Hello, everybody! I finally finished my chapter.

Well, it turns out that this adventure that I wanted to write in two parts is more like a three-part story. Not that it bothers anyone.

I'm also doing an illustration that I'm really looking forward to publishing when it's finished.

I have so much to say, but I'd rather leave it at that, so as not to bother you (besides, who's really reading my notes?).

Enjoy your reading !

I froze at the voice. How? Why was he here? It was too soon to see him again. I turned around slowly staring wide-eyed at the hot, flirty captain.

"Jack...?" I gasped in shock, not believing what I was seeing right now.

"You scared us! We've been looking for you for an hour. We weren't supposed to split up because of the mist." he rumbled without noticing my shock.

Still in shock I made a vague apology which seemed to satisfy Jack Harkness.

"Come on, let's go back to the Doctor and Rose's side. They're not far away."

He dragged me along with him as the mist gradually disappeared. Jack put one hand behind my back and slid it down my back, making me stiff. I spread his hand before taking a few steps away from him.

"Alvia?" Jack asked. "Is something wrong?"

I was going to say yes, there was a problem. But just as I was about to speak, Rose's voice echoed. She was younger, and sounded less vicious than the Rose who was at her mother's house right now.

"Jack! " called the blond girl.

"Over here! " shouted Jack.

Rose appeared after a few moments jogging, followed by the Doctor. The ninth. My first Doctor.

"No need to look for Alvia, we've found her! "

And behind the Doctor was me. A younger me, shorter hair, no glasses, the long beige coat and a sheepish smile on the lips.

"What do you mean by you found her?" asked Jack confusedly as he looked at me, while the trio finally came towards us. The mist had almost disappeared and I couldn't disappear incognito. "I found her too."

I can feel troubles beginning... I thought suddenly.

They turned to me with surprise before Rose and the Doctor's eyes became suspicious while the eyes of my young self were confused. So, this is what I looked like when I was confused? It's so weird to see each other, it was completely different from the mirror because it looked like a different person. Even though it was me, we had the same thoughts, the same reflexes, the same past.

I could almost understand how people felt in the Ganger episode with the Flesh.

"Who the hell are you? " scolded the Doctor, his voice sounding dangerously loud as he took a threatening step towards me. "Why did you take on Alvia's appearance? What's your intention?"

"What? Seriously? "I said suddenly with an incredulous, mocking laugh. "Is that all you can think about? I'm extremely disappointed."

I mentally smacked myself in the face. Of all the things I could say, that was that. I wasn't better than the Doctor. Especially as he was quite protective of me - not that my Doctor wasn't, but he showed it differently - and he could be really dangerous when he attacked someone, I can still remember the first time he was mad at me - it was when I first got into the Tardis.

"Last chance. " he cut off sharply.

"Seriously, Doctor, I know you're an idiot with a blue box, but this is bordering on profound stupidity right now. "I kept going before I looked at my younger self. "Oi, Tximinoa. Tell him."

My youngest self-widened her eyes at the nickname my father sometimes used and she finally spoke.

"That' s definitely me, Doctor." She said, hand on his arm before turning to me with an annoyed look on her face. " Tu sais que ce surnom m'agace. "

"C'est exactement pourquoi je l'ai choisie, foxy." I teased.

"Tu vas vraiment ressortir tous les surnoms qu'on a eu? "

"Tu sais que j'en suis capable. "

"Malheureusement."

"My God, there's two of her. " Rose commented in horror.

"I don't mind. "Jack added with a wink, as we rolled our eyes.

The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in exasperation.

"And the day had started so well" he muttered. "So, what are you doing here? How did you get here, anyway?"

"Oh, I came with your future self. Some sort of signal's been sent out through the Tardis and the Time Vortex. We landed yesterday morning and I got lost in the mist about an hour ago." I explained with a shrug, like I was talking about nice weather.

"A signal broadcasting through the Time Vortex? That's not possible." he denies.

"Well, you'll see in the future I was right. But if you're not here because of that, then what the hell are you doing here?"

"How can you not remember this? "Rose intervened with a smirk.

"You tell me. " I snapped, annoyed by the blonde.

"Maybe it's like... you know... 'the day of the doctor'? " Supposed my young self. "Oooh! That's not stupid! Maybe our times aren't synchronized; that's probably why I don't remember it. Or maybe my memory's blocked, your choice. "I babbled happily, "So, what are you doing here?" I asked again.

