A/N: Sorry for not clearing this up, but this is during the specials, after the season four finale. Thanks!

"Doctor! In here!"

The Doctor came up next to Kayla. "Well. For two people trying to get inside a company to shut it down, we did remarkably well." He grinned.

Kayla smiled. "Yes. Yes we did."

Torlo and Relak had led Kayla and The Doctor into two separate rooms for the night, connected by a door.

She sighed. "Listen, I have to call Falcon before I go to sleep. You know. Catch him up." She grinned.

He smiled back. "Sure. I'll just… leave you to it."

He left and closed the door behind him.

Kayla smiled as she dialed the number, wondering why she had been so scared before. Maybe she could come home after this business with the Hidden Halls was over.

The phone rang twice before someone answered. "Hello?"

"Falcon? It's me. Kayla."

"Kay! Oh, sweetheart, I was so worried!"

"Why?"

"You… you left, babe! You left after we had that fight and I…" He chocked off a sob. "Kayla, I'm so sorry! Please, I never meant to hurt you…"

Her eyes widened. She'd almost forgotten about what had happened the last time she was with him. Funny how things seemed to vital one moment and so trivial the next.

"It's ok." She replied. "I'm fine."

But her eyes caught sight of the small bruise on her wrist. She covered it up quickly, hiding it from herself as much as from anyone else.

"Oh, babe, I'm so sorry. Can you come home? We'll… we'll talk."

She smiled. "Yeah. Sure. When I can, all right?"

"That would be great, babe! I'll see you then?"

"Yeah. Call you tomorrow, ok?"

"Sure, sure. Love ya, babe."

"Love you too."

She hung up.

It was weird, how easily her emotions flowed from fear to love for Falcon. But he'd apologized! Surely that meant he was truly sorry? He'd never hurt her again.

Right?


Tektran marveled at the snow around him. Earth really was a beautiful place.

It fell slowly, dancing around him, swirling in the wind.

But he couldn't enjoy it. Because there was one thing he wanted here, one thing that couldn't be here.

He sighed and sat down in the snow, not caring about the cold.

He looked around. It was night time, at least on Earth. Tektran figured it was probably noon back home, because he wasn't even slightly tired.

He heard something groan softly. His eyes darted around, searching the dark snow.

Then he saw something he hadn't noticed before. There, on the ground, half-covered in snow, was a bump. It moved slightly, and Tektran realized with some horror and shock that it was a person.

Immediately, he ran over to it. Being of royalty never stopped him from helping someone when they needed it.

He carefully rolled the person over to see her face. It was a scene that would forever haunt him in his darkest nightmares. Her lips were blue, and her skin pale. Blood was pouring down her arm, and she had a horrible bruise on her shoulder. She wasn't dressed properly for this weather; wearing a tank top and a pair of jeans. A soft groan escaped her lips.

But Tektran would have recognized that face anywhere. It was the face that had brought him light years away from his home, had brought him to Earth in the first place. It was a beautiful face, with black, narrow-framed glasses hiding deep brown eyes which were now closed.

It was Kayla's face.

He didn't know why he did what he did. Obviously, as she was traveling with The Doctor, she would be familiar with alien technology, so it was safe, but it was still irrational. But he didn't care.

He lifted her into his arms and carried her into his ship.


Tektran found The Doctor an hour later. He'd been searching for Kayla, and Tektran brought him inside his ship to make sure he knew she was ok.

"I had some nanogenes repair some of the damage." He explained as the Doctor looked at Kayla's unconscious body with dark and furious eyes. "But she needs rest."

The Doctor nodded and sat down next to Kayla's limp form. Tektran sat next to him.

"Do you know what happened?" Tektran asked gently.

"No." The Doctor's voice was as cold as ice. "If only I did…"

Tektran looked at The Doctor, and realized with surprise that there were tears falling down the Time Lord's cheeks.

"She won't tell me." He whispered as he turned to Tektran. "She knows what's happening. If only… if only she'd tell me, I could help her."

Tektran swallowed. "You really care about her, don't you?"

The Doctor nodded. "We've been friends for a long time, Tektran. I care about my friends. I don't let them get hurt."

There was something dark about the Doctor's eyes. Something horrible. Something brought forth from nightmares. Tektran knew what he was feeling. He was furious as well.

Kayla gasped in her sleep. "N-No…" She whispered softly.

It was too much for The Doctor. He stormed out of the ship, walking out into the snow.

"What is happening to her?" he demanded of the sky. "Why can't I help her? Why can't I save her? What's happening to her?"

Tektran came behind the Time Lord and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She'll tell you when she's ready."

The Doctor whirled to face him. "But it's staring me in the face! I can save her, Tektran! I know I can! I just… just…" He looked down, unable to say any more.

"She'll tell you when she's ready." Tektran repeated.

"That's the point, Tektran. That's exactly the point. Who's to say she'll survive that long?"


"So. When are we going to find Claire's dad?" Kayla asked The Doctor.

"Tomorrow." He replied simply.

Kayla smiled. Good. She'd been thinking about something for a long time, and now she'd have the whole night to act on it.

She yawned, pretending to be tired. "Good. I'm exhausted. Oh, and look. A real bed. Not one of those lumpy mattress things you have in the TARDIS."

"Oi! The TARDIS has a good bed somewhere. If you're too lazy to find it, that's your problem, not mine!"

