Chapter 14:

Augusta's POV

Everything was dark. I felt like I was falling, but I wasn't moving at all. There was a sound, that sounded faraway, and mangled making it hard to hear, but I was gradually getting louder. "Wa... Aug... Usta... Up... Augu... Augusta!!" 

I shot up and slamming heads with the black figure on top of me, painfully. "Augh," I moaned, holding my head painfully. The edges of my vision flashed black, and I rubbed my eyes. 

"Ow!" The black figure cried as well, stumbling back. I noticed that this was the Doctor, and I was lying on the, rather comfy, yellow, worn seat in the TARDIS. 

"Why'd you hit me?!" I exclaimed, rubbing my throbbing head. 

"I didn't," he said, leaning against the TARDIS, doing the same. "I just didn't expect you to wake up like that."

"Well, if you weren't yelling in my face, then I probably wouldn't have," I retorted. I was still very mad about what he had said earlier. "Where's Rose?" 

He seemed to notice my anger, and frowned, "She's in her room. She wanted to be alone after what happened."

I nodded briskly, and headed down the hallway. "Where are you going?" He called after me. 

"My bedroom," I replied, turning down the hall, and in front of the brown metal door that led to my room. 

Just as my hand hovered over the doorknob, I heard him say: "... You're still mad, aren't you?" His voice was hesitant and sad, but I heard something something else in it that I wasn't able to place. 

I looked at him, my eyes hardened into a cold glare, "Yes. I am." With those short words, I opened the door, and entered my dark room, and turned on the lights. 

My room was pretty big. It had bronze metal walls, and a, what the Doctor had called, white hammock that swung from the ceiling, with brown blanket on top. The doors were bronze as well. There were tables that went around the side of the room, messy, and filled with metal supplies for my building pleasures. There was also a bookshelf filled with black, empty, sketchbooks for me to draw and sketch in. There was also a brown dresser with clothes, and a closet, also fully stocked with clothing. 

I had gotten the room about last week. The Doctor had said that I deserved to sleep in an actual room, and not in the Medical Bay, since he would need that, but hopefully not. He said that the TARDIS had picked out my room, especially for me, and I loved it. If I couldn't sleep, which would probably be often, I could build, just like at Mr. and Mrs. Jackson's house!

I sighed, and flopped down on the hammock, making it swing back and forth. When I first got it, I kept falling out of the hammock, but then I learned how not to. I never actually slept in it; it was always too comfortable, and it made me uncomfortable. I got up, and over to my bookshelf, plucking the first book from the top off and opening it. It already had a few sketches that I drew in it. I flipped to a clean page, and began to sketch what the man had looked like. 

I remembered that he had piercing yellow eyes, and white hair. He also had a muscular build, and a black trench coat that held probably a lot of weapons. I circled the places where I thought his weapons might be in. I remembered that there was a small opening on the end of his shoes, he probably had a blade in there as well, so I circled it. His pants had at least five or six pockets on them, and that's from what I could see. 

I recalled the odd, bulky watch that he wore around his wrist. It was black, and had some sort of triangle-like button on the top. There was also some sort of dial on it, that was set to a date, that I don't remember. He called it something, what was it? Itex, no... Vertix... Vortex. Vortex! He called it a 'Vortex Manipulator!' 

I don't know how to spell that, so I just remembered the name. I closed my book, and placed it back on the shelf carefully. 

I went back to my hammock and sighed, its been a long day. I just want to go to sleep. 

But sleep never came.
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<
Doctor's POV

He felt depressed. His guilt consuming him. Augusta was ignoring him because of what he had said to her earlier, and frankly, he doesn't blame her. He took it too far and she was just a child for god's sake! 

He sighed, and leaned his head against the console, "What are we going to do, Old Girl," he mumbled, gently stroking the metal boarding. A sad, sounding hum was his response. 

He sighed, and got up, there was no use in wasting time and being depressed. He grabbed his tool belt, and began to fiddle with the circuitry under the console.

A few hours later, he heard footsteps coming down the hall, and soon, Rose emerged. A small smile was on her face, and when she saw him, it widened and made her eyes sparkle.