"We were supposed to go to the new Roman Empire, but we're here instead. The Doctor continues to deny that his driving is horrible. " replied my young self.

I really should find a nickname for my young self; I can't keep calling her that until we part.

"Oi! My driving's perfect! "the Doctor protested in indignation. "It's the TARDIS that brought us here!"

"Keep telling yourself that! "I said with my past self, at the same time.

"Oh, that's weird..." she said.

"Definitely. " I agreed.

"Anyway, not that I don't like chatting with you, but I really must get back to my Doctor. Especially as there's absolutely no way we're wandering around here at night."

"Why?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"Last night, the Doctor and I had to run to escape from dozens of giant heavy armour-packed swordsmen who wanted nothing more than to kill us. I think they're some kind of guardians of this ancient city."

"When you say giant heavy armour..." Jack hesitated.

"In the ghostly armour style of the Zelda game. Extremely scary. "I described it by making a quick sketch in a notebook to show the group.

"Good thing they're not Breath of the Wild guardians. "added the other me.

"Don't speak ill of the Lord, with the Doctor's luck we might find an equivalent in this bloody place."

"Hem! Hem! " interrupted Rose heavily. "Shouldn't we be helping Alvia find her Doctor?"

" Definitely. " intervened the Doctor.

And he made a plan which was this: I remained in their company until we found my Doctor. And I wasn't going to wander away, just as my past self was supposed to stay in the group and not go away to observe some statue.

It had been several hours since I was now with my first Doctor, and I still hadn't found my current Doctor. It would soon be nightfall. My past self was with Jack and Rose a little further forward, I could see myself chatting with Jack and Rose, probably exchanging spikes with the blonde. Until now I hadn't spoken a word to this Doctor. I didn't know what to say. It was a bit painful to see him so alive, I had "mourned" the 9th Doctor and seeing him again now was like reopening the wound. And then this Doctor seemed so light and didn't have the weight of shame of his act. He hadn't done it yet. The tragedy didn't happen yet.

And how much I wished this event never happened. But I knew better than to change something from my past. And if I did, would I have lived with the joy that I was living with my Doctor? And for nothing in the world would I want to lose that.

"You're quieter. " suddenly spoke the Doctor.

"I am? "I asked without any curiosity.

"And calmer too."

"I doubt about that last point. I've recently started to take initiatives which are as dangerous as they are brilliant, a bit like the one you're taking. "

"Something's happened to you. " Guessed the Doctor, with his hands in his pockets.

My lips stretched out in a bitter smile that the Doctor saw.

"Yes." I sighed after a few minutes. "And as much as I want with all my being that this thing never happens, I won't change it. But if I did, I wouldn't be the person I am now. Besides, I'm not so stupid to make the same mistake Rose did."

On second thought... it's pretty good that I don't remember this event in the past. Because I would have hated my future self for not warning me of this tragedy, for not trying to prevent it. Hating yourself... it seemed ridiculous and yet it was so easy to do...

"Are you happy? " he asks seriously.

Am I happy? I never asked myself that question... so I started thinking about everything I'd been through. Rose's anger and our fights, our arguments, black looks and slaps. My anxieties and fears, my sorrows and tears. All this was swallowed up by all the happiness I was living. The joy of travelling and exploring new planets, of experiencing events that happened long before I was even born, those moments when I was running for my life hand in hand with the Doctor, those moments with my Doctor, our kisses and so much more... Yes. I was happy. Happy with my life, happy with my relationship with the Doctor.

And that's what I said to him. "Yes. I am happy. Maybe even happier than I was at home. "

I offered him a loving smile which he took as a sweet smile, not knowing the relationship and love that was being shared between his future self and I. And the Doctor gave me an equally sweet smile, his eyes shining with undisguised joy.

Surprising everyone, myself included, an "Alvia! " resounds out loud to our left, in a narrow alley. Everyone turned towards the source of the call, and I was happy to find my Doctor again. My lips stretched upwards and I shared a big smile with my Doctor. Soon he stood by my side and put his hands on my shoulders, squeezing them lightly.

"I've been looking for you for hours, don't you scare me like that ever again! Do I have to give you a rundown of the rules too? Rule number 1: don't wander off! Honestly, I thought you didn't need me to mention it!"

I couldn't help but burst out laughing at the rule, as did my youngest person. That's how my Doctor came to realise the presence of his former incarnation, Jack and Rose. The 9th Doctor seemed to swallow a whole lemon as he stared at my Doctor, Rose was confused, Jack seemed totally interested by the Doctor and certainly wanted to flirt with him and my younger self had stars in her eyes when she saw the 10th Doctor for the first time.

