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CHAPTER SIX:
THE HAUNTING
OF HULL HOUSE

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IRIS hadn't had a nightmare in years.

Truly.

They used to be common as a child, but they'd stopped the older she got.

Iris always believed they were things she'd never dream of seeing — figments of her imagination.

Until she met the Doctor.

She'd forgotten about them with her Doctor, because everything seemed to disappear around him. All of her worries and fears and whispering voices — everything disappeared with the Doctor.

But now she was in another time period with a man who was similar to her Doctor, but incredibly different.

Different face, different personality, different mannerisms; different everything.

Iris tried to push it down, bottle it up and stick her worries and fears on a shelf in the back of her mind, but as day became night, the bottle fell and it all poured out of her.

Tucked against the corner of the bed, staring into the room, she watched every shadow in apprehension.

It didn't help that there was a supposed ghost around — which was an irrational fear as a child; along with venus fly traps and dinosaurs, before the real nightmares found her in waking life — and the quiet gnawing at her mind.

With every second that passed, Iris felt less and less exhausted and more and more terrified.

Her hands were rigid from gripping the sheets and her hair was stuck to her forehead in sweat.

It had been so long since she'd seen them.

She wished she could crawl out of bed and find her Doctor, tinkering around with the console or reading in his office.

Iris missed him.

And he was just in the other room, only...he wasn't.

Her thoughts trailed to the leather jacket this Doctor wore casually — something her Doctor had given her — and the way it comforted Iris and promised security.

Now it just made her feel out of place.

She wondered if he slept.

Probably not.

Her Doctor didn't sleep.

He claimed Time Lords needed far less sleep than humans and he didn't waste time he didn't have. Iris thought he was silly.

Everyone sleeps, she'd told him, even Time Lords.

But with the nightmare sitting next to her on the pillow, Iris realized why he didn't sleep.

It wasn't out of necessity or boredom; it was because he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes unless he absolutely needed to.

The thought broke her heart.

And the Doctor — the one with the leather jacket and harsh words — he was fresh from the true nightmares that haunted her Doctor.

His nightmares weren't fictitious or based on subconscious fears or childish terrors.

His nightmares were real and he'd faced them all and lost.

Iris didn't realize her feet had led her to the room across the hall until her hand was rapping against the wood.

It opened a moment later.

Iris was briefly reminded of her Doctor when the Doctor glared down at her, but the subtle fondness usually carried there was missing.

It made her heart ache.

"What?"

"Any ideas?" Iris asked, clearing her throat and fiddling with the bottom of her shirt.

She didn't want to confess why she'd actually come to him. How could she plain that he was the former version of someone she'd grown to trust and depend on after only two weeks of properly knowing him?

She couldn't.

"No."

Iris nodded, bouncing on her heels a bit, shifting from side to side.

"What's the matter with you?" He asked, frowning. "You're all moving and fidgeting."

"Nothing!" Iris answered quickly, wincing at the obvious lie.

He didn't question her on it.

That hurt, too.

"Oh." He nodded. "Why've you come here? I can't help you with nothing. Only if there's something."

"Well, it's nothing," Iris protested, crossing her arms. She felt small and insignificant in front of him. Like a bug. She didn't like it. "What's wrong with you?"

The Doctor blinked, surprised by her question. "What?"

Iris gave him a pointed look. "The chip on your shoulder? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with me," he scoffed. "You're the weird one."

"I'm just—"

"—Walking to my room in the middle of the night talking about nothing and acting like something."

Iris looked away. "I had a bad dream," she admitted in a small voice. "It's been a while since I had one."

He softened, but only a fraction. "Sorry," he offered begrudgingly.

"It's fine," Iris replied, cheeks heating up as embarrassment consumed her. She wanted to cry. She wanted to run away.

She wanted her Doctor.

"I get them too," he admitted, looking as awkward as she felt.

They didn't say anything for thirty seconds.

Iris counted.

"I should go back to my room," she cleared her throat, taking a step back.

His hand twitched, like he wanted to object, but he just nodded tightly and closed the door when she opened her own.

Iris cried herself back to sleep.

—

The next day found Iris and the Doctor pretending the previous night's awkward encounter had never occurred.

