Okay people I'm seeing some progress happening! More and more people are reviewing, and that's awesome, and more and more people are reading! I am so happy right now it's not even funny. Anyway, this is the next chapter, and let me tell you, it is REALLY depressing. I made this chapter on a day when I was really pissed off at my parents, so I just took my anger out on the Doctor and April. (Sorry :/) And so, like always, let the show begin.

Chapter 7-

The sun scratched its way into the bare flaky skin on the two life forms on the ground. It gleamed off of the random puddles of thick red liquid dotted with random specs of dirt and dust. The heated air engulfed everything around with, boiling anything in its path. The stench of an appalling decay of bodies reeked through the air waves, piercing the noses of the Doctor and April.

They hung, suspended from the ground, hung by their necks and arms by shackles attached to wood. Wood in the shape of a cross.

The first thing that struck the Doctor was that his skin was on fire. Not really on fire, because his skin would melt. No, he was not really on fire, but it felt like fire. Like a burning sensation was occurring at the basis of his bones and moving outward. The fire consumed their limbs, spreading and never stopping as they hung motionless in the air.

The Doctor was the first to wake," A-...A-April?" *Cough cough*,"April? A-are y-you..." The Doctor tried to open his eyes, but something tight held them together. With some struggle, he was able to rip the melted skin that shut out his vision. His sunburned eyes managed to catch a glimpse of the run down April hanging in front of him, until he didn't have the energy to keep his eyes open, and shut them back together again. He saw her. She was there, covered in heaps of blood and red. So much red, that there was no trace of the white pink skin he was so used to. Tiny little holes on her limbs dotted her features from the darts that were still poisoning her precious skin. She was striped, striped of her clothes, unprotected from the 3 suns laughing at them. Her skin was cracked all over, almost like lizard skin. It was peeling in chunks, which dried blood mended back together. There was no trace of moisture inside her body. Even if there was, it was wasted from the blood. Her hair was like a rat's nest, almost like a mat. A mat of blood. She, like him, was hanging. Hanging like Jesus was on the cross.

He forced his aching eyes to open for a fraction of a second to inspect his own condition, and he didn't seem any better. There wasn't as much blood stained on his body, but his rib cage was clearly seen, and the dart holes were like black dots on a rainbow. His regeneration was already at work, insisting the skin to mold around the holes. The regeneration was trying its hardest to even protect the Doctor's skin from the suns, but his skin still cracked like plates over his body. The regeneration energy could only do so much at a time. The sun managed to reach down to both of their last layer of skin, even puncturing the muscle tissue.

The rusty brown shackles inched its way into the flesh of the Doctor's neck and wrists as he tried to move his arms and head. His head was hanging down from his shoulders, unable to muster the strength to even use his neck muscles. He spoke in almost a whisper,"A-April, wake up-p..." Thirst quenched his dry throat, screaming at him to get some type of liquid into his stomach. How long have we been here? But he knew. Being a Time Lord, he knew exactly how long something took, or what time it was. They were out there for almost 5 days. 5 days out in the arid outback of the inhabitable planet. The Doctor opened his eyes and lifted his gaze back up to April, who still hung limply from her cross. No, no it can't be... Oh Rassilon, she just can't be...dead. I wouldn't let her, would I? The Doctor's struggle to lift his head back up ended, and he gave up and instead stared back down onto the cracked ground. They were still on the prison planet, but they were somewhere he wasn't familiar with. Somewhere secret and even more torturous than what he thought.

Using his peeling ears, the Doctor could hear someone approach . The terrible combat boots could be heard a mile away in that solitary desert. The Doctor didn't try to find out who exactly was approaching them, and he didn't care. He gave up at that point. The plan, the beautiful plan that Jack came up with himself, failed. And it was Jack who made it crash into ruins.

The crunch of arid dry dirt under the weight of the person came closer and closer, pounding in the Doctor's ear drums. The Doctor saw the boots stop in front of him and stand there, staring at the pathetic form of the Time Lord. The Doctor could feel the man's eyes inspecting him from head to toe in disgust, but the Doctor just pretended that he wasn't there. He didn't want any more trouble than what he already was in.