"Who are you? "Rose asked promptly with a feigned shyness, interrupting the Doctor in his babbling about his rules.

"Oh, I feel like I'm re-experiencing the regeneration. " said the Doctor. "I'm the Doctor, hello!"

"What?! You can't be! " denies Rose. "You look nothing like the Doctor."

"I really should be telling my companions about regeneration..." mumbled the Doctor. "But it's really me, it's a trick used by my people to cheat death. Bad things have happened and one thing led to another and I've regenerated to be like this." he explains quickly.

"I regenerated into a pretty boy?!" exclaimed the old Doctor unexpectedly and indignantly.

"One of my best faces, if I may say so." bragged my Doctor as he tightened his tie slightly.

"I've regenerated myself in you?!"

"That's what I said. I thought you heard it right the first time with those ears."

"Oi!"

And so, it was with Rose, Jack, my young self that I watched the two Doctors insult each other. It was quite funny.

"Imagine if Donna had been here..." whispered my younger self with an amused smile.

"It would have been the end of the world, no doubt about it. "I laughed softly.

"Should we stop them?"

"Nah, let's enjoy it some more."

At my words, my young self snorted with amusement, a little smile stretching the corner of her lips.

After a few minutes, I finally had to intervene as the two Doctors were ready to fight each other with their sonic screwdrivers. So, I decided to grab the Doctor's tie and pull him away from the ninth Doctor.

"There' s no time to beat you up or have a competition over who has the bigger one." I finally intervened before turning to my Doctor. "We've got things to do here, Doctor, and if it was possible to find out before nightfall, I'd be even more grateful. "

"You mean the signal? " asked the ninth Doctor, putting away his screwdriver.

"Oh? did you tell him about it, Alvia?" asked the tenth Doctor, turning to me and bringing me closer to him.

"Oh, yeah... and he thinks it's impossible. "I replied, gesturing my hand to the man in the leather coat.

"He, is right here. " grunted the Doctor in question. "And he still thinks it's impossible for a signal to echo through the Time Vortex."

"Can't you hear it?" added the tenth confusedly.

"I can't hear anything at all." Refutes the ninth in exasperation. "I don't even know what you're talking about."

"The signal! The signal, can't you hear it?! It's been resonating in my head since the first time it was heard in the TARDIS; it's driving me mad!"

My neck cracked as I turned my head towards my Doctor, looking at him in horror. He refused to look at me in the eyes, as if he were ashamed or scared. Or both.

"You... you've been hearing it in your mind all this time? "I croak with horror.

He nodded piteously and I gasped in horror. All this time he's been hearing the signal in his mind on a loop? How had he not fallen apart before? Hearing a sound in his mind over and over again... He would go crazy like the Master, if we couldn't find the source to turn off that damn signal. There was no way the Doctor would hear that noise in his mind forever.

"I can muffle it and push it back deep into my mind, put it as a background noise," he continues, to mitigate the horror of this information. "But it's still in my mind. It never stops."

The ninth Doctor looked at my Doctor with a horror almost equal to mine, though it was much better concealed. He made a throat sound and then suddenly spoke in a language I had never heard before. It was a language which almost sounded like a song, soft and melodic. But mostly a language that wasn't translated by the Tardis, which meant it was Gallifreyan.

And my Doctor replied to him in the same language, inquiring a conversation which appeared to be private and important enough for them to speak in their native languages; not wanting us to know the content in it. Just looking at my younger self, Jack and Rose, we all agreed on one thing; the Doctor's native tongue was beautiful, and we dared not interrupt them.

And after a while, as the conversation between the two Doctors became more and more energetic, the ninth raised his arms in abandonment and sighed before speaking again in English.

"All right, all right! "he exclaimed annoyingly before pointing at his future incarnation. "But I warn you, if this whole thing turns out to be a total hoax, you'll end up with my fist in your pretty face! »

A satisfied smile settled on the Doctor's lips as he nodded. What had just happened? What did the ninth Doctor accept?

"What's going on, Doc? " Jack finally asked, asking the question that everyone was wondering.

"We're going to help them find the signal and shut it down."

That's how I came back to explore with my Doctor and the quartet from the past as well. No longer requiring any notes or any scans, we set off in search of the signal. My Doctor was literally the only thing and person able to find the source of that signal, it was still in his mind and was always increasing as we were getting closer.

