Time Stands Still

by azaadin

Two fanfiction authors find themselves living the same nightmare as their characters. What will they do to find a way home against a Doctor who is determined to keep them with him forever?

10. Line in the Sand

Chapter 10: Line in the Sand

xxxxxxxxxx

They stumbled back on board the space ship with Rose and Mickey gawking at them in surprise. But a smile broke out on Rose's face as the blond, hardly able to contain herself, ran up to hug the Doctor. He returned the embrace, alleviated to see her but still decidedly serious regarding his girl's sudden act. He swallowed, looking down at Rose as her hazel eyes once against met his. At one point, he thought it would be centuries until he saw her again.

"How long has it been?" he asked quietly. The disappointment over what occurred was thick in his voice.

"Jus' about two weeks. We ran out of milk," Rose told him, shooting him a cheeky grin with her subtle rebuke. "I told Mickey I wouldn't leave without you but said he could and-"

"I refused," Mickey replied. "Wouldn't leave my newest mates, so Rose was stuck with me."

The Doctor inhaled briefly. Time had worked differently once the connection with the ship had been broken. Now, with the fireplace balancing the system, the previous time displacement had been restored to its previous setting. Faster in France, slower on the ship. Quickly, he turned, bending down in front of the fireplace. "Reinette, sorry about that. Don't know what Cathryn and Bec were thinking but I'll be right there for you. I promise." He paused. "Just look out the window, pick a star and that's the one we'll go see first."

The girl eagerly disappeared as the Doctor cast a firm glance at his granddaughters. "I think it's better you stay here for now." The time mechanism was firmly in place and he knew he would be gone only a matter of moments. His girls were silent, listlessly shuffling their feet, not presenting an argument or insisting that they come along. He heaved a sigh. What were they thinking? He turned back to the fireplace in question. "Going to fetch her right now. Be back in a minute and I expect you both to apologise."

Cathryn and Bec simply watched him leave, knowing their regrets far too well. Reinette's life had been tampered with too much as it was and despite what apologies they issued in their letter, her life would be burdened by the loss of three of her closest friends. None of it was fair, still, they didn't wish to make things irrevocably worse.

His return from the pivoting fireplace with his solemn expression so clearly evident, he stood staring at his girls for those grim moments, a bulky assortment of letters in his possession.

"Doctor?" Rose asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Too late. She's gone. Nothing I can do. Only that one chance to take her along and I arrived five years too late." He shook his head, feeling horrendously upset, but burying it from the sight of his companions. "I was left the house by the King in his generosity. Sees us all as a bit of a mystery." The house, with its memories of Reinette. Pain constricted his hearts and he turned to his girls. "But you already knew this, didn't you?" he asked. "Is that why you pushed her away?"

"Wouldn't bringing her along change the time line?" Cathryn told a half-truth with her question and with it an accusation. She looked at him sharply, struggling to contain her churning emotions. Her grief of Reinette's death mixed with ill contained fury, muddled together as she tried to keep her voice even.

"You said we can't change the past," Bec's voice was quiet. She knew she had to defend their decision but she felt a slow, burning anger towards the Doctor for the fate they just barely averted in 18th century France. Seeing Cathryn's expression, she knew her friend did too.

The Doctor sighed, running a frustrated hand back and forth through his hair. "No, it would have been fine," he answered. "One trip," he explained. "One trip wouldn't have changed anything."

Bec motioned to speak, clenching her jaw. It would never have been just one trip. She knew what she did was right even if he didn't.

"And even if it did," the Time Lord cut her off. "She's not part of our personal time lines. We can change whatever we want. It's my right. The right of a Time Lord... and his curse." He frowned. "I suppose I can't fault you for trying to protect time," he added. "And there really wasn't a moment when you could have asked me about it. But you should have trusted me when I invited her along." He tugged on his ear. The Doctor was torn between his angered frustration and his pride over his girl's choices. He was frustrated because he'd lost a companion when there was no need. But he was proud of them because they'd put the safety of time before a personal relationship.

Still, he thought to himself. His girls seemed to be hiding something. Perhaps they really had simply disapproved of Reinette or were being petty and vindictive over the role the woman had played in their dictated future in France, and were using his explanation of the first rule of time to excuse their behavior, except they seemed upset over the situation rather than defiant. The Doctor shook his head. If his girls were anything like him, he'd have to keep his wits about him.

"Change whatever you want," Cathryn repeated. "Do whatever you want. So that entails selling me off like a piece of merchandise to be used as a whore by the King," she accused. "To utterly degrade me to the point where I was nothing but an object. That's your right." She paused, fuming as the Doctor turned on her.

His voice was calm. "It's been several hours since you had your last injections and-"

"Screw you!" Cathryn cried out. "And you were going to use a sacred marriage act to force Bec into committing an act of Bigamy. A sin! Do you not care the slightest bit of how we feel or what we believe?" she challenged. "Or no, wait. 18th century France isn't that different from Gallifrey, is it? Arranged marriage. Children forced to obey their families no matter what the cost. No freedom. We're just property to you." She glared at him. "How could you? Make me into a prostitute and tell Bec that her marriage to her husband doesn't matter. What about her children? Do you care at all about them?" She let out a shuddering breath. "No you wouldn't, would you?"

The Doctor had taken another step towards her but this time, Cathryn was faster, acted more swiftly. "No, you have NO RIGHT!" she exclaimed. "None at ALL! Just go to hell!"

With that, she ran, directly back into the TARDIS, seeking sanctuary. The library was too obvious a place for refuge but the wine cellar. Maneuvering herself behind all those barrels, she pressed her back against the wall, placing her hands on the cold cement floor. Don't let him find me. She thought, mentally begging the TARDIS for a few hours solitude. Just some respite she desperately needed. Please don't let him find me.

The Doctor went to follow her, but stopped at Rebecca's dejected words. "Just leave her alone. It's not like we can escape anyway." She rubbed her forehead, feeling totally defeated and downtrodden, missing the Doctor's pained expression at her choice of words.

"Bec, I'm just trying to help and understand." He held his hands up calmingly, even though the emotions he could sense from her weren't the same anger as Cathryn's, but something worse.

