A/N~ This is VerY long so apologies in advance! I know I like to make these chapters long already, but this is longer than usual so heads up!

~Skittles Out~

The Doctor held Melanie's teddy bear in one arm, while he held the little girl up in his other arm as they walked through the dark atmosphere. Melanie had told the Doctor that her teddy would help keep away the nightmares around them. Her head was leaned against his shoulder as she quietly watched the area ahead.

"How are you doing, love?" The Doctor asked, stepping over a gnarled tree root.

She hummed quietly before responding. "I miss my Kelly and Vic..."

The Doctor nodded. "Yea, I miss my Frankie too." He paused his walking before looking around, "How big is this place?"

"Nightmares are huge." Melanie spoke softly, "It may take awhile before we find them... But Kelly can usually help me when we get separated..."

"How's that?" The Doctor asked, trying to determine a direction to walk in.

Melanie yawned. "The mutation in our genetics..." She muttered, softly. "I can just feel it... We came from the same splice of DNA, he was just born first..."

"So you're bonded in a way?"

Melanie nodded against the Doctor's shoulder. "Kind of like a twin thing, I guess... 'Cept I took longer to develop they said..."

"Who said?" The Doctor asked.

"The grown ups..." The small girl sighed, tiredness evident in her tone.

"Don't think about that." The Doctor told her, patting her back as he carefully walked forward. "Just sleep, alright? I'll protect you."

Melanie hummed again, but added nothing else. Just minutes later, the Doctor could hear light snores coming from the child. He smiled, knowing that she was comfortable enough to rest, but still held worry in his chest for the missing three. He could only hope that Frank had managed to hold onto the boys, or vice versa.

He had just gotten Frank well again. How had he already put him in danger once again? How was he supposed to protect him when they had already been separated?

The Doctor had already been forced to imagine one of his fears, he hated the idea of living another...

---

"Does he talk at all?" Frank asked, nodding towards Kellin. The shorter haired boy was being given a piggyback ride by Vic as his eyes scanned the trees surrounding them.

"He can't." Vic shrugged, "They messed up his genetics, which is why it took all the extra time for them to finish Melanie."

"So... Test tube babies?" Frank asked with an unsure tone.

Vic thought for a moment before shrugging again. "Pretty much. They're technically related, because of the similarities of DNA or something or other. I don't know. The science stuff is garbage when it's constantly used to push you into suffering."

Frank moved a gnarled tree branch out of his way as he nodded. "They really make you the damn guinea pigs? What kind of parents would do that? Or even adults in general."

"Ones who don't give a god damn thing about us." Vic spat, bitterly. "My dad is more concerned with creating weapons, like six-two-six and two-twenty-one..." Vic sighed, stopping in his tracks. "He doesn't even acknowledge their names..."

Kellin looked down with a frown. He tapped the top of Vic's head to make him look up before smiling. Kellin leaned down and pressed a kiss to Vic's forehead before tapping the spot with the tips of his fingers.

Vic laughed, sadly, tapping Kellin's legs that were draped over his shoulders. "Thanks, Kells."

Kellin smiled before focusing on their surroundings once again. Frank smiled at the exchange as well, but found himself tripping over something on the ground. He groaned as Vic hurriedly backtracked to offer a hand.

"How are we going to find my Doctor and your friend?" Frank asked as he brought himself back to his feet with Vic's help.

"Kells." Vic groaned after having helped Frank up. He shook his arm and stuck out his tongue before looking back at Frank. "He and Mels have a knack for that. As long as your doctor is with her." Kellin pointed to their left, suddenly, making Vic nod in confirmation.

"Is that the mutation part of their genetics?" Frank asked, watching the ground carefully as he followed the younger boys. His fall had seemed to remind his body of how uneasy his walking skills had been just before first leaving the tardis.

Vic shrugged, making Kellin rise and fall again on his shoulders for an instant. "I don't like to think that much about it... But they are linked somehow." Kellin tapped the side of Vic's head, frantically pointing into a particularly foggy patch of trees. Vic looked up at Kellin for confirmation before nodding. "This way."

Frank followed, unsure of how to argue with their sense of direction. This place was just so strange. How had it been a simple white room just minutes before?..

"So what makes him your doctor?" Vic asked out of nowhere, pulling Frank from his thoughts.

"Just... Just because he found me and he's mine." Frank shrugged, "Just kinda happened, I guess."

Vic tilted his head to look back at Frank. "So, he takes care of you and stuff?"

"Yea, and I make sure he's not alone." The words fell from Frank's mouth without him having to think about it. He didn't have to think about his relationship with the Doctor. It was just kind of there.

"That's good." Vic nodded, "Someone who cares, rather than someone purely intent on some corrupted mission from their own head..."