"Hello down there!" She grinned, walking over to him, "Whatcha doin'?"

He pushed himself out of the small hole, "Nothing important," he replied, placing the metal plate above it. 

Rose looked around, "Where's Auggie?" 

He frowned instantly, "She's in her room," he replied, his voice sounding as guilty as he felt. 

She sensed this, and frowned as well, "What happened?"

He sighed, "She's still upset about what happened at the church."

"Oh," Rose said. He told her all about what happened earlier. At first she was mad at him for taking it that far, but she got over it.

There was a short silence, "I'm gonna go check on her," he said. He went down the hallway and to the direction of her room, and Rose followed.

Once he got to her bronze door, he knocked on it softy. "Auggie?" He called, only to receive no response.  "Auggie?" He said, this time much louder. 

"Let me try," Rose said, moving past him. "Auggie, its me, Rose, can we come in." 

When there still wasn't a response, he frowned, "Something's not right..." He pulled out his sonic, and sonicked the door, causing the bronze metal door to move. 

The room was dimly lit, and the hammock where she would sleep was empty. His eyes widened, remembering what happened last time the bed was empty. 

He quickly turned on the lights, scanning the room. A sigh of relief left his mouth when he realized, that she was on the floor sleeping, instead of the hammock. 

Rose giggled, "Why's she on the floor?" She asked, as he went over to her. He shrugged, and tapped her on the shoulder. 

"Hey, it's time to get up," he told her. 

She moved away, and pulled the blanket over her head. "Go away," she mumbled.

"Come on, Auggie," Rose piped, helping. "I'll make pancakes?"

"I don't like pancakes," she muttered. 

"Maybe we can go out to eat," he suggested. "How about... The Ketopitan Galaxy? They're known for their good food."

She didn't say anything for a few seconds. "I'm still mad at you," she said. He heard a pout in her voice, and his hearts clenched with guilt. 

"I'm sorry, I--"

"If you let me cook," she cut him off, "I'll forgive you." He rose an eyebrow, that's it? That was all he had to do? There had to be some kind of catch. "But..." Here it comes. "You have to eat whatever I make. All of it."

He looked at Rose, who shrugged, not seeing anything bad about this, "That's it?" He asked.

"That's it," she promised.

"... Okay." As soon as those words left his mouth, she shot up.

"What are we waiting for?" She grinned mischievously, he noticed that there were small bags under her eyes that blended into her dark skin. She must've been up for hours. "Let's go!"

"You were awake?" He questioned 

"Never slept," she shrugged, and headed down the hall, the opposite direction of the kitchen.

"You're going the wrong way!" He said, and she turned on her heel.

"Knew that!" 
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<
He sat at the counter, watching as she put Rassilon knows what in a large bowl. "So... What are you making?"

"You'll see," she grinned, mixing everything together. She had, so far, put in slices of chicken that she had found, syrup, salt, sugar, a few raw eggs, and tomato sauce. 

Rose laughed, "That looks gross!" She rolled her eyes, and kept working. 

He watched as she used a big spoon, and mixed everything together, then pouring it into a pan, and setting it in the stove, and turning it on. "When did you learn how to cook?" He asked curiously.

"I had to cook for Mr. and Mrs. Johnson all the time," she replied. "I looked at the cookbooks and followed the pictures. Sometimes, I'd get it right. Other times they'd explode."

He blinked, "Sorry, what?"

She laughed, "I'd sometimes accidentally get some stuff wrong..." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Sometimes they'd burn, or freeze... It's a bit complicated..."

He rose an eyebrow, Freeze? "Do you like cooking?" Rose asked.

"No," this caught him off guard. "There's too much stuff involved. I can't read so sometimes I'd get I'd wrong."

He frowned, "Then why did you--" he was cut off by the stove dinging, and she went over to it. 

She pulled out a large pan -- with her bare hands -- and set it on the stove. Taking a fork out of the drawer, she plucked a slice of meat out and placing it on a plate, and gave it to him. 

"Here. Eat it," she said, her face was, somehow, expressionless, as she set the plate down. 

