KIND OF WOMAN THAT'LL HAUNT YOU

A/N: This story is a bit AU because even though Fleetwood Mac did tour this summer, Christine McVie wasn't with them. I started this story when there was just a rumor of a tour and at the time Stevie said in an interview that the only way she would do the tour is if Christine came back (She quit the band in 1997.) Well, she didn't come back and they still did the tour so I guess Stevie changed her mind but in this story, Christine is with them so just a friendly note to explain.

Chapter Nine

The Ban'shi was thrilled. This woman she was inhabiting was getting close to the female, Rose Tyler, the companion of the Doctor and through her relationship with Stevie, the Ban'shi would be able to get back inside the TARDIS and take control of it. Once that was done, she would force the Doctor to open a gateway between this universe and the prison where her sisters waited and then they would conquer all of creation.

For the moment though, she kept quiet and let the human have control of herself. When the time was right, she would show herself to the Doctor and by then it would be too late.

Rose was so excited. She had been to several concerts with the Doctor but they had never gotten to go backstage and hang out with the bands. Now both she and him were friends of the band...or at least two of them. Rose remembered the chilly reception they got from the other three members and wondered if they would be angry with Stevie and Lindsey for letting them come backstage with them, especially since they thought they were nosy journalists looking for a story and the fear of being discovered increased the closer they got to the Staples Center. She finally asked Stevie about them. Stevie smiled and patted her hand.

"Don't worry about them, Rose. Lindsey and I will vouch for the two of you. They trust our judgment, especially since they know we're also leery of journalists."

"Although, truthfully, it's not as bad as it was in the old days," Lindsey said. "Back then we had nine or ten interviews in a day."

Stevie blanched at that.

"Yeah, plus recording and rehearsing for our tours..."

"Out promoting your Stevie and Lindsey dolls?" the Doctor added.

Stevie started to correct him and then saw the mischevous gleam in his eyes. She chuckled at that.

"Yeah...that's right, we did have those dolls, didn't we, Linds?" she said while the Doctor and Rose laughed.

"Yeah, we did. Those were really popular," Lindsey said. "Especially when we were crappy on stage and people threw them at us. You haven't lived until you get hit in the head with a naked Stevie Barbie doll."

Stevie laughed.

"Yeah and of course we had all the clothes and buttons and stickers..."

"And cereal," Rose said, playing along.

Stevie let out a deep throaty laugh.

"Yeah, the Fleetwood Mac cereal with added frosting to represent all the cocaine we did," she said while Lindsey sniggered.

"And the cereal was in the shape of little tambourines and boots and penguins," he said.

They all laughed.

"Thanks, guys," Stevie said. "I don't know about Lindsey but I needed that laughter. I get very nervous just before we go on stage and it's nice to have someone laughing, makes me feel better."

"Don't speak too soon, Steves. The butterflies will be back with a vengence," Lindsey said.

"Don't I know it," Stevie said, shaking her head.

"You still get nervous after all these years?" Rose asked.

"Oh yeah. I'm fine once we get going and I'm out there. Then I'm having too good a time to feel nervous. It's just the anticipation that kills me."

The limo pulled around to the back of the arena. Once they stopped in front of the backstage door, James got out and opened the door for them. The Doctor and Rose followed them out and inside the building. Inside, the backstage area was cramped, smelly and depressing. The walls were bare and painted an off white color and the floor was old and scuffed. Roadies and other personel walked around, talking to one another or carrying equipment. The Doctor held Rose's hand as they followed Stevie and Lindsey to their dressing rooms. As Rose looked around, she sensed the Doctor's eye were on her and turned to see he had a huge smile on his face.

"Exciting, isn't it?" he said to her.

"Yeah, it is. It's busy back here," Rose said.

"That's because they're all scrambling to be ready by show time," Stevie said, looking back at them. "They tend to sluff off sometimes when they're supposed to be working which means that they have to hoof it when it gets close to curtain time."