While I used to chat with my Doctor as we were walking, this time I was quiet, mildly embarrassed by the presence of the quartet. That, plus the fact that I restrained myself physically from being close to the Doctor as I used to be with him; glancing at my Doctor I could see it was the same for him. He physically restrained himself from being touchy as he always been with me. My Doctor is a joyful, touchy and friendly man. Never reluctant to reach and hold my hand, bending over a bit so his shoulders would touch mine despite the different sizes, being close enough to make it almost indecent, or putting his arm around me - shoulders, back or hips - to bring me closer to him.

And despite popular belief, the Doctor - whatever his regeneration was - was not an idiot. He's a clever man, a very clever man, and he could see many details. I learned on the hard way that the ninth Doctor was/is a man who could do a behaviour analysis and deduce a conclusion with a single look. And it was precisely that analysis I was trying to prevent with my Doctor. We both wanted to keep our relationship a secret, afraid it might change our past and therefore our present.

Night fell just as quickly as the day before, and the spectral armour reappeared despite the absence of fog; which confirmed the theory that they were guarding something activated by night. Fortunately for that night we were a bit more ready and we took refuge in a temple which kept us safe until dawn. So, the Ninth Doctor and his companions could observe with terror the threat of the heavy spectral armours.

My younger self did not deign to observe them any longer, unlike Jack, who developed a morbid fascination. Jack frightened us to death when he went to throw some stones out of the temple because he got annoyed. One of them had bumped into an armour and the echo of the shock froze us in terror as the activating guard, ready to attack, began to follow the path of the pebble to stop in front of the temple. The moment the guards left, Jack took a slap from me, and a knee kick from my younger self.

With the Doctor, our meals had to be shared with the quartet who hadn't planned anything - they didn't think they would stay here that long - but we didn't take our mattresses/sleeping bags out because we didn't think it would be useful. Instead we slept against the stone, which is absolutely uncomfortable - fortunately for me, my bag served as a pillow -.

I was currently watching the small campfire prepared by the Doctor, which was gently crackling. Rose was asleep next to Jack, and he was snoring softly. My young self was sleeping too, next to the ninth Doctor. He occasionally brushed the wild, red hair with one hand while the other held a book written by Charles Dickens. My Doctor was re-reading the notes we took. I was unable to sleep.

Sighing in frustration, I stood up and stretched myself along, cracking my spine.

The two Doctors looked at me in silence.

"I can't sleep..." I explained quietly to prevent awakening the others.

This seemed to be enough for them since they returned to their activities. For a few moments I looked at my young self, deeply asleep and wrapped in the long beige coat I wore before the Doctor's regeneration. I need to ask Sexy to stop hiding that coat and give it back to me; I wish I could put it back one day...

I walked towards the Temple's entrance, remaining within it to benefit of its protection against the spectral armours. My eyes became accustomed to the darkness and yet I could see nothing through the darkness of the city, only the purple and blue runes were a source of light. The square in which the temple stood was silent and empty of guards. I rested against roots wrapped around several stones and closed my eyes. No fresh breeze whistled through the streets and swayed the tree branches growing on either side of the antique city.

Noise of shoes sounds behind me. It wasn't clattering, so it was my Doctor. I was right as he wrapped an arm around me and made me lie against his firm chest. The hand of his arm wrapped around me rested against my arm.

"Tomorrow we'll finally reach the centre of the city." he said a few minutes later. "We' re getting closer and closer to the source of the signal."

The fact the doctor heard the signal in his mind came back to me and I pivoted slightly towards him, taking my hand away from his and raising it up to his cheek and caressing him gently. The fear of being seen by the ninth Doctor was clearly no longer my priority.

"Is it getting louder? "I asked in a whisper.

He leaned against my hand and closed his eyes before he sighed deeply, his eyebrows frowning slightly as if he was in pain. Maybe he was really in pain.

"It's here... all time, every minute, every second. Ringing in my mind. "He confesses through a whisper.

"We'll find it," I promise with certainty. "We will find it and end it; everything will be all right, again."

A small smile stretched his lips and he leaned over to kiss me. But he stopped long before, realizing that his self from the past was watching us right now. He appeared frustrated about being unable to kiss me so I offered him a supportive smile. It also frustrated me for not being close as I wanted to be. In consolation, I reached deeper into his chest and he wrapped his two arms around me to get me closer to him; my head rested against his chest in the middle and I felt the constant gentle beating of his two hearts.