"Nothing happened last might," Iris mulled, munching on a biscuit. (A real biscuit, Iris smirked to herself, not a British cookie because this was America, thank you very much.)

"A lot of nothing," the Doctor muttered, giving her a side-long look.

"Do you think it knows we're here?"

"Possibly," the Doctor nodded. "It's stupid to hide. Smarter to tuck tail and run or face on head on. We'll find it."

"We?" Iris asked with a cheerful smile.

He met her gaze, scowling deeply. "I'll find it."

"I know what you said, Doc."

"Shut up."

Iris grinned as he walked out, heart tugging at the familiar banter.

That sounded like her Doctor.

—

"It has a loud noise," Louise explained to Iris as the pair sat across from one another, drinking tea. "The ghost. A loud...vwoop-ing sort of noise. And a light flashes."

"That's why you think it's a ghost?" Iris asked.

Louise nodded. "Yes," she agreed, looking down at her cup. "You're not from here," Louise remarked quietly. "Your accent...it's different."

"I'm from America," Iris frowned. "Same as you."

"No," Louise shook her head. "There's something about you. Something...far away." She hesitated. "Impure."

Louise hurried off and Iris blinked in surprise, the words reeling in her mind. Confusion danced across her thoughts, and she wondered what Louise meant by that statement. Was that why she'd gone through the Doctor's timeline?

Why did the word 'impure' sound so familiar? She'd heard it somewhere before, somewhere important.

Iris rubbed her hand across her eyes, letting out a sigh.

She didn't have the energy to focus on that now. She'd ask her Doctor when she returned to him.

Whenever that would be.

—

"First thing's first," the Doctor clapped his hands together. "Need to be hidden. Need someone they won't suspect, we're too obvious, too well-dressed, it knows us."

"You want me to involve an innocent?" Jane asked with raised eyebrows.

Iris looked him up and down. "You call that well-dressed?"

"Oi," he scowled down at her. "You've got jeans like some sort of punk, this is an original jacket."

Iris shrugged. She didn't correct the fact that she loved the jacket. It was her jacket, after all.

"Not necessarily," the Doctor looked to Jane, who was watching the pair curiously. "Just someone who can draw the attention away from me, quick enough that I can swoop in and save the day."

Iris coughed and he frowned.

"So, we can save the day," he amended, then glared at her. "Don't make me say that again. If you've got a sore throat, get a cough drop."

She grinned at his change in words, perking up excitedly. She was definitely growing on him.

"What do you suggest?" Jane asked.

"Friends or family this 'ghost'," the Doctor used quotes around the word. "Won't suspect."

Jane hesitated. "Alice," she reluctantly sighed. "I've known her my entire life. She was...down on her luck when I often saw the better half. She's one of the reasons I worked so hard to create this place."

Iris smiled gently. "Alice will be safe, I swear," she reached a hand over and squeezed Jane's hand. "Can she be here tonight?"

—

The plan was in motion.

Alice was to fake being asleep, the Doctor was to wait under the bed with his sonic on low frequency — Iris preferred the sonic glasses, not that she told this Doctor, but she'd certainly tell her Doctor as such — and Iris was to hide in the closet.

Once the "ghost" entered and they had could get a clear grip on it, they would take it down. Whatever it actually was.

Three hours and two numb legs later, Iris heard the noise.

It was slurping...like a straw of sorts.

Iris peeked through the crack in the door, spotting a figure in a robe using a straw on Alice's neck. Iris wanted to open the door and get the person, but she waited for the signal.

Waited.

Waited.

Waited.

The sonic went off just as a white light bounced across the room and the Doctor rolled out from under the bed. Iris jumped into action, rushing towards the figure — ignoring her legs which had fallen asleep — and tackling it to the ground.

The Doctor grabbed a weapon the figure was holding and tucked it into his pocket, checking over Alice to make sure she was okay.

Iris pulled the hood down of the figure and her eyes widened.

"Louise?" She asked in confusion. "What're you...?"

The Doctor spun around, pointing the sonic at the girl.

Iris rolled her eyes. "What're you gonna do?" She asked the Doctor. "Assemble a cabinet at her? Put that away."

"Watch it," he snarked. "I've got a gun in my pocket and you might make me angry enough to use it on you."

