Starry-Eyed

Remember Journey's End?

So, yeah. That was an intense day. After that, things were different. The Doctor was happier. He had found what he had missed for so many years: a true companion who wouldn't ever have to leave.

That is, until the Alreeys finally caught up with us.

They never planned on letting me go, and they were thoroughly confused when I left the planet. The Doctor and I didn't know it, but the chase was on. And one day, they finally won.

We had all been so, so happy. So victorious. For a split second, we were all together - Captain Jack, Mickey, Martha, Jackie, Sarah Jane, The Doctor, the other Doctor, me, even Rose - and we were giddy. We had kept the Earth safe, despite all of the odds that were against us. Everyone was celebrating, laughing and cheering and hugging one another. I remember glancing to The Doctor and seeing him hug Rose, a content smile stretched across his face. Seeing him that happy made my own grin even wider.

And then we felt a shift.

Everyone stopped, looking around.

"What was that?" Rose asked. The Doctor stepped forward and checked the monitor, but we couldn't see anyone outside. Just when we were about to blow it off as normal turbulence, there was another jolt, powerful enough this time to knock us to the ground. We scrambled about as we all reached out to grab ahold of something. When the TARDIS finally stopped moving, everyone glanced at one another uncertainly, our eyes a mixture of confusion and fear.

I was the first one to stand, always the curious one. I dashed for the door, my black boots clanging against the flooring.

"Izzy, wait," The Doctor called, but I ignored him and opened the door, stepping out eagerly. Who could have brought us here with a force like that? I was dying to know. I was greeted by a very open, very advanced looking lab room. They always say curiosity killed the cat, but I didn't believe that metaphor until I was grabbed by the arms the second my feet touched the new ground.

"Hey!" I cried at the purple-skinned people who were lifting me and running. "Get your grimy hands off of me!"

Of course, they didn't listen, and I started to panic as we moved farther and farther from the TARDIS, twisting around hallway corners of walls I couldn't see. What was happening? What kind of place was this? I turned my head and screamed out for The Doctor, begging him to help me, and not seconds later he was bolting through the doors.

"Izzy!" he yelled as I continued to try and kick my way out of the aliens' hold. "Bring her back!"

I was finally let go of when they pushed me into a chair, only to be trapped against it by a blue forcefield that kept me in place. The chair was really more of a table with a headrest, and instead of sitting I was just pressed to it in an upright standing position. Now I was scared. Every one of my limbs were immobile, leaving me vulnerable and helpless. I looked around for The Doctor, but he was having a hard time getting to me because all of the walls were invisible and he didn't know his way around like the other aliens did. Any other time, watching him ram into something no one could see would be a bit amusing, but given the situation it was only infuriating because this prevented him from getting to me. Finally, he stepped back, connecting his eyes to mine.

"I'll be right there, Izzy!" He turned and ran inside the TARDIS, and my heart started pounding harder as I watched it disappear.

"Wait!" I cried. "Don't leave!"

"Don't fret too much," one of the aliens said to me, finally speaking. "He was never going to get to you anyway. We've made sure of that."

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"We are a species called the Alreeys. You're alive because of us, Isabella Maylee."

I swallowed my terror and continued to interrogate. "What do you mean by that?"