it's after midnight, so it's November second."

"Stop it!"

She kept laughing as she opened the door and stepped out, but stopped as the sound of a gunshot and a bullet ricocheting off the TARDIS filled the air.

The Doctor gaped, his mouth wide with outrage, at the bullet hole in the panel, and then at the scruffy, beady-eyed man who had put it there. "You shot my TARDIS!"

"I don't know what the hell a TARDIS is, Mister," the shooter replied as he cocked his shotgun. "But you and your wife are trespassin!"

Rose pursed her lips and slowly stepped forward. "Samson, yeah? Listen, we're not here to-"

"Everybody who shows up here this late at night is here to trespass!"

The Doctor gave a bitter glare. He pulled his sonic screwdriver out and pointed it at the gun. The small tool glowed blue and made its customary whirring sound until a spark and a crack made Samson drop his firearm.

"Right! First thing's first, Mr Samson," the Doctor snapped. "No guns."

"What the-"

"Secondly, we're not here to trespass," the Doctor went on. "Well, technically, yes, we're here to trespass, but we're not here to cause trouble."

"For a change," Rose muttered.

The Doctor frowned. "Not helping." He turned back to Samson. "We're here to help you."

Samson gave them an incredulous look. "I don't know who you wackos been talkin' to, but I don't need anybody's help."

"There's something in the old seminary, yeah?" Rose asked gently. "You don't know what it is, but it's not good. We wanna help you get rid of it."

"And who the hell are the two of you?" Samson asked slowly, his voice skeptical.

The Doctor smiled. "I'm the Doctor and this is Rose."

"What the hell kinda Doctor carries whatever it was that jammed my gun?"

"The kind that can be of service to you," the Doctor replied. "You do want whatever that thing is to go away, yes?"

Samson shook his head. "Whatever's up there, it ain't leavin'. Goin in there and trying to make it is a fool's errand."

"Oh we're very experienced with fool's errands, aren't we, Rose?"

She nodded. "Oh yeah, love 'em!"

"And what do you think you're gonna do?" Samson asked. "Go in and ask it all nice to get lost?"

"That depends on what it is," the Doctor replied. He stared steadily at Samson. "So what is it?"

Samson's shoulders slumped, as if in some sort of defeat. "I'm gonna need a drink."

*****

Samson took them back to his rickety, small cabin not far from where they'd landed the TARDIS. It looked like a solid gust of wind could blow the entire place over.

Rose sat on the porch railing, while the Doctor leaned on the space next to her. It creaked under their weight, but held steady.

Samson was sitting in an old chair near the door, a beer gripped tightly in his fist. Two large dogs that would have looked mean if they didn't seem so calm at their master's feet were chewing on a couple of warn-looking bones.

"The truth is, I don't know what it is, exactly," Samson said after taking another long pull from his beer. "Nobody who ever went in there ever came back out. Not that I know of."

"So you've never been inside?" Rose asked.

"Hell, no," Samson scoffed. "But I hear the screams late at night. And I've had more'n my fair share of people knockin' on my door with missing posters, sayin' their son or daughter or friend was last seen heading this way for a ghost hunt or some such."

"Do you think it's a ghost?" the Doctor asked, quirking an eyebrow and crossing his arms.

Samson shook his head vaguely and took another swig from his bottle. "Whatever it is, it sure as hell ain't human."

The Doctor nodded. "So when do we go see it?"

Samson gave a dry laugh. "Yeah, about that. I've humored you so far, cause I don't get many visitors that ain't out to get themselves killed or call me names. The Redneck they call me."

"Couldn't imagine why," the Doctor muttered.

"Rude," Rose snapped.

"You ain't goin' up to that building, kids," Samson told them. He picked up the shotgun that was resting against the wall of the house. "You seem like nice enough people, but I'm gonna haveta ask you ta get your big blue box and leave."

The Doctor opened his mouth to protest, but didn't get the chance.

“Actually, you do have to take us,” rose said, flashing her Torchwood badge. “Special Agent Rose Tyler of the Torchwood Institute.”

Samson squinted as he read the badge. “Torchwood. That’s a new one.”

“New one?” the Doctor asked.