She ignored him, walking the long way around him to return to the ship, their prison. She paused briefly as she stood in the doors, reaching out and holding the frame. She hadn't noticed it at first, but now she couldn't notice anything else. The warmth they had missed in France was back, comforting, barely a whisper, but definitely present. It wasn't the ship's fault they were being held here, it was her master's. She dropped her hand to her side, her fingers briefly stroking the wood as they fell, silently thanking the ship and apologising that she wasn't happy to be back, wishing she could be home instead.

All she'd learned that day, the power he had over them. Locking them in his ship, giving them injections to make them like him, it hadn't been enough for him. No, he was taking over their minds too. Worming his way into their thoughts so they had no privacy from him, no respite. How could she have ever liked the show, his character? Twelve was right. Eleven was right. He was not a good man.

Next adventure, she reminded herself as she wandered into the ship. It was their chance to get home. She tried to hold that hope, but she felt swallowed by her despair. They would never escape.

"No," she whispered to herself. She couldn't let herself fall into depression, not now, not with Pete's World so close. She could fall apart after they escaped. In the past, when her depression had been at it' worst, she struggled to make even the simplest decisions, struggled to motivate herself to perform any task, even getting out of bed in the morning had at times just felt too hard. If she gave up now, she would lose her only chance to return to her children, because she wouldn't be able to fight for it. She turned on the spot in a flare of determination. She knew what she was like. If she hid in a hole like she wanted, hid from the world and its problems, she would stop being able to function. But if she forced herself to act against her instincts to hide in solitude, if she forced herself to engage with other people, she could hold onto herself, stave off her depression, keep going.

I need to pray more, she reminded herself. It was something she had been struggling with before falling into this world of nightmares, her prayer. It was always the first to slip when depression set in. For her, prayer was her half of the conversation with God. Just as in any relationship, it required communication and quality time. Recently, however, her prayers had been more like tweets, wishes she whispered rather than words that held meaning.

I'm sorry, she whispered instead, begging for help, begging for strength, begging that she would trust in Him.

She wandered down the hallway, searching for her friend, thinking they could both use the comfort and support of the other.

xxxxxxxxxx

Cathryn heard a light tapping at the door. Her body immediately tensed, thinking it was the Doctor but she closed her eyes, exhaling deeply at the sight of her friend who was walking down the steps to where Cathryn had been sitting, supported by an oak barrel, while she traced random patterns in the dust on the floor.

"Mind some company?" Bec asked.

"No," Cathryn managed. "Sorry about before. Kind of messing up our chances with Pete's World but…" She blinked her eyes rapidly, feeling tears start to form. "He was going to allow me to be used as a whore. I'm just a piece of merchandise to him." She sighed. "What's to stop him from trying again?" She looked at Bec. "What's to stop him from forcing you into a marriage? I'm sure he would love to be a father again, your consent notwithstanding." A bitter feeling of rage engulfed her, even as a horrified shudder ran through her friend. "Who needs consent when he initiated this bond?" She swallowed. "It's the injections. He managed to get us addicted, telling us we'll die if we stop taking them. What a bunch of crap." Cathryn clenched her fists together tightly. "He's worse than the Time Lord Victorious." It was said in a scarce whisper but Bec's eyes widened at the sudden declaration.

"He's supposed to be better," Bec agreed her voice flat. Rose was still with them, she thought. He's supposed to be better. "I keep thinking about what Eleven says, that good men don't need rules," she murmured.

"This isn't a story anymore," Cathryn told her fiercely. "It's real life with real rules. One more episode." She was telling herself this as much as she was telling Bec. "I think we need a couple of the syringes of the crap he's given us." Her mind was churning. "Once he leaves, we can contact Mickey, explain everything. The Torchwood there will help us. Make the withdraws tolerable." At least she hoped so. She looked at Bec who was the picture of perfect despair. "We've come too far to give up now. Think of your family. Your children. This is your chance to get back to them. We aren't quitting before we started, right?"

"No," she said, shaking her head, agreeing that they couldn't give up, but unable to quite summon the emotion she needed to believe it. 'Fake it 'til you make it', her husband had often said, however, he had been speaking about work, hospital politics, rather than how to survive being kidnapped by an alien whom should be fictional. She took a breath.

"I know it's Pete, that Pete will run Torchwood over there eventually, but can we still trust them?" Bec asked nervously. This was the part of the plan she was most concerned about, having to turn to Torchwood. "Even if they're better, if they're like Torchwood One... A-and... and he's done something to us... Maybe we should hide and just ask Mickey. He can help us from inside. He doesn't like what's happening either."

"That's true," Cathryn agreed. "Mickey is the better option but I don't know." She was thinking about the shots. How she felt when she was nearing a time for another dose. How erratic her behavior was. She couldn't keep her thoughts straight nor prevent many of the words that fell from out of her mouth. She was dizzy and often felt feverish as though she were running a temperature. She swallowed, her throat was dry. That similar sensation was already starting to creep over her again. The horrendous symptoms attached to the withdraws from the injectable material the Doctor kept using. Nervously, she glanced at the door, lowering her voice in anticipation of his unwelcome arrival.

"You don't know about what?" Bec asked.

"Some years ago, I went through narcotic withdraw from these fentanyl patches my doctor put me on after a misdiagnosis and an infection from a surgery that shouldn't have happened. I decided to stop using the patches because my condition was discovered and treated. The narcotics caused a lot of nausea you see…" Cathryn looked at her nervously.

"Alright, yes. Go on."

"I ended up in the ER in severe withdraw. It was dangerous, you see. Horrible on the body to just quit. Took me several weeks to taper the dosage off but…" Cathryn took a deep breath. "We talked about withdraws but Bec, it's not just a matter of a few annoying symptoms to wait out. I just think, something like this could be potentially life threatening. We would need Torchwood sooner than later to make a sort of derivative of the shots so we can taper off safely." She shrugged. "Call it life experience but I don't want all our work to get our freedom go to waste by the two of us dying from withdraw symptoms in some unknown dimension because we didn't get Pete's help sooner than later." Gritting her teeth, she sighed. "I hate this. I hate what he's doing but-"

A knock sounded on the door to the wine cellar, which Bec in her wisdom had thought to secure before talking to Cathryn. The two of them immediately froze in position, present discussion now distant in their minds as the Doctor entered the room. "I'm sorry," he began seriously. "I can't afford to wait any longer." Cathryn simply watched him as he took a step closer, removing a prepared syringe. "We can talk further after you both have rested."