"Trust me, there's been times when they've worked right up to the last minute and barely got everything in place before the show starts," Lindsey said. "Just watch it or someone will plow right into ya."

They turned a corner and saw Mick leaning up against the wall outside the men's dressing room. His eyes bulged when he saw the Doctor and Rose.

"You're bringing them backstage?" he said in disbelief.

"Chill out, Mick, they're with us," Lindsey said, holding up his hand. "We've gotten to know them both and they're cool."

"Alright, mate, if you say so," Mick said, leaning up.

They paused outside the men's dressing room.

"Rose, come with me. You can keep me company while I get changed," she said.

"And you...can hang with us men," Lindsey said to the Doctor. "You don't wanna be around all those frilly foo foo dresses and shawls of hers."

"I'll show you frilly and foo foo in a minute, Buckingham," Stevie said as they laughed.

Stevie caught the little hand squeeze that the Doctor gave Rose and she ached for her new friend, wishing that he would do more to show his affection. But she kept silent and led Rose further down the hallway to the women's dressing room. Stevie opened the door and Christine jerked her head around.

"Hey, wondered when you'd get here," Christine said to her.

She fell silent when Rose hesitantly peeked inside.

"Come on in, Sweetie, it's okay. Christine, this is Rose. I've gotten to know her and she's a wonderful woman. We invited her and the other journalist backstage to hang out with us. Rose, this is Christine."

"Pleasure," Christine said, nodding.

Rose nodded in return as Stevie shut the door. While Christine went back to applying her makeup, Rose watched while Stevie looked all around the room.

"Where's Kim with my stuff?" she asked Christine.

"She'll be here in a minute. She went to the loo," Christine said to her.

"Kim's my wardrobe woman," Stevie said to Rose. "Um...have a seat on the couch and try not to barf at the sight of two old women undressing."

"Make that one old woman, my dear. I've already got my kit on," Christine said.

Rose sat down while Stevie walked over to the vanity table, picked a bottle of water out of a cooler beside it, opened it and took a sip.

"You want some water or soda, Hon? We have bottled water and Coke and Sprite in here."

"Um...Coke'll be fine."

Stevie plucked a Coke out of the cooler and walked over to her. Rose thanked her and sipped it while Kim came inside pushing a rack filled with dresses, shawls and boots.

"Kim, this is my friend, Rose. This is Kim, my wardrobe lady."

Both Rose and Kim exchanged pleasantries while Stevie selected a long black dress and black platform boots from the rack. Kim walked over to help her get it on while Rose sipped her Coke.

"So where are you from?" Christine said, glancing at Rose. "London?"

Rose nodded.

"Yeah, lived there all my life," she said to her.

"I was born in Cumbria but I've lived in several places in England and then here in LA. But I moved back to England after I first quit the band in '97. I don't like living here. I don't like the traffic and I hate the earthquakes, they scare me to death."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Rose said.

"I'm doing this mainly because Stevie asked me to. Touring isn't as fun as it used to be. I'm getting too old."

Stevie chuckled.

"She says that and then she gets out on stage and has a blast," she said to Rose.

"Okay, I admit being on stage is fun but the traveling and rehearsals in between is rubbish. That, I can do without," Christine replied.

She went back to applying her makeup as Stevie stepped out from behind the clothes on the rack. Rose's breath caught in her throat when she saw her outfit. Her honey blonde hair was arranged so it was draping down the front over her breasts. In addition to the dress and boots, she also had on velvet gloves.

"How do I look?" Stevie asked Rose.

"Brilliant."

She grinned.

"Thank you," she said.

She walked over to the vanity and sat down beside Christine. While they were chatting and applying their makeup, Rose suddenly heard the Doctor laughing outside in the hall. She opened the door and saw him standing there, leaning up against the wall while he chatted with Lindsey, Mick, John and a few other people she didn't know. The Doctor, sensing someone was watching him, looked her way and grinned when he caught her eye. He put his hands in his pockets and sauntered over.