“Aw,” Samson chuckled. “That’s sweet. You think you’re the first idiots to flash a piece of official ID in my face.”

Rose leaned forward. “We think whatever is up there might be an alien threat.”

Samson blinked at them, staying silent for a moment. “Okay. Now that is a new one.”

“If I need to, I could have a back up squad here within the hour to help,” Rose said. “If you like, I can give you a number to call to verify who I am.”

The Doctor stared at Rose. He’d forgotten that she could be this impressive. While he’d never been a fan of thinking of the time they’d spent apart, he couldn’t help the realization that it had done her some good; raised her confidence in her own abilities and made her realize how brilliant she really could be, whether or not she had him to take her around time and space.

Samson sighed. He looked resigned as he got to his feet. “You’re gonna go up there whether I like it or not, I know. And I’d rather not have any suits tramping around my property.” He picked up his shotgun. “But it’s your funeral. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

****

The old seminary school was a looming, shadowy tower in the darkness of the woods, illuminated only by the light pollution coming from the city and the Samson’s torch. Its windows were broken and one of the big, thick front doors was hanging off its hinges. Whether it had been forced open too many times, or if something like asbestos had eaten at it wasn’t clear.

There seemed to be a lot of unfinished graffiti on the front walls, as if the taggers had found something better to din the middle of their masterpieces and just left it. Words and phrases and designs never finished, and probably never would be.

The Doctor looked up at the structure and couldn’t help his grin. “Now. This is Brilliant. A proper looking spooky old house.”

“It really is like something out of the movies,” Rose agreed. “Enormous, too.”

“And it’s my last stop,” Samson told them. “Good luck. See you in hell.”

“You could help us, you know,” the Doctor said mildly. “Figure out what’s going on, stop people from disappearing.”

“Risk my neck for a bunch of idiots who don’t care that they’re throwin’ their lives away?” Samson snapped. “Gee, that’s tempting, but I think I’ll pass.”

The Doctor frowned as he watched the older man walk off. “Now that was rude.”

Rose grinned a little. “You are a bit of an expert on that.”

“Oi.” He tried to sound offended, but it didn’t really work.

She took his hand and they both stared up at the old school. The clouds rumbled loudly above them and they could hear police sirens from off in the distance, rolling swiftly down the narrow stretch of highway outside the park.

They started to clomp toward the house, their shoes crunching on dead leaves and fallen twigs. As they got closer, the wind picked up a little bit, ruffling their hair.

When the Doctor stumbled on something much larger than the twigs, it almost sent him careening into the grass face-first, but Rose was able to keep him upright.

“What was that?” she asked, looking down at the lump the Doctor had tripped over.

Slowly, he pulled his sonic screwdriver out and flicked it on, using it as a torch.

In the grass, covered in leaves and mud was the wide-eyed body of a young man.

“Okay,” Rose said shakily. “That’s a dead bloke.”

The Doctor nodded gravely and knelt down. He used the screwdriver’s handle to clear away a few leaves from the body’s face, which was sunken in as if he had been started to death. In fact, his whole body looked that way.

Rose swallowed hard. “Doctor, you know those old photos you see in school of death camp prisoners during World War Two…?”

The Doctor nodded in understanding. He ran the screwdriver over the body slowly and gave another nod. “He wasted away, starved, dehydrated, the whole lot. Slow, though. Over time. Years, probably.”

“He looks so scared,” Rose pointed out as she stared into the young man’s eyes.

“Yes, he does,” the Doctor agreed quietly. Carefully, he reached out and closed the body’s eyes, and then got to his feet. He looked around with a deep frown on his face.

Rose watched him. “You know what did this.”

“I know of a thing that can do this,” he told her, his voice slightly hoarse. “But it can’t be. It’s impossible.

“I hate when you use that word,” Rose muttered.

“We have to keep going,” the Doctor told her. He reached out and clutched her hand again, but she stood her ground.

“Not til you talk to me,” Rose said. She gestured to the body in the grass. “That guy is dead. Now tell me what you think did it.”

He stared at her, giving her the haunted expression she had come to know so well in their time together. She knew instantly where this conversation was going.