Rested. She thought and then she knew. "Sedatives. You're sedating us." She glanced at Bec who shared her gaze of trepidation.

"It's necessary," he said, thinking about the girl's sudden actions towards Reinette. Their erratic behavior. Of course, considering the turn of events, he should have foreseen this. But now he had just lost a friend. A companion. He made exceptions for his girls in France in removing sedation from their treatment regimen. Now he knew that had been a serious mistake in regards to their care. One he couldn't risk again. "You'll feel better when it's done."

"Wait," Bec insisted. "Just wait." She wasn't even aware of her new habit of clasping her hands around the crook of her arms to guard her veins from any intrusion. She stared at the Doctor grimly, struggling to put her thoughts in order. She didn't want to compromise with the man, the alien who was ready to force her into a marriage and whore her friend off to a French king but what could she do? We're just property to him, she thought. In the century they just managed to escape, the alien that still held them prisoner didn't see them as equals but simply possessions to be used as he saw fit, for the betterment of his own standing. It was such a despairing reminder of the precariousness of their position. "We don't need sedatives." She looked at Cathryn briefly for confirmation who gave a slight nod. In this, the two now seemed to share the same frame of mind. If they were asleep, it stood as a possibility their sedation would last throughout Pete's World and they would miss it entirely. Neither was a risk they wanted to take. This was the better path. "If you give us the normal injections, we won't fight you and we'll go to sleep on our own. Just give us a chance," she implored.

The Doctor sighed, shaking his head. "I gave you both your chances. On the spaceship and in France. But this time, I can't give you another." He paused. "Not now." What seemed to remain unsaid was that phrase that echoed through both girls mind. 'One chance. One warning. No second chances. I'm that kind of man.'

"Something is coming," Bec managed suddenly, despite the Doctor's seeming resolution. She remembered the line often used on the show.

"A storm," Cathryn chimed in, catching on to what Bec was up to.

The Doctor's eyes widened. This was more than unusual at this stage of retransformation.

"If we can't wake up, we could miss it," said Bec.

"We could die," Cathryn added for good measure.

"You'll be safe on the TARDIS."

"No, we won't," both girls said at once.

"She'll be hurt or asleep or something," Bec explained.

"And this is supposed to happen in the next few hours?" The Doctor wondered at the perfect timing of it all. He wondered if his girls were lying to get out of taking their medicine. They were HIS kin after all. Twisting the truth was practically in their genes.

"We don't know," Bec answered honestly. "It could be a few hours, a few days, or... She shook her head, wondering how far away Pete's World was.

The Doctor frowned. He closed his eyes for a moment, stilling his being, embracing his extra senses that allowed him to discern time and reality, senses that his granddaughters were rapidly developing. If they were correct, the implications for their acuity once their transition was complete was concerning, given those senses were only just developing now.

He frowned again. He could feel a storm approaching, a bad one, but it was still some distance off. Was this the disruption they could feel? Or was there another sooner event they could foresee. 'The TARDIS will be hurt or asleep or something.' Caring for the girls had been hard enough if France. If he lost access to his ship again he would face the same struggles. And if he left them inside and lost them...

His thoughts flew back to the letter Reinette had left him with her own message. She had written to each of them, and he intended to pass her missives on to them after they had rested, but she had also included the letter they left for her when they forced her to stay behind. It was another subject he had intended to raise with them after their rest, but perhaps, given their behavior and warnings, the situation was more pressing than he anticipated.

He still didn't understand their developing sense and knowledge of time. Time Lord's were loomed with their physiology fully formed and merely needed to learn how to understand the sensations these anatomical structures produced. Cathryn and Rebecca were in the process of growing those structures within their bodies and brains, and he didn't know how this development would affect their senses. However, he knew that, even if their senses were distorted or unrefined, they were certainly present given their foreknowledge and their reactions to the distortions and paradoxes created by the clockwork repair droids, and if they were right about a coming danger then he would need to be prepared for it, and if they were wrong, there would be no harm in having been ready.

He ran his hand through his hair as his mind raced, absentmindedly pacing in a circle. Had there been more room, he likely would have paced further, but the wine cellar was one of the more cramped rooms in his extraordinary ship.

I should come up with a portable IV cuff for them, he thought, pursing his lips. It wasn't ideal, but he could always remove it once the need for it became redundant and he could give it its own power source separate from the TARDIS. It could monitor their vitals and give the next dose immediately when they need it without delay, mitigating their physical and mental disturbances as the dosage ran low. His eyes lit up briefly at the thought. He should of thought of this before. It would take out the risk of missing or delaying a dose. A few bigger on the inside infusion chambers and it could ready mix whatever combination of hormones and nutrients their body needed. He nodded to himself before frowning again. He would limit their release of sedatives to only when they were onboard the TARDIS or at his discretion, as sedation at other times could place them in harm's way. He could feel their mounting anxiety and stress through the bond. The panic and fear was evident given the mere prospect of sedation. They were already overdue and considering the rate of their metabolism… they were merely children. Afraid of something utterly intangible but fear for them at this hour, in this state of transition came with a nasty set of repercussions. It would work more to his advantage to keep them calm. At least until the mechanisms are in place. Then, he wouldn't be privy to so much frantic concern regarding their health at each passing moment.

"Alright," he said finally to them. "I'll change the syringes. You can both go to sleep on your own."

Cathryn swallowed, brushing her sweaty palms against her jeans. The clearest sensation of relief started to overcome her. It had actually worked. They managed to talk him out of putting them asleep. Ultimately, she felt grateful, thanking God for not abandoning them so utterly to this alien's foibles and whims. "You will? You'll remove the…." She exhaled deeply. "Thank you," she managed. "Thank you for not forcing us to sleep. You have no idea…" It was the sensation of helplessness that came with being sedated against her will. Another violation almost in mimicry to what occurred to her those years before. Whatever reprieve she and Bec were granted, she would now gladly take it.

