A/N: Welcome to Howling at the Storm! My test is now taken, and I have a free month as I await my scores and search for a job, so I can devote some time to writing! This is the second story of the Howling trilogy, and if you haven't read my first story, Storm of the Wolf, I suggest you go back to that one, as this will not make sense without it.

- Pause while those people exit -

Moving on. So, to recap. John and the Wolf were cornered at the Game Station and the Wolf was shot by a Dalek. She sent John home, he absorbed the Time Vortex and became the Oncoming Storm for a brief period. He and the Wolf destroyed the rest of the Dalek fleet and the Wolf then regenerated due to her previous injuries.

I hope you all enjoy this next installment. I'm terribly excited about it. But without further ado, allons-y!
Disclaimer: I do about one of these. But if I owned Doctor Who, we certainly wouldn't have the show we do right now. And I wouldn't be writing this.

Crash-Landing

John lowered his hand, blinking away spots as the blazing golden light died down. A strangely energetic blonde woman was bouncing around the console, jabbering away at a mile a minute about something. He wasn't quite sure what. Dogs with no noses, or some such. She flicked switches, checked a monitor, pressed a few buttons, all with a sense of glee.

"Now then, what do I look like?" the woman asked. "No, no no, no no no no no no no. No, don't tell me. Figuring it out's half the fun."

John, having made no effort to say anything, simply stared at the girl as she began inspecting her body. "Let's see...two legs, two arms, two hands..." She ran her hands through her blond locks. "Hair's a little bit shorter, that's fine. Not quite as rail-thin, little thicker," she recited, patting around her stomach and back. "Give me time, I'll get used to it. Oh!" she halted, eyes wide. She put a hand on top of her head, then raised it in the air above her. "I...am exactly...4.126 centimeters taller," she realized, moving her hand up and down on top of her head. A smile slowly grew on her face. "That's all right then. All the better to reach things!" That decided, the woman bounded off, babbling away as John stopped paying attention, trying to figure out where this woman had come from and where the Wolf had gone.

He stood this way for several minutes, before, " - and you have never been so silent," he caught the tail end of the woman's last sentence. She looked over at him, finally calming down. "John, are you okay?" she asked. She made to move over to him, but John took a step back, raising his arms.

"Hold on. Just hold on a second," he delayed. The woman stopped, giving him a hurt glance as she fidgeted in place. After a few moments of trying to gather his thoughts, John spoke up. "Where is she? Where's the Wolf?" he demanded.

The blonde woman gave him an incredulous look. "John, I'm right here. It's me. I'm the Wolf," she told him.

"No, she exploded in some kind of golden light, and then all of a sudden, you're here, and – she's not," John protested. "What did you do to her?"

"Johnny," the girl said softly, "that was me. I told you. My little trick, remember? I was dying, so I changed. To save my own life, I replaced every cell in my body. But I'm still me. I promise."

John took a step towards her and looked her over, trying to find a sign that this stranger was telling the truth. She was wearing the same clothes the Wolf had been, even though they didn't quite fit right, and the shirt was still practically sliced in half from the Dalek's laser.

To the girl's credit, she stood still and let him peruse, even though she practically vibrated from having to stay put. Quietly, she began to speak. "Remember the very first word I said to you?" she asked. "Trapped in that dressing room, about to be massacred by shop window dummies. Oh...such a long time ago." Now she moved, stepping up to John. "I took your hand," she did so again, and John could almost imagine it was the same hand from before. "I said one word. Just one word. I said – 'Run'."

John looked in her eyes, and after a few more seconds, finally saw what he was looking for. "Wolf?" he asked tremulously.

The Wolf grinned. "Hello," she replied, her voice soft, tightening her grip.

John took a deep breath and grabbed the Wolf in a hug, letting go of her hand and lifting her in the air. "I was so scared," he whispered into her hair. "Don't you ever do that again."

The Wolf chuckled. "I make no promises."

John set her down. "So you're okay."

"Course!" The Wolf leaped away and began moving around the other side of the console. "And we never stopped running, did we? All across the universe. Running, running, running..." she trailed off.

