When the Sun Sets ☼ Eleven x Reader

XXII - Sleep Well, Darling

'I swear to god, if I turn around and see Jim Moriarty behind me I will scream.'

'Nope. This bastard has to be worse.' Rory replies, having turned to view the figure.

The TARDIS doors creaked open as the Doctor returned. You saw his reaction to the visitor first, and you knew whatever was about to happen, it wasn't going to be good.

'Long time no see, Doctor. And the Ponds- how lovely to see you again. Is that a wedding ring I see? How quickly times can change. My deepest congratulations to the both of you.' The voice echoed through the control panel ominously. You had still resisted turning to see who it was.

'How can you be here? You're not real- you're just a figment of my consciousness. You can't be here. It's impossible.' the Doctor said, reaching the group.

'And yet, here I am, Doctor. That must've been quite something you picked up, out there. Nice to see the future still has an ample supply of psychic pollen.' You heard a set of footsteps move down the steps behind you, and your breath hitched in your throat as the voice sounded right behind your right ear. 'You must be [Y/N]. I've heard a lot about you. Well, no. I've stolen a lot of thoughts about you from the Doctor's head. I must say, I expected more from what he thinks of you. I'm the Dream Lord, so happy to finally make your acquaintance.'

The Dream Lord pulled your hand from your side, and helped you up from the floor as he reached the bottom step. He kissed your hand lightly, and you pulled it away from him in disgust.

He was a relatively short man, with eyes that bore deep into you as you made eye contact. You noticed the rough, dry texture of his hands as they pulled you up, and the slightly chapped feeling of his lips as they pressed against the base of your fingers. The Dream Lord was dressed in a striped shirt and blazer, topped off with a red bow tie, not unlike the Doctor's. His voice was raspy, and not at all comforting. You would go as far to say that if your nightmares were narrated, this guy would do the voiceover.

'Alright, that's enough! You stay back. Stay away from them.' the Doctor shouts protectively, coming between the two of you and gently guiding you back towards the couple.

'Ah yes, all five of you. All seems a bit too good to be true, doesn't it Amy? The perfect marriage, the perfect baby. Except neither thing is quite perfect, is it?'

'You stop that right now! You're just trying to get into our heads. Psych us out so that we turn against each other. That's what you wanted last time, that's what you want this time!' Amy shouts back at the Dream Lord as he swanned around the TARDIS as if he owned the place.

'Last time?' you question.

'The creepy alien old people and the freeze-y sun.' Rory abbreviates. He and Amy had told you about all of their adventures with the Doctor before they were married, and so this explanation was enough to catch you up.

'That was you?' you say, turning back to the Dream Lord. He has a smug smile plastered on his face, as if to say 'the one and only!'. 'Wow, I expected him to be more impressive than that.' you muttered back to Rory. The Dream Lord's face dropped.

'So, what do you want?' the Doctor says impatiently.

'To have fun, Doctor! It's been so long since you let loose. Live a little, for pity's sake!'

'So what's the catch? What're the rules this time?'

'Simple. One dream, taken from the subconscious of one of the four of you. One possibility of what the future holds according to your deepest desires. All you have to do is work out who's it is. Easy, simple. No catch.'

'That sounds easy enough.' Rory says.

'I have a feeling it won't be.' you reply.

'That's it? No jokes, no catches, no terms and conditions?' Amy says.

'Oh, no. There are always terms and conditions.' the Dream Lord stops in front of you and waves his hand, creating a clipboard and pen that now rested in his hands. 'Everything that happens in the dream is entirely plausible. That also means no impending intergalactic doom. Peril and danger, yes. But not from space. Not this time.'

You nodded along with his terms, wondering what could possibly happen. This felt like no other adventure you'd been on in the TARDIS, and you weren't sure how to prepare.

'Is that all?'

'Yes. Oh, but I should really give you a deadline. Wouldn't want you to get too comfortable. Two hours? Is that enough time? Maybe three, I'm feeling nice. Three hours to work out who's dream it is. Three hours, or I'll just fly the TARDIS into the nearest sun with the four of you in it.' the Dream Lord speaks roughly. 'Now let's get you there, shall we?'

He steps over to you, and places the palm of his hand onto your forehead.

'Sleep well, darling.'

Your eyes fell shut, and you felt yourself fall back into someone's arms before you snapped completely out of consciousness.

[-]

'Welcome to the limbo. You'll all get your own little briefing before you wake up, starting with you, [Y/N]. I've been inside your head, there's nothing you can do about that. There's no memory you can hide from me. No piece of information that I can't find and weaponise in this dream. Here's how it'll work. I'm giving each of you one key word to say in order to release you from the dream. You have the symbol on the wax seal. You must speak third. Time to wake up, now. Wouldn't want to keep your husband waiting, would we?'