"Your dad?" Frank asked, earning another nod from Vic.

"Technically, I was adopted, but he's the closest thing I have to one." Vic muttered as Kellin played with his loose strands of hair, "I don't understand the strive for perfection and upgrades of the human genome or whatever it's called..."

"Upgrades?" Frank asked, feeling sick to his stomach. He had been hearing that word far too much. It seemed to be recurring on his trip with the Doctor. He didn't fully understand it, but the Doctor seemed to know more about it than he let on.

"Useless mumbling..." Vic mumbled. As he spoke, Kellin had begun to grab at his hand and play with his fingers in fascination.

Vic's tone made Frank grow quiet. He could tell the boy didn't want to talk about it. Vic had the same tone Frank would get with an adult before he would shut down into silence, so Frank knew it was best to back off.

The small group traveled in silence for awhile, the only sound between them being crunched leaves and broken twigs. The atmosphere was so real for it having been created by a machine...

Kellin had been lazily going between playing with Vic's fingers and his hair when he suddenly shot upright on Vic's shoulders. His eyes were wide as he stared straight ahead, into the darkness.

"Kellin?" Frank asked, feeling uneasy at his sudden change in demeanor.

Fear grew on Kellin's face as he watched the darkness. He began to hit Vic's hands frantically. He shook his head as he tried to climb off of Vic's shoulders.

"Kells?" Vic asked with nervousness in his tone, "What is it!?"

Kellin fell off of Vic's shoulders to the ground. He tried to scramble to his feet with Vic's help, but something shot across the darkness ahead of them. Frank looked forward with wide eyes as he rushed over to the two boys.

"What's going on?" Frank asked as something could be heard 'whooshing' behind them.

Kellin shook his head, hiding his face in his hands. Vic held him tightly, looking around with mixed emotions on his face. "Nightmares." He whispered as Kellin leaned against him.

Frank opened his mouth to say something else, but he was suddenly being surrounded by darkness. He cried out as everything was suddenly swiped away, and he was left in emptiness.

"Vic!?" Frank spun around, finding nothing and nobody. "Kellin!? Doctor!?" Frank spun again, feeling anxiety creep up within him. What was happening?

"I wanna be like you when I grow up!"

Frank spun again as he heard a soft, childish voice speaking. It sounded familiar, but it wasn't Kellin or Vic. It was a voice from Frank's past.

"Frank Anthony Iero Junior, you'll be that and better!" Another voice from Frank's past laughed in a loving way. The sounds and voices seemed to echo all around Frank, but there was nothing there.

Frank felt like he was going mad. These voices just couldn't be coming from nothing. He was beginning to feel dizzy from all the spinning, when he finally laid eyes on something other than darkness.

A small figure with short dark hair was standing next to a gravestone, looking down. It was just a kid. He was wiping his eyes and sniffling as he looked at the coffin in front of him. Frank tilted his head, walking forward curiously.

"I promise I'll make you proud..." The boy sniffled, "I-I'll have my own band... I'll have a few bands! We'll play music, just like you, grandpa..."

Frank had a faint memory of something like this, but it didn't seem entirely accurate. He had made these same promises to his grandfather, but he hadn't dealt with his death so young...

"But that's basically what it was, Frank." The little boy snapped, shooting his gaze dramatically at Frank. His body seemed to spin like that of an owl as Frank jumped back, "A childish promise that you couldn't keep. He died with his only regret being you."

"You're a lying little shit!" Frank shot back, "He'd never-"

"You know you could hear it in his tone with every phone call." The little boy taunted, "The record company didn't pull through, Grandpa. The bassist quit on us, but we're not giving up, Grandpa. You just couldn't do one thing to make him proud, could you?" The little boy smirked, "He died thinking you were a failure."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Frank yelled, feeling his fists clench at his sides. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

Frank heard a tisking sound behind him, but he was too angry to turn around. If this was a nightmare, he knew it wasn't real. It couldn't be, right? He knew how his family was, and it wasn't like what this kid spat at him.

"Frankie, are you really going to stay in denial?"

The voice asking made Frank's rage turn ice cold. That was a more recent voice for Frank. He trusted that voice.

"I'm a time traveler. I saw his disappointment in you, first hand." A smirk was relevant in the man's tone as his footsteps began to echo in Frank's ears.

"You're not real..." Frank could hear himself whisper, but the words didn't fully register. He wasn't real... That couldn't be his Doctor...

"Peek-a-boo!" The red headed time lord jumped in front of Frank with a wide grin on his face, "Real as I can be!" He laughed before a look of darkness spread over his face. He lunged forward and pushed Frank to the ground, making the human cry out once again.

Frank crawled back, trying to avoid looking at the Doctor. "No, I won't believe it!"