"I don't like this planet..." I whispered quietly after a long moment of silence. "I have a bad feeling about this. The absence of any proof of life, those night guards, the signal... everything. I got a feeling we're about to discover something dangerous; something that's asleep and just waiting for us to wake it up. "

The doctor answered me with a deep humming.

"I'm afraid, Doctor. " I confessed in a breath.

One of the Doctor's hands moved up from my back to my neck and into my hair, resting against my scalp. He lifted up my head a bit and then gave me a long kiss on my forehead. I closed my eyes as I savoured the sensation of his cool lips against my skin.

"I will always be there to protect you if needed," he said. "You have absolutely nothing to fear as long as I am by your side." he whispered, his lips moving against my skin.

I hummed with appreciation and shivered with pleasure at his voice humming in my ears. A tired yawn escaped my lips and the Doctor began to chuckle quietly.

"Come on, it's time to sleep. Especially since I know you're going to be hard to wake up tomorrow. You really do like your sleep, don't you?"

I huffed and puffed with amusement as I reluctantly withdrew from my Doctor's arms to return to the campfire where everyone was sleeping except the ninth Doctor. I laid my head against my tissue bag and rolled myself up, hiding my hands in my sleeves, when a weight was added to the length of my body. I opened one eye and found that my body was covered by the Doctor's long beige coat which now served as a blanket. I thanked him with a tender smile before finally falling asleep in a few minutes.

I heard the fire crackling and the soft murmur of a conversation in an ancient and untranslated language as a lullaby.

The Doctor in his suit with no coat, sitting near the fire, watched Alvia tenderly as she fell asleep peacefully. She looked tiny as she lay covered by his coat. He thought it was cute. He glanced at the other Alvia, the younger one, the one who was traveling with his previous incarnation. Asleep, they both looked young, and he could see the differences and similarities between them. They always slept on one side, using their hands or arms as a support for their heads in addition to some kind of pillow; they had a habit of turning on themselves while they slept, although for his Alvia it seemed more like protection than anything else. He knew why, he was the origin of this unconscious gesture and it still made him suffer today.

Almost like the signal deep in his mind, he could hear a mocking voice constantly telling him that it was his fault and that he didn't deserve her. This voice was constantly shifting in tone, but it often came back to Alvia's voice or his former incarnation.

"A penny for your thoughts? "interrupted the former Doctor in their mother tongue.

"Don't bother spending money on thoughts you'll have," replied the Doctor lazily.

"I still can't believe I'm regenerating into a pretty boy..." mumbles the ninth as he crosses his arms, his book recently put away.

"You better get used to it, because I'm not going to regenerate any time soon. "...adds the tenth sharply.

Silence fell again, only interrupted by the creak of the fire fading with time and Jack's snores.

The two Doctors continued their conversation, murmuring in Gallifreyan so they wouldn't wake the others. The conversation was long but distracting for them, not even when the fire went out, the spectral guardians didn't bother them. And only the awakening of their companions put an end to their discussions.

As expected, I was the last to wake up and it took me about 15 minutes to become fully functional. And as predicted we finally reached the center of the city in a few hours.

The center of the antique city was characterized by a huge square, like a capitol, and within its center a gigantic temple in ruins, which was held only by the roots of trees who had grown up and dislodged stones. This temple was different from all the other temples we saw before. The temple seemed to be a fusion between a Japanese religious temple and an ancient Greek temple. The Japanese-looking roof was supported by several columns. Some of them were still standing while others had suffered due to the time, erosion and invasive vegetation, causing some to crack or worse destroy, with the pieces resting on the ground.

"It reminds me of the temple of the Sea King in Zelda..." my young self remarked.

Indeed, they did bear some similarities. Above the arch of the doorway was a huge sculpture of an emblem represented by a vortex with a cube in its center.

We walked to the Temple entrance and the Doctor and I had to take out our flashlights because we couldn't see more than a meter inside the temple. And the interior was just as huge and impressive as the exterior. The temple was decorated with huge sculptures of the guardians on the side up to stairs that joined at the back of the temple to make a balcony floor. A kind of pedestal or altar could be seen. The center of the temple was also decorated by columns that were unfortunately destroyed, but they formed a path that led under the floor where there was a stone arch that led to descending stairs leading to another underground room.