"Bite me," Iris retorted, looking over Louise's glare. "You're Jane's friend."

"Louise?"

Heads turned to the bedroom door and Jane walked in, betrayal flooding her face.

"How could you?" She asked harshly, reaching her hand to the Doctor's pocket and aiming the gun at her. "All those people. Innocents."

"Jane, don't," the Doctor glared. "She deserves a chance."

"Those people deserved a chance!" Jane shouted. "Innocents that you...why would...how did you even...what are you?"

Louise stood slowly, looking between the trio. "I'm a Plasmavore," she snarled. "And this is the feasting ground. All of these people...not missed by anyone of importance. I can feast for days. Weeks."

"I can get you somewhere else," the Doctor pleaded. Iris's heart clenched at his words, knowing how desperately he wanted it to be true. He always offered. "Come with me. We'll get you somewhere safe."

"Why would I leave?" Louise scoffed. "When I have everything I—"

Vwhoop!

Iris' head turned to Jane in shock as she lowered the gun.

She'd killed Louise.

"Why've you done that?" The Doctor rounded on her furiously. "She could've been —"

"—She killed people in my care!" Jane exclaimed. "You don't scare me, Doctor. You have darkness in your eyes, but you do not scare me. She was a monster, and she denied your chance for freedom. So, I made the call. You don't like it, you can leave. This is a safe house. And I'll keep people safe."

The Doctor stilled, looking down at her darkly. Iris knew he wasn't really in the moment; he was somewhere else entirely. She placed a hand on his chest and his eyes snapped to hers.

"It's okay," she whispered. "Let's go."

The Doctor said nothing else, brushing past her and Jane, storming off. Iris took the gun — which was advanced, a high-energy laser-tech weapon that Iris desperately wanted to take apart and look over — before looking at Louise's body.

"I'm sorry," she apologized softly to Jane. "I know you trusted her."

"It's alright," Jane swallowed. "I just wish I'd seen it sooner."

Iris softened, closing the distance and placing a hand on the older woman's arm. "It's not your fault," she told her gently. "Don't blame yourself for this."

"How can I not?" Jane looked at her tearfully. "I could've saved all of those people...people who trusted me. They stayed here for safety and I...failed them."

Iris shook her head immediately. "No," she objected. "You didn't. You just saved them. You couldn't have suspected this, and you could've never guessed a Plasmavore with a laser gun. That's not on you, Jane."

Jane nodded, closing her eyes and inhaling shakily. "Thank you," she pulled Iris into a hug. "It's my fault, it's my..."

—

"You're not useless," the Doctor remarked as Iris shut the TARDIS door behind you. "I can see why I keep you."

"I'm not a dog," Iris snapped. "I'm a person," she looked up at him in disappointment. "You just left her there. You berated her for protecting people she loved, the world that she loved, and then left."

"It's not my job to hold her hand," the Doctor scoffed. "I haven't got time."

"I do," Iris placed the gun on the console chair, matching his crossed arms and closing the distance between them. Looking him directly in the eyes, she spoke firmly. "I get it now. You don't call me your companion because I'm not. I won't stand next to you and listen to every word you say. And when you leave behind a mess — when someone is broken, and they have to pick up the body of someone they loved...I'll help them through it. You want to know why you keep me around?"

Iris pointed her finger into his chest. "Because I'm your partner. I swear that I will never let you abandon people that need it. And I will make sure you don't run off before they have the chance to adapt to what's happened. Her tears?" Iris shook her head. "Those are on you. That is a strong woman, someone who has just been betrayed by her most trusted confidant. There will be no more Jane's."

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but Iris cut him off.

"No objections," she pursed her lips. "I know you're going through things — things I can't begin to imagine. And I'm here for you, when you want to talk about them. Because I won't go anywhere. I'm far, far into your future, Doctor, and I never leave. So get used to me. Got it?"

The Doctor eyed her for a long moment and Iris actually thought he'd yell at her.

But he surprised her.

"Partners, huh?"

—

ehhhhh ididkdkkdkdkdkdkdkkdkkkk hopefully this was okayyyy 9 is sooooo hard for me to write blehhh but i really wanted to include him guhjkhf i hope you guys liked this and it was okayy idkkk. next chapter we get some FLUFFY 12 and then 10 after that:)