"Wolf?" John asked when she stayed quiet, staring off into space for a moment. "You sure you're alright?"

The Wolf jerked and tucked her hands under her arms defensively. "Of course I'm fine. All I did was change, why do keep asking me –" the Wolf was cut off as she gagged, the TARDIS shuddering at the same time.

John looked at her in concern. "What?" he asked.

"I said why –" she retched again, her body falling into the console as the TARDIS lurched once more. "Uh-oh."

"Wolf, what's happening? What's wrong?!" John asked frantically, bewildered.

The Wolf fell to her knees. "Gah, I'm busy! I've got plenty to do!" she yelled in a strained voice. Suddenly, a lever seemed to catch her eye. "I haven't used this one in years," she muttered before hauling it down. The TARDIS shook violently before speeding up, nearly knocking John on his butt. He grabbed onto the railing, trying to keep his feet under him.

"What are you doing?" John yelled over the sounds of the TARDIS speeding through the vortex as the Wolf got to her feet and ran to the side of the console near him. The Wolf froze and retched again, issuing a swirl of golden light from her mouth. "What was that?" John asked, shocked.

The Wolf looked over her shoulder. "Oh, the change is going a bit wrong, is all – speed!" she abruptly shifted gears. "Putting on a bit of speed. That's it!" She thrust the lever down even farther, pushing the TARDIS to a greater velocity. She turned more knobs as John tried to stay on his feet. "My beautiful ship! Come on, faster! That's a girl. Faster!"

"Wolf, stop it! You have to slow down, you're gonna get us both killed!" John shouted at her. "This isn't what you want, listen to me!"

The Wolf turned, the crazed look in her eye dimming down. "The regeneration's going wrong. I can't stop myself," she explained before grimacing. "Ah, my head..." She bent over in pain before suddenly bouncing back up. "Faster! Let's open those engines!"

A warning bell droned as the TARDIS hurtled through time. "What's that?" John asked.

The Wolf suddenly appeared right next to John, making him jump. "We're gonna crash land!" she exclaimed, delighted.

"Then do something about it!"

"Too late! Out of control, oh, brilliant!" She hopped in the air excitedly. "Hold on tight, here we go!" John grabbed onto the console as the Wolf did. If they survived this, he was dragging her to the Med Bay and not letting her out for a week.

"Christmas Eve," the Wolf announced with a grin.

The TARDIS came to Earth with a crash, and before John could manage to regain his wits, the Wolf was out the door. "No, no, no! Wolf!" he yelled, hauling himself to his feet and running after her.

He found her just outside the ship, spinning around in a circle with her ill-fitting and torn clothes, looking like some kind of drifter. "Here we are then. London. Earth. Solar system. I did it!" she told him proudly.

"Right. Good job, Wolf. Yes. Now, what do you say we go back inside, huh?" John suggested, trying to herd her back through the TARDIS doors, but she dodged away.

"No, no, wait! I've got something to say. There was something I had to tell you, something important. What was it?" She stumbled over to him to place a hand over his mouth. John grabbed her other wrist, trying to keep her in place. "No, hold on, hold on. Hold on, shush, shush, shush, shush." She paused. "Oh I know! Merry Christmas!" she proclaimed with a grin, before promptly collapsing.

John barely caught her before she ran her face right into the concrete. "Oh, that's it, now you keel over," he complained as he carried the Wolf's limp body back into the TARDIS. "You couldn't have done that before you crash landed us on Earth. Every time we come to this planet, every time, there's a disaster, so of course you decide to park here. Now someone's gonna kidnap the whole population just you watch," he warned the Wolf. "But of course you can't do that, because now you're crazy and unconscious. And I don't know how to fix it. Brilliant."

John stopped at the hallway leading from the console room. "Little help here, love?" he asked the ship. "Where's her room at this time?" A set of lights brightened a path at his feet. John smiled for what felt like the first time in days. "Thanks."

Following the lights, John shoved open the door that they led to, only to be greeted by the sight of his bedroom. "No, wrong room. Where's the Wolf's?" John said slowly. The ceiling lamps flickered before another set of lights lit up the floor again. John followed them again, opened the door, and again walked right into his room. "Is this a joke?" he accused the TARDIS.