He looked at Rose, then at her, "If I eat this, then you'll forgive me?" He asked, just to be sure. She nodded. He sighed, and picked out a piece. "Here goes nothing," he said, and ate it. 

His eyes widened, his mouth was bursting with flavor. The food was sour and sweet at the same time. The eggs had somehow melted into the chicken, creating a sensational taste. The syrup made the food super sweet, but the tomato sauce somehow balanced it out. 

He looked at Augusta, who was only standing there, staring at him. "What? Is it bad?" Rose asked. 

"No, it's..." He looked at the plate, "Auggie, where did you learn to cook like this?"

She turned to get a more plates and forks, fixing Rose and herself a plate. "For the past few hours, I was working on how to create a food that doesn't look like it tasted good, but really is," she explained. "I wanted to explain something to you."

"What is that?"

She looked down, "When you saw me cooking, you didn't think it would taste good, and probably thought that I would poison you, but I didn't. I wanted you to trust me. If I was going to poison you, then I would've done so a long time ago," she paused. "And if I wanted to tell you about my secret and what was going on with me, then I would've, when I wanted to."

His eyes fractioned, that was what this was about? She was trying to teaching him a lesson about trust? "Doctor, I'm still new to all this... Emotion and love-thing. I don't completely understand it yet. And I know, that you worrying about me is because you love me, I understand that. And I understand that you want me to tell you every single detail about what happened in my life, but I can't. There are some things I can tell you, and other things that if I tell you about, then you might get killed, or worse..."

He narrowed his eyes, what could be worse then being killed. Well actually, there were hundreds of things that were worse, but he couldn't think of anything that she could be the cause of.

She took a deep breath, "What I'm trying to say, is... I don't know you. I don't know you either, Rose. And you both sure as hell don't know me. I don't want to get close to you, either of you, because I don't want you to get hurt. So... When I don't tell you when something is wrong or when something is happening, I want you two to trust me. And if-- when, I ask you for help, I know that I can trust you two to help me." She finished and exhaled, he looked at her, surprised by her speech. 

"Is that okay?" She asked, looking at them. 

"That's... Fantastic," he grinned. 

"Yeah, we understand, Auggie," Rose smiled, taking another bite out of her chicken, and sighing. "Ah, how in the world did you make this?"

Augusta laughed, "That's a secret that I can tell you!" She explained how she tasted nearly everything in the kitchen, and how the TARDIS helped, showing her ingredients that would mix with it. It was actually very clever of her and his Old Girl.

The three of them talked and laughed for a half hour. There was a happy atmosphere between the three of them and they'd laugh until their sides hurt, which made Augusta worry about their health, again. He silently wished that he could be happy like this all the time, almost like how he had been on Gallifrey, before the war. 

After a short silence, Rose said, "Hey... Don't you have a pool? In the TARDIS?"

He nodded, "Yup."

"How 'bout we take a short swim break?" She grinned. 

"If you want to," he replied. He hadn't really used the Pool Room that the TARDIS had, but his companions usually liked it, so he just kept it. "What do you think, Auggie?"

She shrugged, probably not even knowing what they meant. Rose grabbed her by the hand and raced out the room, "I'm gonna go pick out a cute suit for her!" She called and raced down the hall.

He chuckled to himself, and began to pick up the dirty dishes, washing them, and heading down to the Pool himself. 
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<
Augusta's POV 

"No," I said firmly, for what seemed like the twentieth time, I had lost count.

"Why not?!" Rose whined, tossing the flashy 'swimsuit' in the pile with the rest. 

We were in the TARDIS's wardrobe, and Rose wanted to choose a 'swimsuit' for me, which at the time seemed like a good idea. I did not know that 'swimsuits' were so... Revealing! All the ones that Rose pulled out had no actual clothing on it. It was just a strap for your chest, some bright colors and underwear. Sometimes, the strap for your chest and the underwear part weren't in two pieces, but even then, there were no pants or sleeves! Also. they are all slippery! It felt weird when I touched it, and I certainly did not want to wear it!