The man turned to April and observed her. He seemed satisfied, laughing in a crooked manner, reaching to his belt and unclipping his hand-held-radio from its place. The Doctor closed his eyes, letting the darkness overwhelm his vision, listening with curious ears as the guard spoke into it in a low voice. But his senses were too muffled to interpret what the guard was saying.

Grizzly and Oliver Twist came bounding out of the shadow, fitting a small key into the hole of the shackles. The Doctor felt the nice cool shackles leave his cracked skin. The Doctor moaned as Grizzly lifted his broken body over his muscular shoulder, trudging along the path back to the aircraft.

The Doctor opened his eyes, finding April in front of his face, hanging off of the shoulder of Oliver. She didn't seem to notice what was happening, but she was awake now.

And then there was darkness.

The pain was what got her to jolt back into consciousnesses. The agonizing pain washed over her shaken nerves. The pain seemed to produce from her legs and arms, and everywhere else on her skin. After a large struggle, April managed to pry her sunburned eyes open, only to find blood and something else stained on her body. There was no usual white skin. It was only red. She had no idea why exactly, nor did she remember what had happened that got her into the position she was at that moment. There was nothing. No memory, no thought, nothing. All she knew was that the Doctor was hanging right next to her, on another man's shoulders. Why am I so weak? Why does it feel like my skin is on fire? Am I...? April gazed down at her chest, and was greeted with the sight of her breasts dangling down the back of the person carrying her. They too, were bleached by the sun in a horrifying blackish red color. A wave of nausea flooded into her vision, and she closed her eyes and greeted the blackness that welcomed her.

April moaned in her spot. As she did so, she felt a cold hand press against her cheeks and face, slowly creeping down her body, but not touching anything inappropriate. She embraced the strange intruder with the careful hands. She shivered at the touch of the other hand calming down her body, but she didn't mind. It felt almost natural for some reason. The cool touch lifted from her hot skin, which she did not like. Her body almost felt on fire that kept on burning. There was no way to stop it, but only to welcome it, and hope that it goes away. April opened her eyes that were sealed with the melted skin from the sun. She blinked several times in surprise at the figure standing over her. It was the Doctor. His face was peeling and red from his irritable scratching. His hair was even more crazier than ever, and he didn't have any clothes on. He was bare, like her, in an unfamiliar cell. He looked down at her with concern and worry spread across his worn down face. He held up four shaking fingers in front of her face and said,"April? April I need you to listen to me alright? I need you to listen. How many fingers am I holding up? April, answer the question."

April was dazed and took a long time before responding to him,"Four. Your h-holding up four fingers. Why?" She was shocked at the voice that she produced. It was low and shy, almost like a whisper. She rolled her tongue around in her mouth, but no matter what, she didn't get the moisture that she so desperately wanted. Dust clung to her throat, sucking up the leftover moisture that her body wanted to produce, but was unable.

The Doctor shook his head, his heart sank. He said,"No, no I'm not. April, this is bad. VERY bad. You might have a concussion. Or, even worse..." The Doctor scratched the back of his head, which immediately spit out white flakes of dead skin. He turned his attention to the corner of the cell, looking back at April,"April? Now April, I need you to do this for me. Just for me, can you do this? Can you move yourself to the corner of the room, right over there?" The Doctor pointed to the corner of the desolate cell, only a few feet away. April turned her head and followed the Doctor's fingers to the moving corner of a room. She looked up at him and nodded in approval, or at least tried to.

The Doctor nodded and went behind April, lifting her head onto his lap in a gentle motion,"Okay, steady now." April, with most of the Doctor's help, slide upright in her position. She gasped at the how much strength it took for some reason. The burning feeling changed into a wave of passionate fire that seemed to snake its way up her trembling body. Her gasps became sudden breaths of air that for reason couldn't be able to truly reach her lungs.