The ship chimed at him, and John could have sworn she was laughing madly. He rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He carried the Wolf inside and set her down on his bed, muttering all the while about meddling, prankster time ships and crazy, body-snatching Time Ladies.

Looking down at the Wolf, who now appeared to be sleeping peacefully, John realized just how small she still was. If anything, she looked almost – innocent. He knew this wasn't the case – he had seen first hand what the Wolf was capable of, but it was hard to imagine that this young girl was the person to do those things. She barely looked twenty-five, if that. Her medium-length honey blonde hair added to her guileless image.

Her previous self – and doesn't that just sound weird coming out of your mouth, John thought – had looked...tough. His first impression had been to liken her to a war veteran. She wore her clothes like armor, guarded her hearts, mind, and the rest of the universe with a ferocity that stunned him. This girl had none of that appearance, but John could almost see it bubbling just below the surface. The Bad Wolf, waiting to come out again.

John pushed that thought to the back of his mind for now. The whole last ten minutes on the Game Station was hazy to him, and he had much bigger problems to worry about. First, he had to take care of the Wolf. Second, he had noticed in the brief few seconds he had been outside, that the TARDIS had landed close to his flat. He could get some stuff from there, medical equipment he trusted himself to use properly on his own. A lot of the instruments in the Med Bay were still beyond his comprehension. Maybe he could go get her some food, too. Changing your entire body had to work up an appetite, and right now, the kitchen was pretty bare due to Jack's endless foraging. John pushed away the thought of Jack as well, his heart twisting at the notion that his friend was in all likelihood dead thousands of years in the future.

Last, the poor girl needed some more comfortable clothes. Every time John saw the bottom half of the Wolf's shirt dangling by a thread, her jacket gone entirely, he winced at the memory of the Dalek's laser slicing through her side and her scream of pain.

New plan, the clothes were going to be the first things to go. Checking the Wolf to make sure she was still okay, John crept out of the room before heading to the Wardrobe Room. Passing the console room on the way, he asked, "Hey, could you pull up the local news on the monitor? Wanna make sure we didn't make headlines," he said to the TARDIS. The ship's hum followed him as he picked out some soft pants and a shirt to get the Wolf into before retracing his steps.

"Hang on, is that Harriet Jones?" He stopped at the monitor to watch. "Why's she on television?"

"Prime Minister, what about those calling the Guinevere One Space Probe a waste of money?" a man was asking Harriet.

"Now, that's where you're wrong. I completely disagree if you don't mind," she answered firmly. "The Guinevere One Space Probe represents this country's limitless ambition. British workmanship sailing up there among the stars."

"So they did make you Prime Minister," John murmured. "I'll be damned. Britain's Golden Age, indeed."

"The unmanned probe Guinevere One is about to make it's final descent," a narrator intoned. "Photographs of the Martian landscape should be received by midnight tonight."

Switching the monitor off, John made his way back to his room. The Wolf had not moved in his absence. Now that he had the new clothes, John realized that he was going to have to actually take her old ones off. He hesitated. "Blimey," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

As quickly and smoothly as he could, John pulled the Wolf's shirt over her head. He tried to look away as much as possible, hoping to maintain her privacy, but that proved impossible when he managed to put her head down one sleeve. Instead, he went for speed. Embarrassed, he moved onto removing her jeans and pulling up the sweats he had found, this time managing to keep his eyes averted for most of the process.

Finally done, John took a second to regain his fractured self-control. "Now what?" he asked the Wolf's still body, now settled comfortably under his sheets. "I don't want to leave you, but I need my things to check you out." He sat on the edge of the bed, watching the Wolf as he tried to come up with a viable plan. Like always, his first instinct was to call Mike, but Mike would lose it again, coming back into the TARDIS.

No, he needed someone who wouldn't freak out. Preferably someone who had at least been in the TARDIS before...

The Brig! He could call the Brigadier. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner? John leapt to his feet and dug through his dresser, searching for his super phone. Once he had it, he scrolled through his recent calls, finding Kate's cell phone number from the Slitheen incident. Praying she was in town, John hit send.