“During the Time War,” he said. “The Time Lords commissioned an entity from a planet called Shadisha. The Shadishans specialized in harnessing dreams, and the Time Lords paid them a lot of money to turn dreams into nightmares.”

“Meaning?” Rose asked, starting to get nervous.

“The Shadishans created something called the Nightmare Child. The idea behind it being to scare Daleks to death.”

Rose frowned, confused. “But Daleks…they don’t get scared, yeah? They don’t feel anything.”

“But that was the beauty of it,” the Doctor told her, a twisted smile slowly gracing his features. “Oh yes. Create a being that could scare a Dalek, and you could very well win the war.”

“But hold on,” Rose said. “The Nightmare Child, I’ve heard that before. When we were facing off against Davros, you said that he got swallowed up by the Nightmare Child at the beginning of the war.”

The Doctor nodded. “It was too powerful. The Shadishans hadn’t had time to perfect the technology and there was no way to control it. No one really knew what it was to begin with. Just a big billowy smoke creature that swallowed whole space crafts…whole planets if it wanted to and it never gave them back. Not ever. It was one of the first of many failed attempts to end the war.” He took a deep breath and stared up at the old school. “It disables its prey by forcing them to live their worst nightmares, and feeds off of them for years. It’s always hungry.”

“And now its here,” Rose added.

“We don’t know that,” the Doctor said shakily. “It…it could be something entirely different.” He took a deep breath. “Dalek Caan broke the time lock to get to Davros, but I never thought he had enough power to set the Nightmare Child free.” He gripped Rose’s hand tightly. “There’s only one way to find out.”

She held tight to his hand to stop him from moving further toward the building. “We should go get backup.”

“No,” the Doctor snapped. “We’d only be putting more people in danger.”

“Doctor, if that thing is what you think it is, we could be next,” rose argued. She pulled out her cell phone and had just gotten to her contacts page, when the screen flickered and went black. “You are kidding me.”

The Doctor grimaced and pulled his screwdriver out. It flickered as well, but managed to stay powered up. “It’s draining energy from its surroundings. The charge won’t last too much longer.” He started to move toward the house again, pulling Rose with him.

It was her turn to trip. Another body, a girl in much the same condition they found the young man. Her mouth was open as she had died screaming.

Rose stared down at her as the Doctor kept pulling her along. “Why hasn’t anybody done anything about this?” Rose asked. She felt herself getting angry for the people they’d found. “Tell the police, or contact Torchwood, or something!”

“Because,” the Doctor replied. “They’re all stupid enough to go inside and as our friend Jenni the bar tender pointed out, they don’t ever come back.”

They were standing at the foot of the front porch steps, staring up at the rickety doors now.

“Doctor…”

“I have to go in.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “Didn’t you just get finished telling me the people who went in there are stupid?”

“None of them were me.” He looked at her with determination in his eyes, and perhaps a small bit of fear. “I have to try, Rose. I can’t not try.”

“And what am I supposed to do?” she snapped. “Sit out here and wait?”

“Well…”

“No,” she snapped. “No way. I’m comin’ in with you.”

“Rose.”

“Forget it, Doctor, you’re not goin’ in there alone!”

He swallowed, but nodded, taking her hand again. “All right. All right.”

Slowly, they both walked up the steps, their combined weight making the old planks of wood sink beneath them a little. When they reached the door, the Doctor slowly pushed open the one that was still loosely sitting on its hinges, revealing a musty, dark front hall. The floor beneath them creaked with age, and the staircase in front of them looked as though a gust of wind could knock it down.

“Charming,” Rose muttered, looking around, and then to the Doctor. “What do we do now?”

Behind them, the door slammed shut, and a latch clicked.

“Stay, apparently,” the Doctor replied. He took a deep breath and stepped further into the school, looking around warily.

A light breeze made its way through the hall, surrounding them gently, and Rose held the Doctor’s hand tighter.

“What was that?” Rose asked.

“I think we’re being inspected,” the Doctor explained quietly.

“Have you come to play with me?” a soft, innocent voice asked, echoing around them.

Rose looked to the Doctor again. “Is…is that it? That’s the Nightmare Child?”

The Doctor didn’t reply. His eyes went wide as he looked around for the source of the voice.

