Author's Note: Aw, poor Shaun!

I always liked the idea of Donna vs. Elizabeth. Go Donna! She'd kick butt, even if she didn't remember things.

(After all, there are lots of different kinds of memory. Even if Donna doesn't remember things in any detail, she still has muscle memory or a spark of short term memory in a stressful or similar situation. I actually looked up the different kinds of memory, to see what Donna would remember and what she wouldn't. Cool, huh?)

(By the way, I had an idea that Donna's brain-meltdown was due to her Doctor-memories all being encoded at once, instead of in sequence like you usually would. This means that in triggering one memory, you'd trigger them all - exactly like they say in the TV show!)

This may seem like a strange little story, but it's important for a story later on, in the series.

Enjoy!

Next up... "Un-Minority Report", starring Jenny! Summary? "Because in the future, they've all seen that movie, too."

Shaun cried out for help.

But no help was coming. Even he knew that.

"Answer," Elizabeth demanded, her face looming, fuzzy yet dominating his vision. Felt the sting of the knife against his skin, yet again. "Just answer my questions, and it'll stop."

"I don't know."

The sting of the knife. The pain tearing through him, as she dripped salt water over the newly open wound.

"I don't know!" He felt himself sobbing, confused and sleep deprived and in pain, being asked questions he couldn't answer if he wanted to. "I don't know the answers!"

Elizabeth pouted. "Not a very good lie," she replied. Pouring more salt water over the wounds. "You married her. You live with her. Obviously, you know who she is."

"She's Donna," Shaun said — pleaded. Praying she'd believe him. "Just Donna. A temp, from Chiswick. She—"

Elizabeth yanked him by his hair, twisting his head to look at her. "Yeah, and that Donna was in other-me's memories," she said. "She couldn't screw in a lightbulb. But this one managed to undo the force field around Angel. Cure my triseum virus. And destroy my multi-neo-extraction oxiloscope collider in the one way I couldn't possibly repair it." She leaned in, glaring into his eyes. "How?!"

"I don't know," Shaun breathed.

Elizabeth scowled. "And I'm just supposed to believe that?"

"Donna does things without thinking," Shaun said. "Brilliant things. I don't know why. I've never known."

"And has… headaches, as a result."

"Yes. I told you!"

Elizabeth let go of his hair. Stepped away, thinking it all through. "Can't be a coincidence," she muttered. Turning and pacing the room. "Can't be. Dawn didn't think so either — or she'd never have stuck to Donna like glue. It has to be…!"

She spun back to Shaun.

Eyes glaring through the darkness.

"Is it something the Doctor did?" Elizabeth demanded. "Some trap he planted in his companion so he could destroy me all over again?"

"Donna and I don't know this… Doctor!" said Shaun. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

She slashed him again for that.

"Please, you have to believe me!" Shaun begged her, through the pain. "I don't know the answers to your questions! I don't know anything. You have the wrong people."

Elizabeth charged towards him, grabbing him up by the hair, again. "Either you're a liar," she hissed, putting the knife by his throat, "or you think I'm an idiot."

Shaun didn't know what to say.

He wished it were over.

"That little flutter Donna does with her hands, whenever she's nervous or scared or worried?" said Elizabeth. "It's the take-off sequence for a type 40 TARDIS." She pulled harder on his hair, and he screamed. "Of course you two have something to do with the Doctor! It's obvious!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Shaun.

"Or…" Her grip loosened, for a moment, as she contemplated. "Or… are you not with the Doctor? Did they send you?"

He wasn't sure what to say.

But obviously didn't answer fast enough.

Elizabeth drove the blade into his shoulder. "Have they turned on me? Figured out my plans? Are they trying to steal my device and use it against me?"

"I don't know!"

How many times did he have to shout it before she believed him?!

"It's mine, you got that?" Elizabeth said, her voice very low. "All mine. They gave those secrets to me, and I can do whatever the hell I want with them. Even if they melt Donna's brain with those… 'headaches'… I'm not giving it up." She shot him a hard, cold smile. "Tell that to your wife, Shauny-boy."