We didn't try to see what was on the balcony because we chose to go into underground, going down those stairs after my doctor noticed the signal increasing to the stairs. From the first underground room, walls were covered with ancient drawings and engravings, drawings which had lost some of their colour and some of them were almost erased. This room led to another staircase much longer than the first one and took us far down underground, the stairs were illuminated by luminescent blue runes which gathered to form lines that reminded us of an electronic printed circuit board.

The raid lasted a long time, so much so that we're considering going back. But when we finally saw the light at the end of the stairs, we were all relieved. The stairs led to a corridor which then led to a huge room. This huge room appeared to be empty except for some steps that led to a huge column that went up to the ceiling. In the column was a cube that seemed to have enclosed a piece of the space within it. The cube was deep blue and full with different astral bodies, stars, galaxy, black hole...

The cube was pulsating slowly and echoed like a heart, and from its pulsations a bluish light diffused. The Doctor started groaning in pain as he rubbed his fingers against his temples. I put a hand on his arm, worried about this sudden manifestation.

"Doctor?"

"The signal is definitely coming from that thing, it's resonating so loud..." groaned the Doctor as he bent over a bit, his eyebrows frowning more and more. "I can barely hear my own thoughts..."

The ninth Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and approached the cube to scan it. He merely pressed the button to turn it on when the Cube flashed and pushed the Doctor away with a powerful shock wave, knocking him backwards and to the floor. My Doctor groaned in pain and collapsed on his knees holding his head with both hands.

"Doctor!" exclaimed the trio from the past as they joined their Doctor.

The Cube, which until now seemed calm as if it were at rest, became restless and its pulsation became more intense than before; causing more pain to my Doctor. In addition to that, the runes which illuminated the room and the stairs were previously blue, but now they turned to crimson, like the guardians' runes. A loud sound of stones rolling against other stones reverberated, and it was with horror I saw behind us the entrance to the room being closed by a heavy, thick, carved stone door. I jumped straight to the door immediately, in the hope of stopping this door from closing, which would simply lock us in with the cube. But by the time I managed to reach it, there were only a few centimetres left and it was with frustration that I violently hit the door with my fist.

"Fuck, no! " I cursed violently, adding a kick to the door. "We're locked! "

"Must certainly be a security system..." mumbles the ninth Doctor as he gets up.

"No shit, Sherlock! "I hissed on my way back to my Doctor's side, still groaning in pain.

The room suddenly began to rumble and move violently, as if an earthquake suddenly occurred. Fear and anxiety took hold inside my chest as I nervously watched the ceiling move and dust appeared and fell.

"What's going on?" exclaimed Rose, held by Jack.

"I have no idea!" replied the Doctor, holding my youngest self in his arms.

The cube was so shiny that its interior was impossible to see, it was shining like a sun. So bright that we must cover our eyes. The room quivered again and again, for long minutes. The sounds of heavy stones coming together and wood cracking suddenly echoed in our ears. The Doctor's forehead met my legs as he bent over in pain, beads of tears growing at the corners of his eyes firmly closed. He was now panting in pain and I aspired to make his pain vanish, but I didn't know what to do.

Finally, peace returned. The trembling ceased and the noise outside faded away; the cube returned to its original state and the Doctor suddenly sighed with relief. I passed a soft hand over his shoulders and over his back before he slowly straightened up. I met the Doctor's exhausted face, his eyes slightly red from holding back his tears.

"Are you all right, Doctor? "I asked softly.

"It's gone, it's gone, it's gone." he repeats endlessly in relief. "At last... my mind is peaceful again, the signal disappeared from my mind." he adds before he wraps his arms around me and presses his face into my shoulder.

I felt the Doctor's body literally relax in my arms, like all this time it had been stretched like a bowstring or a stretched rubber band, ready to snap at any moment. I carefully rubbed my hands behind his back, openly ignoring the glances of the quartet from the past, and more precisely Rose's already jealous gaze, and Jack's shining eyes saying clearly that he was aware of things we didn't realize. The Doctor let a sigh escape from his lips, a sigh of relief and tiredness as his body grew heavier and heavier against me. I put one hand against his cheek and patted it gently.

"Hey, don't faint on me, Doctor," I joked nicely.

But when he didn't answer me and totally passed out in my arms, I panicked.

"Doctor!" I exclaimed. "Doctor! Wake up!"

To my calls, the old Doctor hurried over us and I moved my Doctor so his past self could examine him. He analysed him with his screwdriver before moving on to a more physical check-up; verifying his pulse, breathing and even his mind. Jack, Rose and my younger-self joined us.