He studied them. Yes, this was a bit better. They felt calmer and were putting less stress on their already taxed systems. He smiled briefly, knowing for the moment, this was indeed the right approach. "I need you both to come to sickbay so I can prepare a new solution." The syringes he had contained a sedative that was too fast acting. He would only have twelve seconds as a lead time before loss of consciousness resulted. He would combine the biodata with a different tranquilizer that offered at least two minutes before either of his girls felt the results. Briefly, he sighed inwardly. He should have considered that the first time after the encounter with Sutekh in the Louvre, then Bec wouldn't have been so disoriented as to run and hide in the library. What would have happened if he was a few minutes later in administering the injection to her… The thought caused both his hearts to swell in horrible unease.

"I'll also run a few scans to check your recovery," he added. It was something he needed to do anyway, but it might also help him trick them onto a bed so they wouldn't fall and injure themselves when the sedative took effect.

"Okay," Bec agreed softly for them both. Only another day or two, she reassured herself. She pressed her lips together nervously. They still had to get their hands on the psychic paper. Maybe, before they slept, she could briefly talk to Rose, see if her plan for appropriating that little black wallet worked.

He held out his hand to Cathryn, offering to help her up, while Bec lingered to one side.

She took it. Might as well try to stay on his good side since he sort of met us half way. With that, she bolstered herself on the medbay bed without complaint, watching with prepare a new set of injections. "Thank you for hearing us out." Might as well lay on the gratitude. "It means a lot to know you're listening to us."

"I'm always listening," the Time Lord said. He paid close attention to every single word they said. "I'll do the best I can to make this as painless as possible. There's no need of putting any additional anxiety on you both." He was completely honest in that regard as he carefully substituted our one sedative for another before carrying back the newly prepared needles to his girls. Let's make this quick and painless. He thought.

"What are you all up to?" Mickey's voice entered the room but then grimaced as he took in the scene. Cathryn couldn't help but smile in response. He was really proving to be a true friend to them and knew without a doubt, he would have their backs in Pete's World. It would be months before the dimensional jumpers were ready but while they were waiting for that time to approach, she hoped that once out of the Doctor's direct supervision, their friendship would really have a chance to flourish. Maybe I'll just let him teach me how to play one of those video games. She thought to herself.

"You just couldn't wait, could you?" Mickey turned on the Doctor, taking him on as an immediate challenge. After all, he knew the Doctor wasn't the only one grieving the lost of his French courtesan he flirted with all the while before, stringing Rose along. The girls were friends with her too and, from what he heard, they were only trying to do his job despite the fact it cost them someone they cared about. Mickey saw how grief stricken they were when returning. It reminded him of losing his grandmother, the one relative left that raised him since he was a boy. He glanced at Cathryn, remembering how she said her father was dying. His highness over there doesn't care, Mickey thought. As long as he gets what he wants. "After what happened to them, they don't get a break, do they? You-"

"Mickey," Cathryn said, shaking her head. "It's okay. It's not worth it right now." She licked her lips. "Tell you what. Maybe in a few hours, you could show me how to play Nintendo." She was trying to diffuse the situation. Suddenly, she winced as the Doctor, slid the needle directly into her vein. Once the syringe was removed, she rubbed the spot, frowning at the small series of puncture marks that ran up and down her arm. It made her look like a drug user.

She only glanced up briefly as he took Bec's arm gently, while she frowned, looking away as another needle was inserted into her arm.

The two started to stand only for the Doctor to look up at them as he put the syringes away once sanitized. "Just a minute. I still have to run a couple tests before you go."

Both inched back on their beds, nodding slowly, while the Doctor put on a show busying himself in a cabinet, rifling through instruments. Thirty more seconds. He thought.

Bec felt a wave of dizziness wash through her, even as she sat on the edge of her bed. The Doctor moved over near the monitor studying whatever the screen told him.

"Can you both lay back for just a moment while I run this scan?" the Time Lord requested.

Both girls wordless complied, not wanting to admit the relief they felt to lie down properly as their head swam dizzily.

"The moment you get on board," Mickey said continuing to accuse the Doctor. In his opinion, Cathryn and Bec needed someone to stand up for them against the Doctor, someone to act as their champion, as he seemed to show them so little regard. Rose had argued against him, but he'd seen no sign of their driver caring as she claimed.

"You didn't see him, Mickey," she had told him in the kitchen. "You didn't see how upset he was."

"No," he had admitted. "I haven't seen any of that, and I doubt they have either."

"Look, I'll make some tea for us all, yeah?" she'd suggested. "Cathryn and Bec love their tea. We can all sit down, the five of us, and we'll work things out."

That was the reason Mickey had come searching for the others, only to find the Doctor forcibly medicating them once more.

"For us, it's been three days, and I've only been able to run rudimentary scan to monitor their recovery and physiological transference, so, yes, I'm concerned and wanted to check them as soon as I had the facilities available." The Doctor didn't even look back from the monitor as he spoke, a hard edge to his words.

"The things I saw, the stories Rose told. I thought space sounded amazing. Traveling through time," Mickey said. "But it's not. It's all you deciding what's right and wrong. You don't even take other people's opinions into account. If you say it, that's how it is."

The Doctor groaned and turned to face the much younger man. "Mickey, the universe isn't all black and white, good and evil, as you seem to want it to be. I'm a Time Lord. I've seen time stretched out before me, seen how every moment throughout the universe fits together. After you've seen that, when you are the last one left to uphold time and reality, then feel free to pass judgment on me. Until then, trust that I know a little more about 'right' and 'wrong' than you do."

"No, I get that. Time Lord. I get it," Mickey said, agreeing that he couldn't understand all that the Doctor could. "But you don't get this. Can't you even see it? They're afraid and you're doing nothing but making it worse." He gestured back at the two girls behind them, glancing back himself for good measure. "Look at how..." He paused. "Hang on." He rushed up to Bec quickly checking on her, looking over at Cathryn from where he stood. "They... They're asleep."

"Of course they are," the alien agreed, turning back to the monitor. "They needed rest."