He didn't know how long he spent in Elizabeth's captivity.

When Elizabeth was gone, hours were filled with long, empty stretches of nothing and worry. His body aching, his stomach empty, his mind just replaying what had happened and trying to figure out how, exactly, he'd gotten there.

"A stupid mistake," Shaun recalled. "It was just a stupid mistake. Donna thought she recognized that Ace person. She didn't. End of story."

But it wasn't.

Because that was when everything had gotten… bizarre.

And Shaun had found himself surrounded by madpeople — one of whom claimed she'd met Donna before — who kept talking about devils and demons and vampires and portals, and kept insisting that the city and maybe the world was going to end.

"But it shouldn't have ended like this," Shaun said. "Donna and I knew we'd had enough of this madness. We were about to leave! That should have been the end of all of it."

The door creaked open.

A blinding streak of light flooded his dark room, and Shaun had to shield his eyes.

"Yeah, it should," said Elizabeth, securing the door behind her. "The end of it all. End of LA and the beginning of my ultimate success. I would have destroyed the Doctor and eliminated any threat to my plans in a single instant. But your wife stopped that, didn't she?"

Shaun shuddered away from her.

Someone must have realized he was gone, by now. The police would find him. Donna would find him.

Elizabeth grabbed him up by his bound arms, in a punishing grip.

"And until you tell me how that's possible," Elizabeth seethed, "this isn't gonna end any time soon, buster."

Shaun didn't know how long it was before he stopped telling her the truth.

And started trying to figure out what she wanted to hear.

"There, that wasn't so hard, now, was it?" Elizabeth said. She pat him on the head. "You're working for the Doctor. Some kind of… under-cover thing."

Shaun still had no idea who this 'Doctor' was.

Best he could think of was… some sort of government secret agent. MI-6. Somehow, Donna must have bumped into him on her travels, done some top secret mission, and...

And…

…the government had… wiped her memory?

Did people really do that? Shaun had always assumed that was something that only happened in films.

But it did seem to be what Elizabeth was expecting to hear.

"Where is he now?" Elizabeth demanded. "What's he up to? Is he working for them? Did…" She faltered, just a little. "Did they summon him?"

Shaun had no idea what she was talking about.

"Yes," he said, because he figured… that was what she wanted to hear.

It sent her into a tidal wave of curses and angry stomping and mad ranting. Shouting incomprehensible dribble about space ships and police boxes and science fiction things that Shaun was pretty sure weren't real.

"…better tell him that he's not going to foil my plans," Elizabeth shouted, getting into Shaun's face. "You got that? Tell him I've got one of the most dangerous things in the universe at my fingertips… and I'm fully prepared to use it. To hell with the long-term consequences!"

If Donna was under surveillance by MI-6… Shaun probably should figure out what Elizabeth was talking about. What Elizabeth was up to, during those times when she wasn't busy torturing him.

But he didn't have the strength to find out.

And the more he thought about it… the more daft it sounded, anyways. MI-6? Memory-wipes? Secret agents calling themselves only 'Doctor'? And as for the rubbish about flying police boxes…

No.

Elizabeth was mad. And taking her delusions out on Shaun.

Clearly, that was what was really happening, here.

"No, seriously," said Elizabeth, for emphasis. "I will use it. I'm planning on it. This is my universe now, and I'm planning to make the most of it." She leaned down, to look straight into Shaun's eyes. "How about… I try it out on your wife? That'd get the Doctor's attention."

He tried to look away, but she yanked him up.

Glaring at him.

"You dunno what I'm talking about?" Elizabeth guessed. "Well. Maybe when Donna dies… you'll get a good basic idea."

"Leave her alone…" Shaun pleaded.

Elizabeth shoved him to the ground. "I don't think so."

It was too good to last.

He could tell her what she wanted to hear a thousand times… but he still didn't have a clue what she was talking about. He was bound to slip up, eventually.

He knew the moment she found the first slip-up.

Because she shot a bolt of energy through his body using a type of gun Shaun had never seen before.

"The Doctor isn't on this planet," Elizabeth said. "You lied."