"What's happening to him? "I asked anxiously.

"I don't know." replied the Doctor confusedly. "He seems perfectly healthy, but I can't reach his mind, including the surface memory. It's like his mind is sealed."

"Is that normal?" Jack asked crouching down, putting one hand on my shoulder to comfort me.

"It's not."

"How did this happen? What could have caused his condition?" asked Rose in turn, arms folded and eyebrows furrowed.

"Something powerful..." replied the Doctor gravely as he stood up, "like that signal he was hearing in his mind."

"What if it wasn't a signal? " theorized my youngest self.

"Whatever it is, the source of all of this shit is the cube." I added abruptly staring darkly at the cube concerned. "Everything comes back to that bloody counterfeit tesseract."

This one shone and flashed intermittently as if the cube had its own consciousness and was laughing at our situation. Rose mimed the words "tesseract" to Jack who shook his head in denial. Gosh, it's their education in the Marvel world that we have to do... comic books as movies. I moved the Doctor from my knees to the floor so I could move and I took my bag off my shoulders and placed it under his head as I had done the day before using it as a pillow.

"What I'd like to know is what is the cube It's not a simple cosmic cube that looks almost like the Tesseract."

"All you had to do is ask, plain and simple!"

We all turned our heads towards the new voice's source; I almost missed cracking my neck in a painful way. I stared at the being appeared out of nowhere with shock and disbelief. The being had short hair with thick grey curls, beard and moustache trimmed grey almost white; he wore a simple grey outfit. And his eyes... His eyes were anything but human. There were no whites of eyes or pupils; the whole eyeball was like the inside of the cosmic cube. His eyes were filled with stars, literally. His eyes seemed to be balls of space inserted into his orbits.

"I demand you to state your species and your intent here! " ordered the ninth Doctor, pushing Rose and young Alvia behind him, protected by his outstretched arm.

"Now now, there's no need to be so rough and bossy."

"I think it's better to obey to the Doctor," I hissed furiously, feeling anger and fury swelling in my chest. "Especially after you dared take such appearance!"

Rose and Jack have never seen me so angry before, and it was a shock to see me in such a state, the Doctor was just as surprised as they were, although the surprise was less because I was behind him and he couldn't see everything. The young Alvia switched between looking at me and at the man who dared to wear such a look. One last look at the unconscious Doctor lying beside me and I got up and moved forward, staring incessantly at the cosmic being, with tense muscles ready to throw myself at him like a lioness ready to pounce on a prey. I stopped next to the Doctor, having no use for his arm as a barrier.

"How dare you take his appearance? "I spat so venomously that the Doctor looked at me with disquiet.

"I didn't really choose this appearance," he defended himself with a small laugh, raising his hands in the air as an act of peace. "No, really! I am simply the reflection of a deep desire to see a loved, desired, beloved and regretted person again. So, tell me... What do you desire more than anything else in this life? What is it that you truly desire? "

"Alvia, who's that man?" Rose finally asked.

"He... He's..." stammered my young self, with a pale face and wide eyes. "He's my grandfather." she revealed.

"My grandfather, long dead now." I added coldly. "I think you can understand why I react this way."

"Aaah." realized the being, as if he understood all the mechanics of the universe's workings. "Family grief, such a loss. " he laments with false sympathy.

"Who are you?" the Doctor continued.

"Well..." thought the being as he scratched his beard and chin. "Given the way I look, you can call me Grandpa."

"What are you, Grandpa? What did you do to the Doctor?"

"Well, it takes energy to take on someone's appearance and... Oooh! That man is a real powerhouse."

"Pumping the Doctor's energy is not permitted, let alone intruding on my mind.

"Who said I was taking that from your mind? "asked Grandpa falsely innocent. "I have a far more welcoming mind, and one that is more willing to reach out and touch."

I froze at his words, if he hadn't taken that appearance from my mind... it meant...

I turned to my young self before speaking to her in French.

"Qu'est-ce qui a bien pu te faire penser à Aitaxi? "

"Le concert de louis Armstrong. Ne me dit pas que tu ne penses pas souvent à lui ? "

"J'évite de penser à tout le monde. J'ai d'autres choses en tête " I replied, vaguely remembering the concert of Louis Armstrong, there had been so many wonderful things that it was hard to remember everything.

"Comme quoi?! Qu'est-ce qui pourrais être plus important que notre famille ?! " exclaimed my young self.

