Burning Stars {A Doctor Who Fan Fiction} [REWRITE IN PROGRESS!]

Chapter 20

The Doctor stiffened; River gaped at him. "No..." they said at the same time. Speedily but smoothly, the Doctor handed Annabelle over to River and raced from the room. River followed in pursuit, Annabelle on her hip.

"Doctor..." River said cautiously, holding Annabelle closer as she started to tear up again.

The Doctor was furiously typing information into the monitor. "No. Not happening," he said angrily. Annabelle began slightly shaking.

After another few seconds, the Doctor sighed defeatedly. "Nothing's gotten inside in the past week."

"Did you double check?"

"Of course, but I'm doing a more refined check now." The Doctor punched at the keys, hitting each one with a force hard enough to make the click-clacking echo throughout the console room.

"Why is Daddy angry?" Annabelle asked quietly.

"Because he's frustrated," River replied, just as quietly. The four-year-old understood, having learned more knowledge than an average child. She'd started forming sentences after her first word - which the Doctor in the present knew; 'daddy'.

The Doctor in the present also knew what had happened that night. River had found a drawing of one of the Silence in Annabelle's room. He remembered his daughter being terrified of the crayon sketch; it had been shoved into a cupboard, hidden under a stack of books.

Presently, the Doctor felt more pain. He was frustrated that night because he couldn't track any Silence; he was frustrated because his daughter was scared and he couldn't do anything about it. It was the worst thing a parent could realize. They couldn't stop their child's nightmares.

He could remember the Annabelle on the TARDIS ended up a Ganger. He could remember finding her location, enraged, in minutes. He could remember, faintly, knocking out the escort of Kovarian's that had the nerve to hold his daughter. He could remember helping River set the place to blow.

Another memory resurfaced. The Doctor was sat next to Annabelle's bed, three days after the Silence incident, and it was his turn to put her to sleep. She'd requested a story.

The Doctor animatedly told her his own version of how he'd met Annabelle's grandmother, leaving out the parts where he got knocked down by a tree and a cricket bat, being handcuffed to a radiator, and stealing clothes from the hospital.

"How'd you meet Mummy?" Annabelle asked eagerly once the Doctor had finished.

"That's a story for another night, darling," the Doctor said. "But, there's something you've always got to know." He took Annabelle's smaller hand in his, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before reopening them. "No matter what, I'll be there for you. You must've think otherwise, even in the most dreadful position."

Annabelle pondered his words. "What if I'm in a different universe?" she asked quietly, aware of the story of one of his past companions.