“You have come to play with me,” the voice said. “It’s playtime!”

“Doctor, it sounds like a little kid,” Rose hissed.

He gave her an exasperated look. “It’s called the Nightmare Child, Rose. If it weren’t an actual child, they would have named it…I dunno, the boogie man, or-“

He stopped when he realized that he was no longer holding Rose’s hand, and she was no longer standing next to him.

“Rose?” He turned around, starting to panic. “Rose!” He looked up angrily. “What have you done wit her?! Where is she! Answer me!”

He got no reply, and when he turned around again, he was no longer in the old seminary school, but standing in the living room of Pete and Jackie Tyler’s house, but while it certainly looked like their living room, something was off about it. It looked as though it hadn’t been used in years, like it had been preserved as a museum.

“Do you think he heard you?” a quiet voice said behind him.

“I don’t know, do I? He’s so old these days, I wonder if he hears half of what I say.”

The Doctor whirled around at the sound of the two voices, and squinted. He seemed to be wearing his glasses, but they were a much heavier prescription than he remembered them being. With bifocals.

He wrinkled his nose, and lifted a hand to take the glasses off, but stopped cold when he caught sight of his bony fingers. The skin was flabby and wrinkled and covered in liver spots.

“What?” he said quietly.

“Doctor,” one of the men who had been whispering said. “Doctor, who were you yelling at before?”

“What?” the Doctor asked again, looking up at the two men standing there. They looked as though they were in their mid to late fifties, and were wearing dark colored suits. The man who had called him by name looked familiar. His bone structure seemed…

“Tony?” the Doctor asked, confused.

“Yeah, it’s me, Doctor,” Tony grinned. He was tall, with dark hair and broad shoulders. His warm smile reminded the Doctor of Pete, and his eyes reminded him of Rose.

Which made his memory, which felt foggy and unclear, click a little. There was no time to ponder on how Tony had aged so much or why the house looked so unused. He had to stop the Nightmare Child, and find Rose.

“Tony, where’s Rose?”

Tony gazed at him sympathetically. “You really don’t remember, do you?”

The man next to him tutted. “The poor old thing.”

The Doctor glared at him before turning back to Tony. “Where is she?”

“Doctor…she died, earlier this week,” Tony said gently. “The funeral is today, remember?”

*****

Rose looked around frantically. “Doctor!” he had just vanished in mid-sentence. “Doctor!!”

“He can’t hear you,” the childlike voice said. “We’re playing a game.”

“Where is he?!” Rose cried. “What have you done with him?!”

“It’s playtime.”

“No!” Rose cried. “Bring him back!”

“It lonely here,” the Child said sulkily. “And I haven’t had someone to play with like him in a very long time.”

“What d’you mean?” Rose asked, turning in a circle, trying to see something, anything that would give away where this thing was.

“He is Time Lord,” the Child replied. “He’s much more fun than the likes of you. You’re just a boring old human.”

Rose took a deep breath and started forward. “I’ll find you, Doctor,” she muttered. “I’ll get you out of this.”

“You’ll never find him,” the Child giggled. “Not ever.”

Rose was about to reply, but was cut off by the sound of buckshot hitting the doors behind her. She stumbled away, her eyes wide as the doors were kicked down, and Samson stomped into the hall.

“At least one of you is still alive,” he said. “Come on, let’s go.”

“I’m not leavin’ the Doctor here,” Rose snapped.

Samson groaned. “It’s too late for him. Whatever this thing is, it’s already havin’ its way with him, and there’s nothing you can do.”

“No,” Rose snapped. “I won’t leave without him.”

“Great,” Samson muttered. “I got me a hero.”

*****

“…Gathered here to pay our respects to Rose Marion Tyler. The loving wife, daughter and sister that earned the love and respect of so many around her…”

The Doctor stared at the casket that was about to be lowered into the ground.

Rose was dead.

His beautiful, brilliant, clever, amazing Rose was dead, and they were going to put her in the ground where she could never smile or laugh or tease him or eat chips ever again.

He was so very old, and so very, very alone. Jackie and Pete had long since passed away, and all that remained was himself, along with Tony, whom he felt he used to know, but didn’t anymore.