"You did it to them. You made them sleep again." Mickey felt his disgust welling up once more. Even as they were speaking, the other man was enforcing his own idea of 'right' upon the reluctant passengers.

"They are in a critical stage of transformation, exacerbated by their trauma and slow recovery over the last few days." The Doctor turned, looking down at Mickey in frustration. "You say I don't care. I'm keeping them alive. They're only children."

"They're older than I am. Me and Rose both," Mickey argued. "Are we children too? You'd never treat Rose like this," he pointed out.

"You're not Time Lord." It was that same tone of superiority. "Children born on Gallifrey-"

"Oh, have I forgotten something?" Mickey countered. "Have you? Cause it seems to me they both said they were born on Earth." He thought for a moment before correcting himself. "An earth. They're human too. That rubbish you keep injecting them with doesn't seem to do them any favours." He shook his head. "Is this what you would do to Rose if she was-"

"Yes." The Time Lord turned on him with a stormy expression. "If her dormant TNA was activated and was undergoing transition, I would absolutely do what it takes to keep her alive." His voice was fierce.

"Including chasing her down to sedate her against her will?" Mickey asked. "After the Louvre, did you even offer to let Bec or Cathryn sleep on their own? Did you ask now?" The young man felt a sense of satisfaction when the Time Lord fell silent for a few seconds before he turned back to his granddaughters.

"There was no choice."

"Because you don't give them one." Mickey said. "You never did." With that, he noisily dragged a chair over and sat down between the two girl's beds. Maybe it wasn't much but the least he could do now was watch them while they slept and be there when they woke.

A cold silence now stretched between the Doctor and Mickey. Not even Rose's presence when she came in with a pot of tea could help to bridge the gulf. She was likewise concerned at the action the Doctor took, though not to the same extent as Mickey, but in his usual special tone he took when Rose was in his company, the Doctor explained it to her. How their stress and anxiety was taxing their already depleted systems. They were already overdue for an injection and he had to keep them calm, which meant telling a small lie by omission. "Their vitals and blood chemistry were on critical levels. I couldn't risk losing them again," he told her, looking at her sorrowfully.

"Rose, c'mon," the young man protested. "He sedated them without telling them again. He's-"

"Okay, enough you two with the bickerin'. Haven't seen a row like this than when I was with my Mum." She took a deep breath. "Doctor, are the sedatives necessary? 'S just…. maybe all of us silly apes here don't understand. Why do you think Cathryn and Bec couldn't fall asleep on their own?" She paused. "Did they tell you they wouldn't?"

The Doctor rocked back on his heels, his gaze intent on the blond, thinking hard before he spoke. "They might have but I had no guarantees." He shook his head. "I needed to be sure."

Mickey only started to grind his teeth. Guarantees. He winced. He makes them sleep because he needs to be in absolute control.

"So you don't trust them." Rose nodded. "And, in turn, they don't trust you. Who do you think is going to bridge that gap?" she asked. "You or them?"

The Doctor frowned at Rose's question but then smiled remembering the IV cylinders he was going to make. After all, Rose's insight once again illuminated the barricade that stood in the way between himself and his girls starting the relationship he craved. All the animosity the shots he gave them was ruining any progress he hoped to have. He ran both his hands through his hair before glancing at the two humans standing in front of him. "Actually, I may have the solution. One that won't require me to inject them every day."

"You found a better kind of medicine?" Rose asked in confusion. Mickey on the other hand was wary at this apparent solution the Doctor seemed excited about. He had a feeling he wouldn't like it one bit.

"Yes, I did." The Doctor was still grinning at Rose as he removed a strange metal tool, with indentations in the surface resembling buttons extending out to prongs on either side. He was using it to adjust what appeared to be tiny oblong cylinders, the metal changing color as he worked, resonating a slight vibration. "Should of thought of it before really. Heads too thick. Still, better late than never, I suppose."

"What is that?" Rose asked with some morbid fascination. "Are they…?" She squinted at them. "Wait, they're bigger on the inside." Rose found herself frowning. This wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

"Exactly," he said fervently. "It works on its own, independent power source. All I had to do was activate it with this." He raised the tool he was using for Rose's inspection. "I'm putting in multiple solutions. All the treatments they'll need for the next several months." He took Bec's arm gently as he started to insert the device in direct contact with her veins. "No more injections twice a day. I can adjust the dosage with my sonic and should they need to sleep, they could think it's natural. The sedative would act subtly and they'll go to bed on their own. No more unnecessary stress and-"

"So, you're putting those things in their arms and don't intend to say a word?" Mickey was gritting his teeth. "You're just going to lie?"

The Doctor turned to look at him as though he was the only truly alien thing in that room and at that moment, Mickey did feel like one. Alienated. Isolated and alone. Had Rose changed so much? Had he? Was he the only one left that thought all this was wrong? No. He thought, looking at Bec and Cathryn. If they were awake, they would agree.

"I'm doing what is in the best medical interests of my family," the Doctor said. His tone was icy. "For my kin." Mickey shook his head and knew. While he was here, it would always be like this. The Doctor's way. Either his way or the highway. As seeming to emphasize that point, the Time Lord spoke again. "My TARDIS. My rules."

The warning was clear. If Mickey didn't get in line, then he would be removed, left behind. He already put up more trouble than even the Doctor was posed to tolerate from humans and he considered himself very patient. But if it wasn't for his girls and Rose, he would likely have taken Mickey home after the attack at the Louvre. If Mickey hadn't encouraged the girls to leave the TARDIS….the Time Lord clenched his jaw at the thought.

"Doctor, when they find out…" Rose just shook her head. She knew they would both be appalled and horrified. How would the Doctor even try to explain it to them?

"They don't need to find out," he said. "There is no reason for them to know."

Silence prevailed. Rose was conflicted. She trusted the Doctor, but this was a lot even for her to accept. Mickey was simply angry. But at the moment, there was nothing he could do. Not at this moment… He thought to himself before

turning away in disgust and headed out of the medbay, deciding to go to the kitchen to make a sandwich before returning. He needed a moment to clear his head. To make a decision. After all, he saw what tool the Doctor used to activate those devices, the Doctor was installing. Could he really risk making a stand?