"Would I lie to you, Frankie?" The Doctor asked, cocking his head to the side. "Why shouldn't you know how much of a disappointment you were? Family of musicians and you work in a crappy, small town, post office?" The Doctor laughed, "Pathetic."

"My Doctor wouldn't talk like that!" Frank shook his head, "That-that's not how he thinks!" Tears were forming in the corners of his eyes, but he couldn't stop them. He wasn't sure what to believe. The Doctor looked so real, but Vic had called this a nightmare...

"Your Doctor?" He laughed again, but in a much darker manor now. Everything seemed to be growing darker around Frank. "Truth be told, he never was yours. What makes you so special?"

Frank continued to scoot back as the Doctor crept closer. "Countless companions. You've seen them, Jack showed you. What do you think happened to them? Are they still with that Doctor of yours?"

Frank couldn't speak. He felt so many things with each of the Doctor's words. Hurt. Confusion. Fear. Anxiety. A rush of so many things that Frank couldn't fully explain as he backed into something solid.

"You're not him." He shook his head with a whisper, "You can't be."

"I'm as real as you make me!" The Doctor laughed, getting down on all fours and creeping forward. "Just as real as your families disappointment a-AH!"

Frank gasped, coughing on the air around him as the darkness vanished as quickly as it had arrived. He blinked at the place he had been just before, not fully sure what to believe. He wasn't even positive of what had happened. It wasn't until he had finally registered he was okay that he saw Kellin standing in front of him.

Kellin had his arms out, slightly, as he seemed to swirl a mass of darkness into a ball between his hands. His facial expression was blank as he stared at the mass. Frank was scooting himself up, finding that he was somehow leaning against a tree, when Kellin's arms began to move up. The kid brought the swirling, dark mass up above his head before it seemed to shoot up into the air. Frank looked away, sheilding his eyes with his hand as a light seemed to radiate off of Kellin.

A moment later, however, it faded.

Frank lowered his hand to see an extremely exhausted looking Kellin standing in front of him. His eyes were nearly closed as he dropped to his knees, blinking very slowly.

"Kells!" Vic was crawling across the ground to catch the other boy before he fell.

"What happened!?" Frank asked, forcing himself to his feet to rush over as well.

Vic made it to Kellin just as he began to fall over. Kellin's eyes closed and he leaned against Vic weakly. However, his breathing was still clearly audible.

"He can move the nightmares." Vic spoke worriedly as he looked Kellin over, "It hurts him, but he still does it cuz he wants to help... I told him it hurts him, Kells?.." Vic buried his face in Kellin's chest.

Frank wasn't sure what to do. They needed the Doctor. They had to find him.

"Let me carry him." Frank said, reaching out to grab Kellin. Vic looked up with teary eyes, but nodded with a sniffle. He pushed his hair out of his face before helping Kellin into Frank's arms.

"We need to find Mels and your Doctor." Vic whispered as he reached out to hold Kellin's small hand, "She helps him wake up, sometimes."

Frank nodded. "Which way should we go?"

Vic bit his lip, looking out amongst the trees and darkness. "That way." He finally said, pointing just to their left. He waited for Frank to begin walking along with him before hurrying just ahead, so he could continue to hold Kellin's hand.

---

The Doctor looked around, nervously. Everything seemed the same but, then again, was any of it quite what it seemed? This was a room of illusion that played on fears.

Melanie was whimpering softly against his shoulder, making the Doctor look down at her. Her face was scrunched, and there seemed to be a darkness around her.

"Melanie?" The Doctor asked, stopping and crouching to the ground. "Talk to me, Melanie."

"NO!" Melanie screamed, reaching up and tugging at her hair. Tears were escaping from her closed eyes as the Doctor set her down in front of him. "IT'S SO DARK!.."

"There's nothing to be afraid of." The Doctor said, pushing hair out of her face. "Look up for the stars. They will lead your way through the dark."

Melanie shook her head. "I don't know what they look like..." She whispered with another whimper.

"They're light." The Doctor said, his mind whirling at how to describe them to the girl. "Small balls of light that cannot shine without darkness. Let the light guide you out. Listen to the sound of my voice, just like I listened to yours, yea?"

Melanie's eyes shut tighter. The Doctor spoke softly to her, continuing to push her hair away from her face until her eyes popped opened.

"Doctor!" She reached out and hugged him tightly, "We need to find Kelly! He's got nightmares and..." She sat up, looking around. She pointed into the dark treeline, "He's over there! Come on, Doctor!"

She popped up to her feet and began tugging at his hand. The Doctor stood, allowing her to tug him along through the treeline. They ran in silence until figures began to appear in front of them.

"Kelly! Vic!" Melanie cried out, making the figures pause their movement.