This was it. However many years he had left, he would be spending them by himself. Apparently, not even the TARDIS had survived. Something had gone wrong with her, and she’d malfunctioned to the point of no return, the poor girl.

As the Doctor stared ahead at the expensive-looking casket, he felt a tug at the back of his mind, as if there was something important he should have been doing, but he pushed it away. This was more important; saying goodbye, and making sure he did it right.

She was really gone, and she was taking a large part of him with her all over again. Just like the first time he’d lost her.

He closed his eyes and fought back tears.

****

“What made you change your mind?” Rose asked as they walked carefully through the main floor of the school. Samson had a flickering, nearly dead flashlight that helped only a little in their search, while the dust and cobwebs that littered the entire interior didn’t help at all.

Samson was holding his gun at the ready, looking in doorways and corners for any sign of the Doctor or his captor. “It’s what your fella said, about stopping this thing from disappearing people. Figured I needed to man up a little. Help out, if I could.”

“Thanks,” Rose said quietly.

They walked in silence for a few moments before Samson turned to her again.

“You really think whatever’s here is an alien?”

“We know it.” Rose nodded. “The Doctor’s seen it before…but he doesn’t know how to stop it.”

“Oh, that’s great,” Samson muttered. “So what hope do we have of finding him and getting out here?”

“Not much,” Rose replied. “But he’s my husband, and I know he’s alive somewhere. We just have to find him.”

There seemed to be a chorus of whispered voices then, surrounding them where they stood.

Rose looked around, and then at Samson, whose eyes had gone wide. “Samson? Mr Samson?”

He screamed then, and began to shoot wildly.

Rose cried out and ran, taking cover behind an old armchair. “What the hell are you doing?! Samson! Whatever it is you’re seeing it’s not real! Stop shooting!”

It took him a few moments, but he finally stopped, slumping against the wall next to him, dropping his arms, along with the shotgun and lowering his head.

“Aw, god. Aw, hell. What was I thinking comin’ back here?” Samson moaned.

Rose got up and slowly walked over to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You wanted to help.”

“Well, then I’m just about as stupid as you and the Doc, ain’t I?” Samson said, trying to joke. He stood upright again and lifted his gun. “Let’s keep going.”

Rose nodded, and watched him worriedly, but followed.

*****

The rest of the funeral had been absolutely brutal; everyone looking at him with such pity.

Tony had driven him home, and all the Doctor had been doing since he walked in the door was looking at himself in the hallway mirror.

When had he gotten so old? Where had all these wrinkles and liver spots come from? Why were his eyes so weak? And jowls? Honestly, jowls?

Rose had been beautiful to the last. She’d gone natural in her last few years; no hair dye, very little make-up.

But she was gone now. Gone forever. He felt a cold emptiness fill him at that thought; he felt hopeless and purposeless. What to do now?

He blinked when he heard someone call his name. He tried to whirl around, but in his old age, his balance wasn’t what it used to be, and he nearly slipped and fell. He grabbed the wall and looked around warily.

“Who said that?”

“…ctor!”

“Who’s there?!” The Doctor cried. He pushed away from the wall and began to search the house. “Who’s calling my name!?”

*****

“Doctor!” Rose called. “Come on, where is he?”

“That thing ain’t gonna let him hear you,” Samson told her.

Rose huffed as they started to slowly and carefully climb the old staircase to the second floor. “You said before that you shouldn’t have come here again. Didn’t you tell us earlier tonight that you’d never been in here?”

Samson harrumphed as he followed. “So I lied. Sue me.”

“So? What happened the last time you were here?”

“I threw myself out of a second floor window,” Samson told her. “Just to get away from whatever is up here. Broke a leg and an arm and bruised a few ribs. Had a nasty concussion.”

“Did you come alone?” Rose asked.

“Nope. Had three other guys with me,” Samson replied. His foot almost went through a step, but he lifted it up before it could. “Damn.”

“A’right?”

“Yeah,” he grunted. “Anyways, I was the only one who made it out. And I decided to try and stop other people from makin’ the same mistake we did.”

“Noble cause,” Rose commented.