Not to mention, the pale pink scars from them and red dots still littered my skin, and even though they had seen them already back on Belltrix, I didn't want to show them off again. I felt... Different with them, I don't know how else to describe it. It made me feel weird when someone else saw them, or of my sleeve rolled up, and they were visible. It made my stomach turn painfully, and my face grow warm, which is another thing that confuses me. 

It seems as though my face can change colors, just like Rose's and the Doctor's and Jackie's, except, it doesn't. It just feels hot, but if doesn't turn red like theirs. I don't know if I can control that either. Maybe I'm broken, just like how my smile was that one time, when my eyes felt sad. I'll have to ask the Doctor about it. Maybe he has some way to fix it, or--

My thoughts were cut off by another bright yellow swimsuit getting shoved in my face, "What about this one?" Rose asked. It was as revealing as all the rest!

"No!" I frowned, crossing my arms. "I just won't go swimming!" I didn't even understand swimming, anyway! It's just taking a bath, in a bigger tub!!

"C'mon, you have to choose something," Rose sighed, picking up a blue one. "What about this one? I liked this one!" 

I shook my head, defiantly. "Maybe if you just--" my voice was cut off by the Doctor entering the wardrobe. 

"There you two are," he frowned, "I thought you were going to the pool? What's holding you up?"

"Auggie won't pick a swimsuit," Rose sighed. 

He looked at me, frowning, "What's wrong with this?" He gestured to the swimsuits that littered the flooring with bright, vibrant colors.

I shook my head, 'no'. "I can't--" I was cut off by a bright light illuminating something in the corner of my eye. I turned to see a dark red swimsuit, but instead of the others, it had long sleeves and pants attached. It was also a bit bulky on the side, which seemed weird. I picked it off the shelf and held it before me. It covered everything, so they wouldn't have a chance at seeing the pale pink scars that littered my body here and there.

I grinned, "Thanks TARDIS," I earned a soft hum in response. 

"I see the TARDIS found you something," the Doctor grinned. "Welp, no need to stand there, hurry up and change!" The Doctor grinned, and left the room, probably heading for the pool. I went to the changing room, and changed into the swimsuit.
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<
"C'mon Auggie, no need to be water shy," Rose said, swimming around in circles in the water. 

I crossed my arms, and looked away, "I just don't understand the point in it," I tried to explain. "Its a big tub! Are you getting washed?"

Rose's laughter echoed the room, "No, silly, its a pool you swim in it!" I frowned at her, untrustingly. "Okay, look. Just give it a try, I promise it won't hurt you."

"Last time I was here, I fell in," I frowned, remembering how I had fell into the pool, nearly dying while doing so. 

"I'll be here to help you, and so will the Doctor," Rose encouraged. I looked down, and she made a face that made my chest hurt. "Please? Just give it a try." Her lip was put out and her eyes wider than usual.

I sighed and went to the steps on the corner of the pool, walking in slowly. The water felt weird against my legs, and went up about to my waist. Rose walked over grinning madly, she was up to something. "What are you--"

Before I could finish, she splashed the water in my face. My mouth went agape and I stood there in shock, as she giggled. "Now you have to splash me," she said. 

I looked at her oddly, but splashed the water at her. She laughed harder, and splashed me, and I repeated it. "I don't understand the point in this," I said.

Rose sighed, "Let's play a game!" She suggested. 

"'Game'?"

"Yeah! Let's play tag," she said. "You're it!" She splashed me in the face and swam away quickly.

"Wha-- Rose! I don't... Hey! Don't leave me here!!" I turned to the Doctor who was standing against the wall, chuckling to himself. When he saw me, he motioned for me to go to her. 

I sighed and began to walk awkwardly through the water. Rose was far ahead from me, and at this pace, I was never going to catch up to her. "Come and get me, ya slow poke!"

"What's a 'slow poke'?!" That didn't even sound like English!

Rose laughed, and went to swim again quickly. I sighed, I was getting nowhere! I looked down at the water that seemed to slip through my fingers, and something clicked in my head. "Hey Rose, you said that all I have to do it splash you, right?"

"Yep, that's the rules," she said, and I smirked.