How well do we know him? How well does Rose know him? That's what bothered him. Despite the fact that Rose seemed inclined to excuse him, what Mickey was now paying witness to was kidnapping and imprisonment of other humans only a little older than himself. He was watching them being drugged every day and for all the Doctor's reasons, their 'symptoms' from their 'transition' seemed link to the cocktail that was being forced on them. The real question was could he afford not to act? Not to try to help.

"You understand, then Mickey?" the Doctor asked just as Mickey entered the corridor.

"More than you think," came the young man's response. He paused briefly. "I'm hungry. Going to get a sandwich, in case you're wondering. I'll be right back to sit with them."

"They'll sleep for several more hours yet," the Time Lord said and Rose stepped forward, placing her hand on his arm. He glanced at her, remembering all the fun and simple memories they once had together. Until he came along, changing everyone in the process of a few hours.

"You didn't get much sleep while the Doctor was away." Rose's voice was soft. "I can check in on them. I'll try to talk the Doctor 'round. You know, he was bound to get carried away. Just needs a reminder."

"Yeah, you do that," Mickey agreed. If anyone was going to get into that alien's skull, it would be Rose. "But I'm not very tired. Just going to grab a coffee and wait with them. Waiting seems to be one thing I'm good at." It was a sarcastic mutter that echoed down the corridor as he made his way to the kitchen. It was going to be a very long day.

xxxxxxxxxx

After Mickey had left, Rose headed back in the medbay to talk to the Doctor. She was more than a little disappointed. The last few days were nearly heartbreaking as she almost thought should never see him again. That he had chosen Reinette, a girl he only met over brief occasions in the courtesan's life over Rose who had stayed with the Doctor. Never doubting him. That is, until now.

So this time, she spoke her mind, demonstrating just how devastated she had started to feel. Those two weeks without a word. Didn't Sarah Jane get abandoned in much the same way? She cleared her throat as the Doctor glanced towards her from the streaming Gallifreyian on the monitors above his granddaughter's beds.

"You left me," Rose started. "You took them with you." She nodded toward the sleeping women. "But you left m..." She swallowed the lump in her throat, and started again. "You said I could spend the rest of my life with you." Her frown deepened. "That you wouldn't leave me behind."

"Rose..."

"I just need to understand why, Doctor." She shook her head. "We argued in Cardiff over the Gelth. An' we had that row over me savin' my dad. I was angry as hell when you tricked me into the TARDIS, and sent me away from the game station. But we've always worked it out. You always explain. So, start explainin'. 'Cause from where I'm standin' it looks like you took them with you 'cause they're Time Lord. An' you left me because I'm only hu..." Her voice broke, and she turned away. "Mickey and me. We're only human." She waved a hand toward Bec and Cathryn. "An' then you go and do something like this." She was referring to how he'd sedated them. "Ever since they showed up you've been... different." She turned back to face him, tears evident in her eyes. " 'M not lookin' for a row, Doctor. I just need you to explain it to me. And use small words, so my human brain can wrap itself around them."

"Oo," the Doctor blew out a breath. His Rose was angry. She may have said she didn't want a row, but there was no mistaking her mood.

"Doctor," Rose called his name when he didn't answer.

"Right," he nodded. "Small words." He ran his hands through his hair. "If Reinette died, that would be bad," he started.

"I got that bit," the Doctor winced at Rose's tone.

"And if I left them here," he gestured toward the sleeping girls. "Without me, they would have died. Bec and Cathryn dying would be bad too." He looked at Rose. "Simple enough?"

"You're being rude again, Doctor."

"Sorry. Sorry." He shifted from one foot to the other, and put his hands in his pockets. "Oh, Rose," he whined. "Don't be like that. If I could have taken you with us, I would have. But the strain on the time window was already at a hundred and fifty percent. If I added anymore mass to the trip, the artron deficit could have backlashed into sending us into some sort of disintegrating temporal pocket universe. Think of a soap bubble," he motioned with his hands, "stuck on the outside of another bubble. The parasite bubble pops first. Sometimes ages before the big one."

Rose realized he was still dumbing his explanation down for her, but just nodded her response.

"And even if we'd made it, Rose, the 1700's is no place for a woman."

She gave him a look.

"No, really," tried the Doctor. "You would have been forced to live out..." Now it was his turn to choke. "You would have lived out the rest of your life in the past." He frowned. "Women were slaves. You would have had your choice of wife, mistress, or prostitute. That's if you even had a choice... They didn't." He motioned toward the girls. "And what if something happened to me? You'd become someone's property, someone's thing. You'd never see your mum again whether I was there or not. The medical care is barbaric. They nearly killed my granddaughters. And don't get me started on the lack of sanitation. The strain of all that happened put my girls under an extreme amount of stress. That's why I put them under. If they didn't sleep, their new organs could begin to shut down." He took a step closer to Rose. "I thought you'd use program one to go home." His eyes were on her shoes. "I planned on meeting back up with you there." He lifted his eyes to meet hers. "Would've been waiting for you as soon as you stepped out of the TARDIS." The Doctor took his hands out of his pockets, and let them rest on Rose's shoulders. "Would've been hours for you, centuries for me. But I would've come back."

"Oh, Doctor." Rose gave him a hug, and the Doctor returned the favor. Rose buried her face in his chest, and held him a little tighter.

xxxxxxxxxx

Bec woke up groggily and, having just been dreaming about searching for a bathroom, immediately rolled her legs out of the bed, crying out in surprise when the floor was further away than she thought, catching herself with her tummy on the bed and her legs hanging down. She didn't recognise where she was, everything just seemed white and sharp, and she could hear a soft grumbling, grinding sound nearby, like the snuffling and growling of a wild animal. She stumbled in a dizzy circle, heavily relying on the bed to keep her balance. Still needing the bathroom, but fearful of the animal in case it tried to attack her.

"Bec?" a familiar voice whispered out to her, just discernible through the rumbling growl. "Are you alright?"

She turned on the spot again, her bleary focus fixing on the bed opposite hers, where a dark haired figure was sitting. "Cathryn?" she asked, barely succeeding at wrapping her mouth around the name properly.