“Whatever, I just don’t like seein’ people die,” Samson told her.

“That makes two of us,” Rose muttered as they walked along a hallway.

“You know, you’d think this thing would be after us, pokin’ round like this,” Samson pointed out. ‘Why’s it so interested in your man?”

“He’s special,” Rose replied, as she slowly opened up a door, and then quickly closed it.

“What?” Samson asked. “What?”

Rose swallowed hard and looked down.

“More dead people,” Samson nodded. “Come on, kid. Let’s keep lookin’.”

She nodded back and let him take the lead down the hall.

*****

“…Gone mad, found him screaming about someone calling his name.”

Tony sighed heavily. “Well, he is quite old…and Rose did just die…maybe it’s time I put him in care.” He looked sadly at the Doctor, who was sitting in the white-washed hospital room looking out the window, obviously distraught. “I had hoped he would last another couple of years but…”

“It’s for the best, Mister Tyler,” the nurse said. “He obviously can’t take care of himself anymore.”

The Doctor looked up when he heard this, his eyes wide. Of course he could take care of himself. Just because someone had been calling his name, that didn’t mean he was an invalid!

“Just sign here, Mister Tyler.”

Tony sighed. “Sorry, Doctor,” he said quietly as he scribbled in his signature.

The Doctor turned back to the window and looked at his reflection in the glass. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right at all. How had he gotten so old? How had that happened so fast? And wasn’t there something he was supposed to be doing? He and Rose?

But Rose was dead.

But that couldn’t be right, how had she died? When had she died? Why didn’t he remember her dying? Wouldn’t he remember that? Or had being this old fried his memory so badly he couldn’t remember his own wife’s passing?

Nothing seemed to fit.

“Doctor!”

He frowned. There it was again.

“Doctor?!”

Maybe it was a nurse calling a physician from the hallway.

“Doctor!”

He narrowed his eyes. “That’s Rose’s voice.”

Tony looked at him, confused. “What?”

The Doctor got to his feet and started to shuffle toward the door. “Rose?!”

“Here we go again,” Tony sighed. “Doctor, come back and sit down. Rose isn’t here.”

“I can hear her!”

“You’re not hearing anything,” Tony told him. “She’s not here.”

“Rose!” he cried as the younger man started to drag him back. “Rose!”

****

Rose frowned and stopped walking. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Samson snapped.

“I hear him!” she cried, dashing down the corridor. “Doctor!”

“Hell,” Samson grumbled and chased after her.

*****

“You don’t hear anything,” Tony said gently. “Just stay calm.”

“I hear her!” the Doctor growled. “She’s here!”

“She isn’t, she’s dead.”

“How did she die?”

“What?”

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. “How did she die?!”

“You know how she died.”

“Humor an old man, Anthony,” the Doctor said. “How?”

“I…You know.”

“What day did your mother die?”

“What?”

“What day? When did your father die? How?”

Tony shook his head, looking overwhelmed.

The Doctor nodded, staring at the younger man. “This is all a lie. This entire thing has all been a lie.” He got to his feet slowly and looked up. “Playtime is over!”

When he turned around, he was no longer in the hospital, and Tony was no longer there, nor was any nurses. He was standing in a dank room, alone. He stumbled toward the door after getting his wits about him as best he could.

“Rose!!”

She stopped at the sight of him. “Finally!” She dashed over and hugged him tightly, almost knocking him off his feet.

“We have to get out of here,” the Doctor said urgently. “Now.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Samson said, turning back toward the stairs.

The Nightmare Child roared in outrage then. “Playtime isn’t over yet!”

The building began to shake, and the Doctor held onto Rose tightly. “Go! Now!”

The three of them made a mad dash for the stairs, going down them as best they could without sinking their feet into the old wood steps.

Rose made it to the door first with the Doctor close behind her, but Samson’s foot got stuck and he tripped, tumbling down the last couple of stairs.

“No!” Rose cried, and made to go back for him.

“Go!” Samson cried, as some of the ceiling started to come down. “Get the hell outta here!”

“We can’t just leave him!” Rose cried.

More of the ceiling began to come down, almost hitting them both.