I went underwater, creating a water bubble around my head so I could breathe. I pointed on the water around Rose's feet to freeze tightly so she couldn't move. "Wha-- AUGGIE!" I heard her shout in protest. 

I was a few feet behind her when I began to create a large water wave. When it was finally high enough, I made it move towards her. 

She screamed when it had just reached over her head, and I appeared behind her, "You're it." Just like that, the large wave came crashing down. I unfroze her feet so she could move, and we both went to go sit on the edge of the pool. Water was in large puddles on the ground, the Doctor was right behind us with towels. 

"You cheater," she scowled, hitting me softly on the shoulder. "That's not fair."

I didn't saw anything, for a few minutes. Finally, a small smile appeared on my face, and I began to chuckle lightly, which turned into a giggle, which turned into full blown laughter. 

I was laying on the concrete edge, just laughing. Soon, my sides began to hurt and so did my cheeks, but I couldn't stop. After staring at me for a few seconds, Rose joined me, and we were both laughing hysterically. I saw the Doctor, chuckle as well. 

For the next ten minutes, we were just laughing, stomachs hurting, tears streaming down our faces, and laughing. I felt... Happy, which is something I thought I'd never feel. I looked over to Rose, who was finally calming down, as was I. 

After we recomposed ourselves, we went back in the water, I promised not to cheat anymore. Even the Doctor went to go wade in the shallower end, and helped me learn how to swim.

We must've been in there for hours, because I felt really exhausted. My eyes felt droopy, my movements more sluggish, and I kept yawning, involuntarily. "Somebody must be sleepy," Rose grinned. 

"I'm not tired," I protested. 

"I think you are," the Doctor said, taking my hand. "C'mon, lets go get you ready for bed. We can go explore the Caterrial Galaxy tomorrow." He grinned, and I nodded, making my way out of the pool. I noticed that my skin felt all weird, and my hair was soaking wet. 

After I changed, the Doctor led me to my room. He helped me settle in my hammock, which was far too comfy for me to sleep in, but I didn't feel like moving. "G'night, Auggie," he smiled. 

I nodded to him, and he headed for the door. "Doctor," I called, just before he left. He turned around, and looked at me. "Can I... Ask you a question...?"

"Course you can," he smiled, and went to go pull up my chair, and sit beside the hammock that I was settled in. 

"Um... If I... Uh..." I sighed. "If I... Asked you to kill me, would you?"

His eyes fractioned, "Where's this coming from?" I looked away, not saying anything. He sighed, "Auggie, I would never hurt you. Ever. Not even if you asked me to."

"If I killed someone important, would you?"

"Never."

"Even if I..." I gulped, and my chest felt tight. "If I killed Rose?"

I saw his eyes slowly widen, then darken, "Auggie, I know you wouldn't kill Rose. I know you wouldn't kill anyone."

"I'm sorry," I turned away, "I never should've asked. Just... Forget about it..." I bit my lip until I tasted the metallic taste of blood, my eyes brimming with tears. 

I heard him walk over to me, and his cold lips press against my forehead. "It's okay," he assured. "I'm never, ever going to hurt you. I don't know who, or what, made you think that I would've, but I promise that I would never do so."

I nodded, and he patted my head, "Get some sleep, kiddo." With that, he closed the door, and the lights in the room dimmed. I sighed, and stared at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to consume me. 
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<
I stumbled down the hallway, I could hear the sounds of screaming children surrounding me. "HELP! PLEASE, HELP US!" They screamed in terror. 

I turned and raced towards the voices, "SAVE US, SAVE US!!" They screamed. The hallway seemed to stretch longer and longer with every step. 

After what seemed like hours, I finally made it to the door. I bent the metal inside, and unlocked the door. I swung it open with all my might to see children, chained to the wall. Blood pooling out if their bodies, and filled the floor to at least my ankles and rising. Their mangled bodies that were twisted at irregular angles made me want to throw up!

I stared at the horrible scene, until I saw something flash in the corner of my eyes. I turned to see nothing but darkness. Suddenly, I heard something else and someone giggle. I turned to see nothing, again.