"He did it again," the other woman told her bitterly, obviously more alert than the blonde. "We can't trust him. Not with anything."

"Do you know where the bathroom is?" Bec asked without warning that being her priority over whatever her friend was referring to.

"Oh, over there," she pointed. She'd have grinned at the other girl's amusing confusion, if the reason for it wasn't so serious and grim. When Bec returned a few minutes later, she was obviously far more awake than she had been moments before, her face still wet from where she'd splashed herself, an irate expression upon it. Cathryn too had taken just a few minutes for her confusion to fade when she'd woken, coming to the realisation of what had happened just as Bec had practically fallen out of the bed.

As she reentered the room, Bec's eyes briefly fixed on Mickey, who was the source of the strange snuffling sound she had heard initially. He was slouched back as much as he could be in the uncomfortable looking chair, his feet up on a small empty equipment table, and his head tipped right back over the top of the chair, the incredibly uncomfortable position likely being a major factor contributing to his excessively loud snoring.

Bec walked slowly, still careful not to stumble, over to Cathryn, before sitting upon the foot of her bed.

"He promised," she muttered bitterly. She had been angry at him, fearful of what he was doing, of what he might do, but Bec had secretly held onto that hope that he could be better, that he would change his mind and help them get home once they could get him to understand they weren't his family, that they just wanted to go home. However, the last day especially had chipped away at that hope. The Bond he had instigated between them, planning to force her to marry him - she couldn't repress a physical shudder at the very notion of being forced to marry the alien, her heart calling for, crying for, her husband back home. And now this.

'The Doctor lies,' she reminded herself bitterly. She had naively assumed that because of all she and Cathryn knew of him from the show, from their stories, that they would have more success picking those moments when he was less than honest, that they would have the insight they needed to protect themselves from his manipulations as much as possible, but they were just as much victims of him as others he deceived without qualm.

Cathryn agreed miserably to this sentiment warily examining the medbay door before looking back at Mickey. How long had they slept? The position in which he was forced to adapt a bed, looked awkward to say the least. It was in equal location between the two beds for which the girls had awoken. Gingerly, Cathryn stepped forward towards the young man, putting a hand on his arm, giving him a small shake. "Mickey?" she started.

Nothing. The sounds continued.

"Who knows how long we were here?" Bec folded her arms across her chest. Several hours could have gone by. Mickey likely insisted on staying but after a few hours of waiting, even she had seen how tired he was. The blonde swallowed. It shouldn't have been necessary for Mickey to intercede on their behalf but now it seemed that there were lines being drawn in the sand. The young man was attempting to play an advocate in what could be a very dangerous battle.

"Mickey." Cathryn's tone was raised. A firmer shake and suddenly his eyes flew open as he jolted out of the precarious position nearly falling over if she hadn't grabbed his arm to act as a balance. He gripped her hand tightly as he struggled to right himself while blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

"Sorry. Um, well, sorry," he said. "Just closed my eyes for a minute. Was trying to make sure he didn't come back and do anything else while you were…." Mickey shook his head. "Sorry. Couldn't stop him. Rose was right there…"

"It's not your fault, Mickey," Bec replied softly, releasing a sigh. Briefly, she looked down, noticing for the first time her 18th century clothing had been entirely removed to be replaced by a hospital looking gown. She started to shudder at the thought of this mere violation. Cathryn also in turn looked disgusted by this turn of events. Disgusted but not wholly surprised.

"Did he…" Cathryn looked at Bec seeing the other girl flush prominently in humiliation and she tried to find a way to give voice to her words. "Our clothes, did he…?"

Mickey bit his lip, closing his eyes. "The top layers. When he started to cut away below that, Rose took over. Said she would do it. He listened to her." He scowled briefly. The Doctor initially was disinclined to Mickey's objection that they wouldn't want to be changed by him. He refuted it by saying he was in charge of their medical care and 'it wasn't anything I haven't seen before.' Another argument that was going to become heated until Rose stepped in and agreed with Mickey. She took the scissors out of the alien's hand while giving him a look. One that Mickey so often knew. When Rose set her mind to something, she couldn't be argued to the contrary. The Doctor reluctantly stepped aside while she promptly dismissed them both until they had been changed satisfactorily.

"Oh. Okay." Cathryn clenched her hands into fists, feeling her body shake. How much longer could she do this? She couldn't even tell whether the Doctor was telling the truth or not and it sickened her how she thanked him. Showed him gratitude for making that one meager accommodation. Everything he says is a lie. Tears came to her eyes and she struggled to contain them. They couldn't give up now. Mickey was still here and the lights of the TARDIS were still on. That meant, the time machine still had functioning power. Pete's World couldn't have happened while they slept, could it? Unless, it was towards the end of the twenty-four hour period and the TARDIS had regained most of her power by the Doctor donating ten years of his life. She frowned briefly. "Mickey, Rose and the Doctor…. are they off the TARDIS?"

"Him. Nah. I wish," Mickey muttered. "Won't take us out of the vortex while you both slept. He's off doing repairs, last thing he said. Rose went to bed…" He looked at the two of them, knowing he had more to tell them but not trusting that the infirmary was the right place to do it. With more than one entrance, he couldn't see if the Doctor might be coming up behind him. "Either of you hungry?" His stomach was growling. "I'm feeling a bit peckish. Don't know about you."

Bec rubbed her arms. Despite the impromptu change, she still felt grimy from their adventures in France, the picnic and rushed carriage ride notwithstanding. "I could really use a shower first." She was desperate for more than just cold water to help loosen the residual affects the sedatives had left behind.

"Yeah, me too," Cathryn muttered. "I smell like…" Well, she was thinking of the horse she had to abandon in France with Reinette. "I need to wash all this off and get out of this thing." She gestured to the hospital gown. "Can't even think about eating until-"

"There's more," Mickey said, keeping the sentence vague but the girls looked at him alerted by his interruption. "But it can wait until the kitchen, alright?" He had to be careful. If the Doctor found out about what he had done, he didn't imagine he would find himself welcome on the TARDIS for much longer.