I couldn't decently tell her that recovering from a rape trauma and dealing with an alcohol problem was more important than thinking about my family, especially since crying over something I had lost would do me more harm than good. I couldn't tell her that I often thought about how to deal with the problem that Torchwood was going to be, which was coming slowly but surely. I had so much on my mind and so much going on in my life that thinking about my family was almost a luxury I afforded myself on rare occasions...

"Pourquoi te le dire quand tu le vivras? " I simply replied, crossing my arms and ending the conversation.

My young self glared at me as her lips pinched in a frown of frustration. Grandpa looked at the young me with a deep reflection that didn't augur any good, just like his smile stretching his lips.

"Get out of her mind! Infiltrating it without the explicit permission of the person concerned is illegal and the equivalent of mental rape! " interrupted Jack, drawing Grandpa's attention to him.

Rose grabbed Alvia's hand, asking her if she was okay. The blonde had become a younger equivalent of her mother after she heard Jack.

"But I was invited, I would never make an affront by entering into someone's mind without their consent. " the old man defended himself. "Unlike someone here..." he insinuated, his eyes staring at the unconscious Doctor on the ground a few meters away.

The ninth Doctor followed the being with his gaze and turned to observe his future incarnation with confusion. I took a step towards the being, the fury winning my entire being.

"I forbid you...! " I warned in a growl that sounded almost like an animal. "I forbid you to say anything about him!"

"He does not deserve such peace after everything he did," continued the cosmic creature, unconscious of my fury that menaced to erupt at any moment. "It would be rather a good thing if he actually died. No one to mourn him but everyone to celebrate his death..."

I was merely about to move, to punch him hard and fast as I could with my fist, when a sharp and violent buzzing suddenly sounded followed by an echo of broken glass and a gasp from my Doctor. Looking towards him I could see the ninth Doctor crouching beside him, one hand with his fingers resting against one of his temples and the sonic screwdriver on the other side.

"The link is broken and the mind is sealed, you can' t pump his energy to maintain your image anymore." informs the Doctor with an unexpected seriousness and calmness. "Nor can you keep us locked up in here. Because you said so, the Doctor is a massive source of energy; taking someone's appearance costs nothing, so you use it for other things. Something bigger and more powerful."

The sound of his voice and the sight of his cold blue eyes with a contained fury gave me shivers down my spine, even though it wasn't directed at me. The Doctor was almost in 'Oncoming Storm' mode and only a slight threat to unleash the fury of the Time Lord Victorious.

"But I think we've spent enough time here, we're leaving now. Jack, help me carry him."

Jack took a few steps over to the two Doctors but suddenly Grandpa started laughing. It was a cold, dark laughter that presaged everything but our safety.

"Because you think you can just walk away so easily? " mocked the cosmic being, crossing his hands before him. "You're right, I'm using his energy for something more... valuable. There are out there over a hundred of guardians that I can now control with disconcerting ease and with just a thought... It took me a very long time to corrupt them one by one. Time and power. Their eyes are now my eyes, my moves are now their moves, and not even these pathetic temples will be able to keep you safe. You are completely at my mercy."

" What do you want? " Rose asked fearfully. "Why are you doing this?!"

"I do not have a purpose strictly speaking, I only prepare the rest in advance for the Host's purpose."

"The Host? Who's the Host?"

It was the question everyone thought about and the question the Doctor dared to ask. Grandpa's smile grew and his eyes began to wrinkle with mischief and evilness, the absence of stars in the cosmos of his eyes made his eyes black, so deep black that if you went into them you would lose all idea of who you were, where you came from and the sense of time, another kind of Void. This gave him a demonic appearance and only the brilliant wet reflection of his eyes contrasted with it.

"You, of course. "replied Grandpa.

I hope you liked this chapter, feel free to tell me with a review. And if there are any mistakes, please let me know, nobody's perfect.

I'll see you soon for part three !

the little French translation that makes you happy and a little extra Basque 101.

[Tximinoa = petit singe (in french) = little monkey or monkey; it's an affective nickname]

- That's exactly why I picked it, foxy.

- Are you really gonna bring up all the nicknames we had?

- You know I can do it.

- Unfortunately.

- What on earth made you remember Aitaxi?

[ Aitaxi is a is a Basque word for grandfather, the x is pronounced tch]

- The concert of Louis Armstrong. Don't tell me you don't think about him sometimes...

- I try not to think about them. I have other things on my mind...

- Like what?! What could be more important than our family?!

- Why tell you when you're going to live it?