Rose's eyes snapped open. The light in the room seemed too bright and it made her wince. She could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest as if she didn't have any control over it. The room. The testing room. That's where she was. What the hell just happened?

Her eyes darted around, finally coming to rest on Raggedy Man. His eyes glared dangerously at something she couldn't see. He was there, next to her and now that she knew he was there she could feel his hand in hers, but that didn't slow her rapid pulse. Then he came into her line of sight, stepping closer to the table where she was strapped down.

"You will give me his name, Rose, no matter how many shots of adrenaline I have to give you," John warned. "Blacking out isn't an option."

Adrenaline. That's why her heart was beating so fast. She hated that feeling. He'd only done it once before. When she first got there. She exchanged a glance with Raggedy Man and she could see the rage he felt at not being able to help her. She tried to tell him with her eyes that she was all right, but she'd never been able to lie to him and she knew he could see the fear she felt.

"Now then," John said, drawing her attention and her eyes spied something that looked like a small blow torch. He held it up, clicking it on and grinned as a blue flame caught and began to burn. "All you have to do is give me a name. Just his name Rose, that's all I want and all this will be over."

He paused, but when she didn't answer he snatched her arm, pulling it painfully toward him. She tried to struggle, but the straps held her in place. Then she felt a hand on her cheek.

"Look at me, Rose," Raggedy Man said. She turned her head, his face inches from hers. She gazed into his emerald eyes. "Just keep looking at me."

Pain lanced her skin, white hot pain. She couldn't help crying out.


"Is there anything I can do?" Amy asked, bending down next to the Doctor while he tried for the tenth time to sonic the lock open.

"I'm perfectly capable of unlocking the door myself, Pond," he snapped, irritated because the lock wouldn't budge and it should have.

"Maybe if you tried…" she began, but trailed off when he turned his irritated gaze on her. She lifted her hands in surrender. "Okay, I'll just…go make sure everyone's okay."

He sighed, knowing he shouldn't be upset with her. Over the past few weeks he'd been having strange surges of emotions. They came out of the blue. It didn't matter what he was doing, piloting the TARDIS, scanning something, using his sonic, once he'd been in the middle of a conversation with Rory about a planet he thought Amy would like to visit. The emotions ranged from fear, but not for himself, sorrow, the sort that made him feel helpless, rage, and a few times this overwhelming feeling of love, the sort he hadn't felt since…well, since before he lost the woman he loved.

Although he'd been concentrating on the lock right before Amy interrupted him he'd felt a combination of rage and that feeling of helplessness, which is why he snapped at her. He rubbed his forehead. Once they got back to the TARDIS he needed to run some tests. Find out if he'd been exposed to some plant, pollen, microbe, something that affected Time Lords. He couldn't recall anything, but he knew what he was feeling wasn't normal.

It was very similar to something it couldn't possibly be. A psychic link. Of course, it couldn't be that. He didn't have a psychic link with anyone. The only person he ever thought to create a link like that with…well, she was gone now. A wave of regret washed over him and he forced the memories away, banishing them to the back of his mind where he didn't have to see them.

He pushed the button on his sonic and was rewarded with the soft click of the door unlocking, but before he could stand up and take the handle it began to turn on its own. The door opened and he looked up to find Rory standing on the other side.

"Hello," Rory said.

He stood up, smiling at the centurion.

"Rory the Roman," he greeted.

Rory grinned.

"Rory!" Amy called happily as she raced over to her husband and threw her arms around him. "You found us."


Guards scurried from John's path as he stalked down the hall. Six hours and she hadn't broken. He thought the blow torch would finally loosen her tongue, but she wouldn't betray her friend. He threw the door to his office open slamming it shut behind him.

It wasn't one of the employees and he ran through all the security. Not even an echo of a breach. There was absolutely no way she could be communicating with anyone, but she was. Even if it hadn't been for that day, the day she seemed to be talking to someone during his testing, he'd seen her on the camera feed. Communicating with someone.

She wouldn't tell him. Wouldn't listen to him. Why did she have to be so bloody stubborn? He grabbed his coffee cup and threw it against the nearest wall. It shattered on impact.

He had to find out who it was, find them, get rid them. He had to isolate her. It was the only way to get her to stop fighting him. Then she would see that he was doing this, all of this for them. She had to learn to accept him. Had to learn that he was the only one who could save her, the only one she could trust.

He sat down and turned on the camera feed. The listening devices had been installed during their tests. Hopefully she would let something slip, some clue as to who she was talking to and how they were able to communicate. Once he found out he would have her.


"You should eat something," Raggedy Man said, not insistent like John, he was never like John. It was more of a worried plea.

"Not yet," she protested, holding his hand that was draped over her waist as she lay on the bed curled up, facing the wall.

He was lying behind her, his chin resting on the top of her head. It's the way she woke up after John became irritated enough to finally kill her. She paused at that thought and then shook her head to banish it. Dying meant healing and now she didn't have any searing wounds and she would've had quite a few otherwise.

She felt comfortable, safe, even if she knew she really wasn't, but after the day she had she just wanted to stay there with him and forget about everything else.

"Regenerating takes a lot of energy," he tried.

"'S that what I do?" she asked.

It was the first time they talked about it. She hadn't asked mainly because when they were alone she didn't want to think about anything else.

"It's different from what I do, but yes, basically it's the same process." He kissed the top of her head and she couldn't help smiling. "Now, Tyler, would you please eat something?"

She was glad this new regeneration was a bit different, like the way he called her by her last name sometimes. It set him apart from John, not that she could ever confuse the two, but she knew if he acted exactly the same, especially if he still looked exactly the same, she wouldn't feel as comfortable with him as she did.

"Five more minutes?" she asked.

"Five more minutes," he agreed.

She smiled, snuggling closer to him. She wasn't sure where she would be if he wasn't there. His presence gave her a strength she knew she wouldn't have otherwise. She wasn't alone and she had something John could never take from her.


Standard Disclaimer.

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