Then the door slammed shut behind me and I gasped. I ran to the door, moving the metal, pulling on the handle, and it didn't budge. Another girlish giggle made me turn around, my back pressed against the door, my feet knee-deep in crimson red blood. 

Then I heard laughter, demented, ear-shattering laughter that echoed the room and filled my ears. My knees felt weak and I felt like I couldn't breath. The blood to my waist and I saw yellow-piecing eyes lurking in the shadows of the room that were gradually getting darker.

I tried to move but my feet were stuck to the floor, as if something were grabbing onto it. I reluctantly sank my arm into the blood to pull at whatever was attached to my legs. 

When I finally came a loose, I pulled it out, and I gagged at the sight. It was a disembodied hand, still dripping with blood, a bit of dark red skin still attached that had small patches of a irregular green to it. I screamed, and threw it across the room. 

I began to freak out, I pulled at the arms on my ankles as hard as I could, trying not to throw up when I saw the disgusting disembodied limbs. The loud laughter only encouraged me to work faster, my hands were shaking, and I pushed against the door to get out while I worked. 

Finally, I got them all off and the door swung open, not wasting a second, I ran out of the room as fast as I could into the ever stretching hallway, taking turns left and right as I went. I heard the sound of rushing liquid behind me, and did not want to look to find out what it was. 

I took another turn and bumped into something that made me fall flat on my butt. "I found you," a eerie, threatening voice said. I looked up fearfully to see a man in a white coat, holding a button, "You know what happens next."

I gasped, "NO! No please!!" 

His lips curled into a smirk, "You lose." As soon as those words left his mouth, my body was engulfed in a electrifying pain. I screamed and squeezed my eyes shut. I clawed at my throat where I knew the metal collar was, and where the electricity was coming from. 

Suddenly, it stopped, and my body felt like it was floating. "Wha--?" I  tried to say, but bubbles escaped from my mouth. I frowned, and pried my eyes open. I was in some kind of red... Haze. I tried to do something else, only to have more bubbles escape from my mouth. I frowned, was I underwater? Was I swimming? What was I swimming i--

My mind struck with realization and my eyes widened. I was swimming... In blood! 

Just as I thought that, a disembodied head floated across my vision. I watched it's blonde hair cover its face, and hesitantly reached my hand out to move it. I gasped, it was Rose's! Her mouth was agape, as if it were screaming, and her eyes a demonic red, there was no white in it. 

She's dead! I thought in horror, when suddenly, her eyes were filled with life, and her mouth moved. She turned to glare heavily at me, "WAKE UP!!" She hissed loudly.
>*<*>*<*>*<*>*<
I shot up, my body covered with sweat. Before I could do anything, my body lost balance and I fell on the floor, butt first. I groaned, and lied on the ground, in pain, but didn't say anything. My hands were shaking, and my eyes felt heavy with tears. My mind was filled with terror and kept flashing back to the graphic dream. 

I sobbed into the blanket, wrapping my body up protectively in it, trying to calm myself down. Their laughter was still echoing through the room, and only seemed to get louder.

Finally, I had enough. I kicked off the blankets and ran as fast as I could out of the room, and down the hallway. I twisted and turned through the halls, but the laughter only seemed to follow me where I went. I finally stopped at a TARDIS blue door with small, colorful dots that looked like the lights in the sky, what was it called? The Stairs? The Stares? The Stars... The Stars!! 

I knocked frantically on the door, trying to cover my ears from the evil, demonic laughter that filled it. I heard footsteps from the inside, and finally, after what seemed like forever, the door opened. 

It revealed a half-dressed Doctor, who was staring at me. He seemed to notice the tears that streaked down my cheeks and the way I clenched at my ears trying to stop the noise that invaded them. For some reason, when I saw him, the laughter stopped and was replaced by the soft humming of the TARDIS.

Not a second later, he was on his knees, and held my head in his chest, "Shh... Shh..." He said as I sobbed into his bare chest. I wanted to stay there forever. He felt so... Warm. So different. I didn't understand why he felt like this, that made my chest swell, and my tears clear. I can't feel heat, or cold, so why do I feel like this when I'm with him? What is he doing to me? How is this possible? 