If Shaun had been able to think properly, he might have thought… that was a very strange thing for her to say about an MI-6 agent.

But his mind wasn't nearly coherent enough to make this observation.

"You've been telling me what I wanted to hear, huh?" Elizabeth gritted her teeth. Then marched over and shoved the butt of her gun into his stomach. "Stringing me along, so you could sit tight and cushy until your wife found you!"

"Please," Shaun wheezed. "Just let me go. I'm nothing to you."

"You're important to Donna, though," Elizabeth said. "You got any idea what she's been trying to do to me, in the outside world, while you're relaxing on the sidelines down here? As far as I'm concerned, she started this; I'm just acting in self-defense."

"You're mad," Shaun said.

"In the sense that I'm pissed off?" said Elizabeth. "Hell yeah, I'm…!"

She stopped. Froze, her eyes suddenly drifting to the door.

Shaun could hear it, too.

A funny sort of noise.

"Stay here," Elizabeth said, grabbing up a dirty rag off the floor. She shoved it in his mouth, as a gag. "And don't make a sound."

Shaun's heart leapt. This… must be the police! It must be Donna, here to rescue him. Soon, this could be over, they could be back in England where weird things never happened and no one talked about the world ending, and he could use the rest of their lottery money on very extensive therapy sessions to make himself forget that this had ever happened to him.

Elizabeth crept towards the door, gun in hand.

And snuck out of the cellar.

Shaun listened. Kept expecting to hear policemen shouting, the whole house being ransacked, Donna's voice shouting above the others…

But there was none of that.

For a long time… he heard nothing but the faintest mutters and the rustle of occasional footsteps, above him.

Then, a noise. Like a gunshot except… not. More like… the sounds those guns made in science-fiction shows. And then again.

Sounds of breaking furniture, and a scuffle.

Elizabeth's gun, followed by even more of the other gun. The sounds of a gun-battle, above his head.

Then…

A horrified, desperate scream.

Slicing through the air, sending chills down Shaun's spine. It was the sound of someone dying in horrible agony… and knowing there was no chance of salvation.

Shaun didn't know how long before that stopped.

It felt like eternity.

But when it did stop… there was constant movement above his head. Feet running, fast as possible, throughout the house and the rooms.

Then… silence.

Deathly silence.

That was almost worse.

"I keep telling you," Dawn hissed, as Ace worked on disabling the security systems to the house, "Donna is not the Doctor! I met her, back in Sunnydale!"

Ace glanced back at Donna — who was still not able to stand as she recovered from her latest round of headaches.

"She's just got all his memories subconsciously leaking through for no reason, then," Ace muttered. "Right…"

"Buffy had fake memories, too, when Elizabeth used that Crystallizer!" said Dawn. "The headaches, the subconscious stuff, the memory loss, the identity crisis… whatever happened to Donna, to make her like this, it's gotta be the same thing as happened to my sister. Another one of Elizabeth's tricks."

Ace figured it was better not to argue.

Even if she suspected that Dawn was wrong.

"Looks like Donna's getting up," Ace said, instead. Darting her eyes over. "I figured no headache could keep her down for this."

Dawn glanced back, too.

She seemed really worried about Donna. Really worried. Ace had no idea if they'd actually been that close last time they'd met, or if this was Dawn's way of compensating for her sister's loss.

Ace jiggled the lock. "And… there we go," she said, as the door swung open. "See? What'd I…?"

Ace froze. Staring at the inside of Elizabeth's bolt-hold, trying not to be sick. Ace had seen some things in her time, yeah. But this…

Dawn gasped. Staring. "Oh, my God."

"Get Donna out of here," Ace commanded, brushing past Dawn and heading inside. "She doesn't need to see this."

Dawn had to stifle a hurl. "Elizabeth… dismembered him," Dawn choked. "She didn't just kill Shaun! She…!"

"What?" came Donna's loud and brassy voice, coming up towards the house. "Is he in there? Did you find him?"

Dawn spun on her heels, and raced back. To lead Donna away.

Ace was grateful.