"We're natterin' on here, just messing around and jokin'," the Doctor said when he came up to the door. "Mick and John have gotten over being suspicious of me. That's Carlos, one of the extra guitar players, and Ray Lindsey, Lindsey's assistant. Imagine that, Lindsey's assistant has Lindsey for a last name, neat, huh?"

Rose chuckled at that.

"And Stevie's mates are in there as well. Sharon and Jana. Sharon's been on every one of Stevie's solo tours and was one of her best mates growing up and Jana filled in after Stevie's other best mate and sister-in-law, Lori left. See, I'm learning alot about our new friends."

"Well, I'm in here talking to Stevie and Christine McVie and Stevie's personal clothing assistant, Kim."

"Any juicy gossip?"

"No, Doctor, we're not in here exchanging juicy gossip," Stevie called out.

The Doctor and Rose laughed and the Doctor stuck his head inside.

"Blast, I was hoping to hear another titbit or two about you lot," he said to her.

"Nope sorry, not this close to showtime," Stevie teased. "And you tell Sharon and Jana to keep their mouths shut about me."

"Keep mum about the ma'am, gotcha!" Lindsey said, saluting with his index and middle fingers.

Stevie tapped Christine on the shoulder.

"Look, Chris, look at him," She said to her.

Christine turned in her seat. The Doctor waved at her and she waved back before looking at Stevie.

"Yeah, so?" Christine said to her.

"You know, I was thinking it's too bad we're too old for Cutie Pie there because we coulda had some fun with him."

Rose bent over laughing as the Doctor blushed a bright red. Christine and Stevie sniggered at that.

"Don't mind us, dear. This is how we act when we get together," Stevie said to him. "We've been friends since I joined this band and in many ways, we've never grown up."

"Eh, growing up is boring," Christine said. "Anyway, love, you're welcome to come in. We're both dressed now."

"Thank you," the Doctor said as Rose opened the door for him.

"There's Cokes, Sprites and water in the cooler," Stevie said, pointing to it.

"Thanks, Stevie, much appreciated," he said as Rose closed the door.

He walked over to the cooler and bent over to pull out a bottle of Coke. Rose giggled as Stevie nudged Christine and both of them leaned far back in their seats to ogle his rear end. When they saw him leaning back up, they quickly leaned forward and applied their makeup while Rose fought to keep from laughing. The Doctor, unaware that they had just stared at his butt, took the Coke back to the couch, slumped down beside Rose and chatted with her and the women while they waited for their band's cue to go to the stage.

Ten minutes before they were supposed to take the stage, a couple of men from security took them out to the front row. Both of them were pleased when they realized they were front row center. Both of them also wore all access backstage passes so they would be allowed back after the show.

Fifteen minutes after they were shown to their seats, they heard a loud cricket-like chirping and the crowd went wild.

“I s’pose that’s the cue to start the show?” the Doctor said to Rose.

His suspicions were confirmed when a moment later, the steady rhythmic beat of the bass drum thundered through the arena. Rose gasped as the sound vibrated her chest and the Doctor put his arm around her as the lights went up, the crowd cheered and the band began to play ‘The Chain’.

Both Rose and the Doctor were enjoying the show. Rose laughed when the Doctor enthusiastically sang along to every song while he danced back and forth in place and Rose sang with him on the ones she knew. She was amazed at how much energy Stevie had at her age. She danced around, spun, kicked and rocked back and forth, causing her honey blonde hair to sway and dance around her face. She loved how much the crowd would get worked up and cheered her on and she loved the interplay between her and Lindsey. Looking at them and the way they gazed and smiled at each other, she found it hard to believe that they weren’t together and her heart ached, knowing that these two people who loved each other so much could never be together except as friends. It also amazed her how many costume changes Stevie went through. Lindsey wore a red shirt, black jacket and black trousers but so far Stevie had worn the black dress, a wine colored sparkly dress and several shawls and she had changed from her boots to a pair of black platform plimsols. Looking at her, Rose suddenly realized why the woman needed Kim.