"Calm down calm down, don't worry. Everything's going to be okay."The Doctor carefully wrapped his arms around her stomach and pulled her body towards the lonely corner in the back of the cell. She screamed out in misery and suffering at the attempt, feeling the blasts of pain that shot through her body in all directions. He let her go when her body finally was settled in the corner.

Tears were supposed to have flooded down her cheeks, but none came. She literally had no moisture in her body at all. She instead closed her eyes, shutting out the world around her. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve any of this.

And that's when the memories came flooding back into agonizing motion.

It came like a slap in the face. All of it, everything. The pill, the Doctor, the failure. And to April, the memories were worst, worst than the pain. She cupped her hands and sunk her head into them, letting the screams of agony surround her, letting her shaking body sink into the walls of the cell. As she sobbed and shook, chunks of dead skin peeled down and drifted onto the floor. Blood dripped and streamed down her body at random.

The Doctor couldn't understand exactly what was happening, but he had to do something.

It is my fault after all.

The Doctor kneeled in front of her on his knees, brushing his hand across April's face. He thumbed her face as calmly as possible. The hypnotizing motion was able to stop the 'crying' and the screaming. She only sat there, trembling at the sudden cold, holding herself in her arms as the Doctor continued to brush the hair out of her face, putting it behind her ears.

The trembling continued for a long time, but the Doctor understood why. The days in the sun destroyed her skin, which made it easier for temperature to affect her body. With the sudden coolness of the walls that April's body was not used to, her body temperature dropped. The Doctor couldn't help with this though. There was nothing he could do, again. She didn't have quick access to healing like he did, so her body would take much longer to reproduce new skin. All that he could do was comfort her during this time of desperate need.

"April?"

April tore herself from her position and shakily looked up at the Doctor. She still rocked in her place, still holding herself, but she replied,"Y-yes?"

The Doctor smiled down at her,"Do you understand what happened? What is happening?"

April gazed down at the floor,"N-not really, but I remember what happened. Back there I mean."

"Well... It's not that great of a story, but they took us, you and me both, they took us and punished us. They chained us to a wooden cross and left there, in the sun. Left us there in the sun for...5 days... But then they took us here." The Doctor stretched out his hands, showing the cell to her. April really didn't notice the place until then, but it was different. They were surrounded by white walls on all sides, except for the steel gray door on the far wall. The cell was much larger than the other one that April was used to, but she liked it. The floor was made of white tiles that ran in a criss-crossed pattern.

April let the information that she just received sink in. She traced her fingers over the edges of the tiles, remembering all those days she would sketch in the dirt floor the picture of the TARDIS.

A million questions raced through her mind. Why didn't they just kill us? How come this happened? What is going to happen?

But she remained silent, and to herself, only to let the noiseless room keep both of them occupied for a time. She didn't want to shower him with questions he too didn't have the answers to, or to make him feel any more guilty than he already was. The Doctor sat against the wall right next to April, legs stretched in front of him, head leaning back against the wall behind him. The chills pricked his nerves, but he soon learned to tolerate that. He was thinking, thinking of what had just happened. The dart holes on his skin were slowly closing up, all due to his regeneration healing. A couple layers of skin were able to heal over his exposed limbs during that time they were inside the new cell.

And then memories of that day came flooding in his mind. Memories of that day only a couple of days ago came and went through the Doctor's mind, only poisoning his reasoning even more. This is one of the many things that will dawn and haunt me for the rest of time. It's always me. I always have to put people through pain because of my stupid brain. I could have saved her. I could have saved April. Hell I even could have-.

But no. He couldn't have. Even if he could, it would only be a matter of time before something even worse happened. So they sat, naked, against the white walls of the cell, letting mute noises be their only entertainment.

But one thought was stilling lingering inside the Doctor's mind. Only one.

We were left out in the sun for 5 days. No human is able to withstand that much sun radiation. So then, why is April still alive?

Now, you gotta say, that was a pretty awesome ending am I right?! Tell me how you feel, your questions, your comments, and your whatever. I don't really care. Just review it people. It's simple. Anyway, I'm working on this one chapter, but I keep on procrastinating! I want to write, but for some stupid reason, I just can't! Any tips?