If this was what had happened to Shaun… there was no telling what Donna's reaction would be. Maybe these mystery headaches would suddenly re-emerge and transform her into the Incredible Hulk or something.

Ace might even cheer her on, if that happened.

"This… is just… sick," Ace said, as she continued to search through the house. Seeing the blood and the mess. It was obvious what had happened — there'd been a gunfight. Maybe Shaun trying to escape? Elizabeth had beat him. Managed to shove his hand into the garburator.

Then… she'd just gone mad.

As if Elizabeth had thought there was some… tracker inside of Shaun. And was frantically trying to find it and dig it out.

"There was no reason for this," Ace said, through her teeth. She could feel herself shaking with fury, and wanted to show this madwoman who was boss, once and for all, before Elizabeth could do this again. "No reason! None at all! Shaun didn't know anything!"

That was when… Ace found the tracker.

Covered in blood.

But definitely a tracker-implant. Fairly sophisticated, too. Alien tech, at a guess.

"But Shaun didn't have a tracker implanted," said Ace, nudging it with her shoe. "Not like this. Which might mean... it's a slim chance, but what if… just what if…?"

She suddenly raced through the rest of the house, fast as she could.

Slamming open all the doors.

"What if that wasn't Shaun who'd been killed, out there?" Ace told herself. Hoping beyond hope that she was right. "What if that was someone else? Someone who caught Elizabeth completely off-guard? And she'd killed him and run, far as she could, just in case his mates came after him?"

The more Ace looked, the more she thought… she had to be right!

It looked like Elizabeth had left in a hurry. Left lots of things behind.

And the way she'd hidden herself here… she'd obviously been planning a much longer stay.

Ace grabbed hold of the door to the cellar, but it was locked. Shoved at it, harder and harder, hard as she possibly could.

Finally managed to force it.

And saw… Shaun.

"Oh, whatever deity you believe in, Shaun — he's definitely smiling on you," Ace said, the moment she caught sight of him. Raced down, fast as she could, to untie him. "For a moment, there, we thought you were a goner."

She wrestled the gag from his mouth, and he gulped in air, again.

Coughing, blinking, not quite processing who he was seeing.

"You… you're… that woman Donna thought she knew," Shaun gasped. "Ace."

"And Donna's outside, waiting for you," Ace said, helping him walk. "Whatever you've been going through, whatever Elizabeth did to you or tried to convince you of… just remember. We never stopped trying to get you back."

Ace and Dawn left Shaun with his wife. As she tried to nurse him and help him recover.

"…all over bloomin' California, looking for you," Donna was saying, bandaging him up. "But you weren't there. Then Ace thought maybe Elizabeth had taken you to…"

"We missed the plane-ride home," said Shaun. "Didn't we?"

Donna said nothing.

Just bandaged in silence.

"We have money left over, from that lottery ticket," Shaun said. "First plane back. We could be on it. Leave this behind us."

"We're not leaving," Donna said.

Shaun stared at her.

"Oi! Don't you give me that look, sunshine," Donna snapped, clearly flustered. "We can't. And that's that."

"Donna, these people are mad," Shaun said. "Ace, Dawn, Elizabeth. They're all nutters! I've been kidnapped, tortured, locked in a cellar, with no…"

"We were fine when we stuck with Ace and Dawn," Donna cut in. "The moment we decided to go home, and left them behind… that bloomin' maniac swooped in and kidnapped you." She took a long, deep breath. "I've got no clue what's going on. And it makes my head hurt just thinking about it. But…" She paused. Putting a hand up to her head, looking a little… confused. "I just get this feeling… like we need to be here. For their safety. And for ours."

"Donna, we should phone the police," said Shaun. "They can protect us! What you're proposing is… is… madness!"

Donna still seemed a bit confused.

But gave Shaun a gentle smile, finishing up wrapping bandages. "Get some sleep, sunshine," she said, giving him a kiss. "I'll look after you. Promise."

He tried to protest, but she shushed him. Calmed him.

Until he finally drifted off to sleep.

"I'm sorry, Shaun," Donna breathed. "I am so, so sorry."