Rose and the Doctor laughed hysterically as they watched them performing ‘Tusk’. Near the end when the band was playing, Stevie and Lindsey were chasing each other around the stage. Stevie was going backwards keeping her eye on Lindsey who had a mischievous look on his face. They circled around and around each other like they were readying themselves for a fight and then suddenly they both opened their arms wide and walked towards each other. Rose smiled when they embraced each other tightly and slow danced around in a circle as the crowd cheered their approval. They stayed that way for a minute, seemingly lost in each other’s arms and then they broke apart. Rose laughed when Lindsey pumped his fist in the air and ran back to his microphone to finish out the song. Rose looked at Stevie and saw the loving look she had on her face while she played her tambourine and she began to wonder if these little moments between them were there so they could get close to one another under the guise of performing for the crowd.

Halfway through the show, the lights dimmed and Stevie and Lindsey came out on stage together while the rest of the band took a break. Lindsey traded his electric guitar for an acoustic one and both of them stood in the center of the stage while Stevie addressed the cheering crowd through her microphone.

As you know, this is the part of the show where we take the time to thank everyone who’s supported us over the years,” she said.

The crowd’s cheers increased and Rose giggled when she heard a man two rows back yell out, “Stevie, I wanna fuck you!” Rose laughed when Stevie glanced at Lindsey and he shrugged at that. Stevie turned her attention back to the audience.

“I’m sure you also know the song we’re about to do now,” Stevie said.

The crowd cheered.

“And as you know, I also make a special dedication to someone each night before we begin. And tonight, I wanna dedicate this song to two very special people that Lindsey and I had the privilege of meeting today.”

Rose’s eyebrows went up and she glanced at the Doctor. He grinned at her and slid his arm around her back.

“These two people come from very far away and they’re very unusual to say the least,” Stevie said as Lindsey grinned and nodded in agreement. “But just by visiting us and spending time with us, they’ve touched our lives more deeply than they could ever now. And I know I speak for Lindsey when I say that we both feel blessed to know them now. So…Doctor, Rose, this is for you.”

The Doctor and Rose cheered along with the crowd when Lindsey launched into the opening notes of ‘Landslide” and Stevie winked at them before singing the song. Both of them watched, mesmerized, as Stevie sang it. During the interlude when Lindsey played, Stevie walked behind him, put her hands on his shoulders and swayed with him while he closed his eyes and a slight smile played on his lips. She stayed there until it was time for her to sing again and then she walked back to her microphone.

“And if you see my reflection in the snoooooooow…covered…hills…”

Everyone cheered when Lindsey stopped playing and took Stevie’s proffered hand, kissing the back of it as the crowd went crazy. He winked at her and resumed playing as Stevie finished out the song. The Doctor and Rose clapped enthusiastically when they were finished and took a bow.

At the end of the show, the band did two encores, ‘Don’t Stop’ and ‘Silver Springs’. The Doctor and Rose sang along with ‘Don’t Stop’ and listened spellbound when Stevie sang ‘Silver Springs’.

The Doctor grinned when Stevie sang directly to him when she got to the lyric, time cast a spell on you so you won’t forget me and he smiled and nodded at that. Once the concert was over, they applauded and cheered with everyone else. Stevie took her bows with the rest of the band and then made eye contact with them. She pointed to two security guards and then walked over to talk with them.

“I think that means we’re going backstage again,” he said to Rose as the guards came over to them.

The Ban’shi was beside herself. This woman that she inhabited had the power to mesmerize an audience with her voice. She had witnessed it for the past two hours and even the Time Lord and the human child had been enthralled with her. She began to see that the woman could prove useful beyond a disguise, that perhaps if she melded her hypnotic voice with this woman’s then together they could conquer planets and bring millions under her power. She knew then as she watched the crowd’s adulation of this human female that she had made the right decision when she chose to possess her and not even the powerful Time Lord would be able to stop her once she set her plan in motion.

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