“We don’t have a choice,” the Doctor yelled. He pulled his sonic screwdriver out and began to work the doors open. It had just enough power to get them out.

“Samson!” Rose called as the Doctor worked at opening the doors. “Samson can you hear me?!”

She didn’t get an answer.

The Doctor shoved open the doors and pulled Rose out. They got clear of the building just as it started to come down around itself. Billowing black smoke began to eek out of the cracks of the school, tendrils following them through the woods.

“Keep running!” the Doctor yelled.

Rose stumbled after him, through the woods, doing her best to dodge branches as they made their way toward where they had left the TARDIS.

When they reached it, the Doctor almost slammed right into the door. He shoved his hand into his pocket, digging around for his key. “Come on come on COME ON!”

Rose turned and looked behind them, her eyes widening as the Nightmare Child billowed closer.

“Doctor!”

“I know!” He finally found his key and shoved it into the lock, pushing the door open. He yanked Rose into the TARDIS and slammed the door.

There was an outraged scream from outside and the TARDIS began to shake as the Doctor rushed to the console and pulled the handbrake, getting them ready for take-off.

Rose dashed up. “How can I help?” she asked.

He looked at her frantically and pointed. “Button!”

She nodded and pressed it down, watching him work.

“Come on,” he growled. “Come on. Take-off!” The Doctor sent them into the Time Vortex, but the TARDIS was still shaking.

“What’s happening?!” Rose cried.

“It’s followed us!” the Doctor cried, as he kept piloting. “I’m gonna try and shake him. Rose?”

“What?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry about all of this.”

She swallowed. “Doctor…”

“Hold on!” he told her, as he maneuvered through the Vortex. “We’ve got to go faster! Try and shake it!”

Rose held onto the console tightly, trying to keep calm. They were going faster and faster, through the Vortex. She lost her footing and landed hard on the grating.

“Rose?!”

“I’m okay!” she yelled.

After a few more moments, the TARDIS began to slow down.

“What happened?” Rose asked as she got to her feet.

“We lost it,” the Doctor said quietly. “It’s gone, for the time being, trapped in the Vortex, where it’s got nothing to eat.” He slowly walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

Rose closed her eyes and hugged him back. “That was close.”

He pulled away a little and grinned at her sadly. “Far too close for my taste.” He kissed her forehead and then looked around them. The console room was in a complete state of disarray. “Blimey.”

“Yeah, looks like we have some cleanin’ up to do,” Rose agreed.

He looked back down at her and nodded before hugging her again. “Later.”

Rose closed her eyes, and held him just as tightly.

*****

He'd shooed Rose off for a sleep while he cleaned up the control room, and now he was staring intently at the view screen, eyes peeled for any sign of the Nightmare Child.

"You really think it's gone?" Rose's sleep, soft voice asked from the doorway.

The Doctor turned his head. "I can hope it's gone. But I don't really know."

Rose shuffled in, wrapped in a fluffy pink robe, and sit down on the jump seat. "You can't stare at that thing forever."

"I don't intend to," he muttered, turning back to the screen. "Just a few more hours. Just to be sure. You should go back to bed."

"You should come to bed," she told him. "Humans need sleep."

He huffed. "Yeah."

Rose frowned. "Doctor?"

"Hrm?"

"What did you see?"

"When?"

"When the Nightmare Child had you," Rose said. "What did it make you see?"

"Oh...you know...world destruction...cats and dogs living together, that sort of thing."

Rose watched him for a long moment, waiting for him to give her a real answer.

He turned his back on the view screen and leaned against it, crossing his arms. "It doesn't matter," he told her. "It wasn't real. I got lucky, snapping out of it the way I did."

"How did you?" Rose asked curiously.

"It...it made a mistake," the Doctor explained, thinking it over. "Either it was weak from such a small food supply or its attentions were divided between you and me...but...I was able to see through it. To snap out of it." He tried for a smile. "I am brilliant, after all."

She had to smile at that. She held out a hand to him. "Come on. You can watch the screen from here. We both will."

He stared at her hand for a moment, and not for the first time felt quite lucky to have it, and Rose. He took it and sat down next to her, sitting in comfortable silence. The only sounds around them coming from the TARDIS herself.

END