"Did you have a nightmare again?" He asked after my tears cleared up. I nodded, "Was it bad?" I nodded again. 

"I-I'm sorry," I tried to say. "I woke you up. I'm being..." What did Mr. Jackson call it? "I'm being... Annoying..." 

He looked at me, "You're not being annoying! Who told you that you were annoying?"

"Mr. Jackson used to say that when I had nightmares..." I murmured, fiddling with my gloves and looking at the metal flooring.

"Listen to me: You're not annoying. Especially when you have nightmares or if you're scared!" 

I nodded weakly, "I'm sorry--"

"There's no need to apologize," he said. "C'mon, let's go to bed." He lead me into his room.

His room was much, much bigger than mines. The floor felt like grass, but it was silver and the walls were a dark red. There was also some sort of city... On the wall. It looked like I could walk right into it, but I knew it was a wall. In the center of the room was a huge bed and a small table beside it. 

I climbed in the large bed, "I'm sorry," I said, "I don't know why I came here. I was just really scared. I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to be by myself. I-I just--"

"It's okay," he assured. "No need to apologize."

I nodded, and we were silent for a few seconds. "How did you make the voices go away?" I suddenly asked. 

"What voices?"

"The voices. The laughing. Sometimes, it'll just... Show up, and it won't go away until I calm down. But... When I looked at you, they disappeared. How did you do that?"

He smiled, "When you love someone, you sometimes think that they'll protect you," he explained. "I think that you knew that I would help you, so there was nothing to be afraid of." Short pause, "Was the nightmare that bad?" I nodded. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"Will that... Make me feel better?"

"Usually does," He admitted.

I looked at him, then sighed. I told him my dream, from running down the hall, to the bleeding room, to the man electrocuting me, and finally, the one when I was drowning in blood. 

Once I got to 'drowning in blood', I began to cry again, remembering the horrific look on Rose's face. "I'm sorry, I just... I was really scared..." I murmured, trying to wipe the tears away.

Suddenly, he hugged me again, I bit my lip tightly so I wouldn't start crying again, but I couldn't help it. I was so scared... What did that head mean? Would I kill Rose? I don't want to kill her! I don't want anyone else to die because of me!!

"Hey, hey, calm down," the Doctor whispered soothingly in my ear. "I'm here now, okay? I'll keep the nightmares away."

I looked at him, "How?"

He smirked, "I'm sure a 900 year old Time Lord like me can stop small nightmares like that." I laughed softly, "It's okay now. You can go back to sleep."

"But... If I have a nightmare...?" I frowned, I didn't want to have another nightmare, and accidentally set his bed on fire.

"You won't have one. I'll make sure of it," he paused. "And if I see you having one, I promise to wake you up before it gets bad."

I looked at him, "You promise?"

"I promise."

I nodded, and closed my eyes, after a few minutes of silence and leaning into the beating hearts of the Doctor lulled me back to sleep.
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Doctor's POV

He watched silently as her breathing changed from ragged to smooth, signaling her sleep. He sighed and began to stroke her braids carefully. 

He couldn't believe that she had had a dream like that... From the way she described it, it sent shivers down his spine. 

He sighed, and looked at her sleeping face that dug into his bare chest. Her lips were slightly parted, her eyes closed, her fist balled, but not clenched, and a peaceful expression on her face. 

He sighed again, she was such a beautiful girl. The way her eyes would light up when she discovered new things. The way she laughed when she found something funny. The way she was so innocent to the universe, yet she was tainted by its darkness.

He frowned, he was being domestic, again! He needed to stop being so close to her, she was a child! He had a rule against this, didn't he?!  'No children on the TARDIS'! It was a very important rule, that he had put in place for a reason! He--

"Daddy," Augusta muttered in her sleep, cuddling closer to him. He stared at the girl, what? For 1 minute and 13.234 seconds, he stared at her, waiting for her to say something else, only to find her silent. 

He sighed, he would need to find her parents, that was a priority. To keep her from getting hurt was to keep her away, so finding her parents would be the best idea.

August mumbled other incoherent words, and he sighed again, stroking her hair softly. He didn't want to see her to go, not yet...