Kate picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Kate! It's John Smythe," he answered enthusiastically.

"John! Hi! What's up?"

"Listen, odd question, but are you in London right now?" he asked.

"Yeeaahh? I'm on holiday from Cambridge."

"Excellent. Is your father available?"

"No, he had to go into UNIT this morning. Mum was not pleased," Kate said cheerfully. "Something about odd readings. They can't go a month without coming up with some emergency to bring him back in. I think they hope some event will entice him enough to bring him out of retirement again, but he's standing firm this time."

"Damn. Well, maybe you can help me. I've got a bit of a situation."

Kate sobered. "What do you need?" she asked, business-like.

"I'm in the TARDIS with the Wolf, could you meet me here, quick as you can?" John asked.

"Definitely. Where am I going?"

John gave her the street name and she hung up, promising to be there within twenty minutes. John spent that time pacing around the console room, keeping an eye on the news for anything that might indicate that the TARDIS had been spotted, and periodically running to check on the Wolf.

Eighteen minutes later, Kate knocked on the doors. John hurriedly let her in. "What's going on?" Kate wanted to know as she walked in.

"What do you know about regeneration? Did your father ever tell you anything?" John asked.

Kate smiled. "Yeah, he did mention it a few times when I was a kid. Something about if she gets hurt, she can change her appearance or something."

"That's about the gist of it. The Wolf said if she was fatally wounded, she could change every cell in her body to save her life, essentially becoming a new person," John explained.

"What does that have to do –" Kate's eyes widened. "She regenerated, didn't she? That's what you called about." She looked around. "Where is she?"

John hesitated. "That's kind of the situation. Follow me." He led Kate back to his room, showing her the Wolf sleeping on the bed.

"That's her?" Kate whispered. "She looks completely different."

"Believe me, I know. Listen, did the Brig ever tell you anything about complications with the regeneration? Like, her losing her mind?" John asked.

Kate looked over at him, surprised. "Well, no, not exactly," she began, but paused. "But now that you mention it, he did tell me one story about when she regenerated from her second to her third form. That was after the Time Lord Council forced her to regenerate, if I remember right. Supposedly, she woke up after being out for days, violently cuddled her shoes, and then made a wild escape from the UNIT medical wing in a wheelchair."

John snorted. "Amazingly, I can imagine that perfectly. Okay, that makes me feel a bit better."

"Yeah, my father said that her regeneration often resulted in some form of temporary memory loss. But she always got better. Is that what happened?" Kate asked.

"Not exactly. She sort of went crazy and crash landed the TARDIS on purpose." Kate raised her eyebrows in surprise. "It was like she couldn't control herself. She came out of it for a second, said the regeneration had gone wrong, crashed us here, then collapsed. She hasn't woken up since," John explained. "And now, I want to check her over with some of my medical equipment, which is in my flat, which just so happens to be less than a block away, funnily enough, because I'm not comfortable using the alien machines in the Med Bay on my own yet. But I didn't want to leave her alone. That's where you come in."

Kate shrugged and nodded. "Sure, I'll stay. I've got no plans right now. I'll just give Mum a call and let her know what's up. She loves the Wolf, she'll understand," she agreed readily.

"Thank you," John said in relief. "I was gonna grab some food for her too, figured she might be hungry if – when – she woke up. But I'll try to be back in an hour."

"No worries. I'll call you if she wakes up."

"Kate, you are a star." John hugged the younger girl before making sure the Wolf was still resting peacefully. Then, leaving Kate in his room, he walked quickly out of the TARDIS, determined to get back as quickly as possible.

A/N: As always, all thoughts on this chapter and the ones following are welcome, except for criticism without explanation. Don't just tell me it's bad or you didn't like it. Tell me why, and if it's something I can correct, I will attempt to do so. My primary goal with these stories is to improve my writing skills, so I welcome all feedback. Just make it worth my while. This is the only time I will mention anything about reviews, I promise. I hate it when authors beg for reviews over and over, and will not do so here.

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