She grinned. "That's not lazy, Doctor. If I went looking for something in your TARDIS, I'd never come out!"

He rolled his eyes and flicked out her light. "Good night, Kayla."

She smiled in the darkness and placed her head on the pillow.

A few minutes later, she got up and tip-toed out of the room.


"Hi, Relak."

Relak jumped ten feet into the air and swore as he came down.

Kayla grinned behind him. "Sorry."

He brushed it off. "It's fine. What do you need, ma'am?"

She smiled. "Oh, I don't need anything. I'm more worried about you."

"Me, ma'am?"

"Yes, you. Relak, why do you work for a dweeb like Torlo? The Doctor hacked into the security cameras. I saw how he just gets mad at you and smacks you across the room. You're not even a slave; you're a personal punching bag."

He shrugged. "There's no other purpose for me."

Kayla swallowed and fought the pit in her stomach. Is that all I am for Falcon? Her previous thoughts about her love for her boyfriend had all but vanished. She brushed it aside, but her hands were still shaking.

"I'm not saying this will happen, but… if Hidden Halls went down the tubes, would you really stay with Torlo while it died?"

Relak shrugged. "I don't have a choice, ma'am."

Kayla didn't want to ask the question. She needed to. "Relak, if Torlo threatened to kill you, what would you do?"

Relak smiled ruefully. "If, ma'am? There is no if."

Kayla shivered. "Relak, how can you just let that happen? How?"

Relak looked into her eyes for a long time. Silence stretched on, becoming more uncomfortable with each passing second. Finally, he spoke again, his words whisper-soft and ice cold.

"You act like this is a new concept, Child of Earth. But you yourself are a slave." He placed a hand on hers. "And one slave knows another."

A shiver traveled down Kayla's spine. "I'm perfectly free."

He looked at her. "Do you truly believe that?"

Kayla found that she couldn't reply honestly.

His eyes suddenly became urgent. "Kayla, I'm not supposed to say this. But you have to get out. You have to run and hide and hope Torlo never finds you." A single tear streaked down his face. "Hidden Halls is dying. And you shall all die with it."

"What do you mean?"

But Relak never finished his statement. His mouth opened in shock, and he looked down.

Blood was pouring from his chest.

He collapsed to the ground. Behind him, Torlo was smiling darkly, a gun in his hand, the same gun that had been used to shoot his slave in the back.

"And that, my dear human, is what we do with traitors." He said as he placed the gun back in his pocket.

Kayla stared at him with wide eyes.

"Go on." He smiled darkly. "Run to your Doctor."

Kayla walked slowly out of the room, pausing over Relak's body. Slowly, carefully, she knelt down next to it.

"What are you doing?" Torlo hissed.

But Kayla ignored him as she carefully placed her fingers over Relak's eyes, bringing down his eyelids.

She stood up and walked over to Torlo.

"You will pay for what you've done." She told him. Her words were calm, her eyes hard. "Remember."

And, head held high, she left the room.


Once inside her room, Kayla broke down crying.

She wondered why Torlo had let her go. She'd just seen him murder someone for crying out loud!

But… Relak was a slave. The vague things she knew about slaves, like in Ancient Roman times (The Doctor had once tried to take her there, but they'd ended up in the year 6890 instead), indicated that it wasn't technically murder to kill your slave, because they weren't technically people.

Somehow, that just made it worse.

When she'd finally pulled herself together, she walked to the door joining her room to the Doctor's. She opened it slowly.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm…?"

She flicked on the lights. The Doctor squinted as the switch from the darkness assaulted his eyes. "Ouch, Kay. A little warning next time."

He looked at her, and knew instantly that something was wrong. He was at her side in a spilt-second. "Are you ok?"

She shook her head, chocking back another sob. "Relak's dead."

His eyes darkened. "Tell me what happened."


"Murder doesn't really put people on my good list."

The Doctor was sitting down, completely at ease with this criminal. It somehow unnerved Torlo more than he could explain.

"Of course not." Torlo laughed. "You really think I would believe that you were running from the Jadoon?"

"Well, yeah. I sort of, kind of… am."

Torlo laughed again. "Not for planetary demolition, methinks."

"True. Because I ran away from the Shadow Proclamation." He frowned. "They're not really happy with me."

Torlo smiled. "Yes, the infamous Doctor, traveling the stars in his TARDIS. Oh, you're far from human. I knew that the instant I saw you."

The Doctor came up next to him. "But you said nothing."

Torlo shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

Torlo's smile was dark. "You'll see, Time Lord. You will see."

He discreetly pressed a button, but The Doctor's sharp eyes caught the movement. He stepped forward to stop him. "What are you doing…?"

But it was too late. The button had been pressed.

In the other room, Kayla screamed.

The Doctor cried out in pain, dropping to his knees and clutching his arm, where a burning pain was starting to spread through him.

Torlo's smile widened as he pulled out his gun. "Toxins, my dear fellow. Injected in your system as a sort of… vaccination, I believe the word was? That was what you told your friend, wasn't it?"

The Doctor glared at him, but the burn was beginning to spread to his chest.

"Now, it's enough to kill most species, including humans. Not Time Lords, I'm afraid, but it is enough to stun you temporarily. Long enough for me, at any rate."

He smiled and brought the gun to The Doctor's head. "Goodbye, Doctor."

And he fired once.