"Frankie?" The Doctor called out, his feet quickening in pace with Melanie's. The figures turned, revealing the tallest of the group holding something in his arms.

"Mels!"

Melanie released the Doctor's hand and ran towards Vic, as he did similar. They collided in a hug, as well as exclamations of fear and relief. The Doctor looked past them and saw Frank hurrying over, holding Kellin in his arms.

"Frankie, oh goodness, are you alright? What's wrong with Kellin? Did you all get hurt?" The Doctor sped through his words as he hurried up to Frank, squishing the human's face as he looked it over.

"Doctor, sqwish." Frank managed to speak, making the Doctor nervously drop his hands.

"Apologies..."

"Kelly?" The Doctor and Frank looked down as Melanie looked at the unconscious boy in Frank's arms. She stood on her tip toes to grab his hand and look at him. Slowly, his eyes began to tiredly open. His gaze found her and a smile crept across his face.

"Kellin! Thank god..." Vic exclaimed from behind Melanie.

Kellin just smiled. He leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to Melanie's forehead, making the small girl giggle. "You're okay, Kelly." She whispered, squeezing his hand.

"We'll all be okay once we find my ship." The Doctor said, "How do we do that, now that we're all together?"

Kellin closed his eyes before pointing ahead of them. Melanie looked in that same direction before looking at the Doctor. "Kelly knows where to go." She smiled, "He'll show us."

Vic hurried over as Frank set Kellin on his feet. After a tight hug, and Kellin leaving a kiss on Vic's cheek, they began to journey in the direction Kellin had pointed out. It was almost no time before they found the tardis, sitting in a clearing of mist.

"Feel like letting me in now?" The Doctor asked as he hurried up to the door. This time it easily pushed open, followed by a cry of success from the Doctor. "BRILLIANT! Now, everyone in, quick!"

Frank made sure all three of the children were climbing onboard before he stepped inside himself. He was turning to close the door, when he saw movement in the shadows. He squinted at the darkness but, before he could focus, the door was slammed shut. Frank turned to see the Doctor by his side.

"Don't want to risk another nightmare." He grinned before hurrying over and up the steps to the tardis controls as the children marveled at their new surroundings.

"It's so colorful!" Melanie exclaimed, spinning on her toes.

"It's so much bigger on the inside..." Vic gasped as Kellin looked around with a wide mouthed grin.

"Very right, kids." The Doctor waved from the main platform, "Ain't it neato? Now, I want to take you somewhere safe but first, I have a promise to keep."

Melanie stopped her spinning to look at the Doctor with wide eyes. "What's that, Doctor?"

The Doctor smiled warmly down at her as he flicked a switch up on the control panel next to him. "I'm going to show you the stars."

---

Melanie laughed in amazement as she floated just outside of the tardis doors. The Doctor held onto her foot as she looked at the stars and galaxies surrounding her while the tardis floated in space. Kellin stood by the Doctor's side, taking in every aspect of the ship's exterior surroundings, while vic and Frank sat at the stairs to the main platform.

"Is that what it's like to have someone care about you?" Vic asked quietly as Melanie could be heard plaguing the Doctor with a dozen questions a minute, "Someone other than your family I guess..."

Frank looked at the long haired boy next to him. "Did you even know your family?" He asked, watching Vic smile at the three at the door.

"No... Just the adoptive dad thing... And that wasn't family." He sighed, growing quiet. He seemed to have a moment of contemplation before speaking again, "You know, he always mentioned how he hated Doctors. How one always ruined his research..." Vic looked at Frank, "Now your Doctor has gone and done the same thing to him again." He grinned.

Frank felt a bit uneasy at that. If that was true, could it really be the same man from the ship with Dallon?.. But that was in the future, right?

Before Frank could ask anything, however, Kellin and Melanie hurried over.

"Vic! You've gotta see the stars! They're beautiful!" Melanie exclaimed as Kellin tugged at Vic's hand, "The Doctor said at our new home will be able to see them every night!"

Vic's eyes grew wide. "Our new home?" He asked, softly. "You mean we don't have to go back?"

"No one deserves that kind of life." The Doctor smiled as he walked over to the group, "I know a time, and I know a family that would love to raise children like you three. A lovely woman named Lindsey, who I'd trust with my own child."

"We get a mommy?" Melanie asked, her eyes shimmering with excitement. She squealed as the Doctor nodded, rushing over to hug his legs. "I've never met anyone as kind as you, thank you..."

Frank smiled as Vic and Kellin ran to hug the Doctor as well. The time lord really went out of his way to make others happy. The nightmare Frank had witnessed in that place had been nothing more than simply that. A nightmare. His Doctor would never do something like that on his own. His Doctor was a kind and gentile being, who Frank couldn't help but keep in a special place in his heart...