"Okay," Cathryn said finally. "The kitchen." She would take a quick shower first and then hear what Mickey had to say. She didn't doubt that Bec had the same intention seeing the other girl rubbing faint traces of dirt marks she had accrued from their ventures in the French countryside.

Mickey let out a breath of relief, his hand gliding over the pocket where he secreted the tool he had hidden that the Doctor used to activate the devices he implanted. He waited several minutes after the Time Lord left before absconding with the device from the cabinet it was placed, hoping the alien wouldn't have a need of it beyond the initial set up. He knew he was making a fundamental decision between both sides in this seeming family duel but from what he had seen and heard, the alien had gone much too far.

The three made their way to the door, heading for the corridor only for the Doctor to step immediately in their path, blocking the route they were about to take.

"You're both awake," he observed.

Cathryn said nothing, only feeling the fury burn in her veins as she pressed her lips tightly together to stave off calling him every vulgar word that came to mind. It wasn't doing any good. She could usually modulate her temper well but now, seeing him, she had reached the boiling point. No. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of a response. Any response right now. So she charged forward abruptly, her arm knocking directly against his left shoulder, moving quickly.

He was caught unexpected by this sudden change, feeling her anger but not anticipating this movement. Her increased reflexes she used to simply rush right past him. By the time he reacted to take her arm, she was inches out of his grasp, pacing down the corridor. His hand gripping empty air. "Cathryn," he called behind her. "I need to…." He considered reverting the hallway so she would inevitably circle right back to him.

"It can wait, don't you think?" Mickey challenged, interrupting his thoughts. "At least for them to shower. Or can't they do that on their own now? Is that it?"

The Time Lord turned grimly back to the young man, clenching his jaw at this very slight only to look at his other granddaughter. Her disdain was resonating very clearly through their link. The sensation felt disturbing to him. He'd felt her anger before, had it burn through him when he had to give her injections, but this was different. This felt worse even though it wasn't as strong, like it was burning cold rather than hot.

"Bec," he began, pausing for her inevitable correction, but she simply glared daggers at him and shook her head slowly.

"I thought Time Lords were supposed to be clever." He tone was airy but carried a heaviness underneath it. "How did we end up related to such an imbecile?"

On this occasion, he decided to wait for her to finish, not rising to her goading, hoping that if he let her vent he'd be able to calm her down after the fact and take control of the situation again.

She shook her head again, not breaking her gaze. Usually, if she argued with someone, she would walk away and think to herself, I should have said this, or, I should have said that. On this occasion though, she'd already decided on the perfect words to say to let him know exactly what she thought of him. "In fact, there's this saying I know, that this guy I used to admire says." Her lip twisted momentarily, a hint of a sneer on her face before she masked it again. " 'No second chances. I'm that sort of a man.' "

The Doctor swallowed to feel the resentment pouring off her. He'd found the difference now, the change he'd felt earlier in her emotions. Before, she had still held him in some slight regard, she felt disappointment towards him as though she expected better. Now that was gone. Now she felt cold and uncaring towards him. Before, she'd had cared about him. Now, she didn't. He needed to fix this.

"Bec," he tried again, stepping towards her, but he quickly backed away to feel her sudden flare of emotions, at the way she stepped back from him. It wasn't anger he felt from her at that moment. It had been terror. His hearts clenched at the very extent of her fear, and it was all focused on him. My own family...

He took another step back. He knew his relationship with them was in poor standing, very poor standing. They were both so very young, the last of his family, and he was just trying to keep them alive. She was terrified of him! He turned and walked away, not exchanging another word. He didn't know how, but he needed to fix this. This was on him. They were his responsibility, his children now to care for and raise. Rose had warned him, even Mickey had spoken up, but he didn't know how to bridge the obvious gap between them, the gap that was steadily growing every day. He needed time to think about it and consider, to come up with some kind of a solution, and they needed time to... To not be near me, he admitted to himself. His very presence was just making things worse. He was just glad he had already fitted their new injection packs. He could give them some space, but they would never be in danger. He fled down the hall, pouring his love and concern to both his grandchildren through the Bond, trying to let them feel how much he cared for them, how he was only looking out for their wellbeing, all the while hiding behind steadfast barriers the hurt he felt, his devastation at how much the last of his family despised and feared him.

"Woo! Way to go! I've never seen him run like that!" Mickey cheered after the Time Lord had disappeared, but Bec wasn't celebrating. In fact she was doing all she could to hold back the sobs and tears that threatened to overtake her. She clutched at her chest, trying to breathe evenly, her eyes tightly closed in an unsuccessful attempt to keep them from leaking.

Mickey dithered on the spot as he heard her quiet sob, seeing her shoulders shaking, not knowing how to react as the woman moved from anger to despair with no apparent link between the two. "No, no, it alright," he said, trying to comfort her. He offered her an awkward sideways hug, patting her on the back a few times. "How about we go get you a strong cuppa?" Mickey offered, hoping Rose or even Cathryn might be in the kitchen to be able to comfort the woman like he couldn't.

Bec smiled softly at her friend, firmly pulling herself under control again. "Thanks, Mickey. That sounds nice," she told him, her voice still thick. "But I might meet you there, if that's alright. I just... I just need a few minutes." She wanted to run away and shower, not just to wash off the grime, but to hide the evidence of her weakness, her puffy face and tears.

"Alright. Of course. Not a problem," Mickey agreed, stepping back uncomfortably. "I'll go, ahh... I'll boil the jug for you."

"Mickey," Bec interrupt, smiling at the young man again. "Thank you for looking after us, for sticking up for us," she told him gratefully.

"Not a problem," he answered genuinely. "We, the three of us, we've gotta stick together against his high and mighty."

"Thank you," she repeated. "For everything." She gave him one last thankful grin, before turning off into the TARDIS, needing some time alone to pull herself together.

xxxxxxxxxx

Cathryn turned up in the kitchen first, her bag in hand to see Mickey already attentively watching a kettle start to boil.

"I thought you preferred coffee," she said quietly, drawing up to his side, and he gave her a smile.

"Well, for friends I make an exception." He was concentrating on the filter, frowning. Despite the fact that he grew up in London, he actually didn't know precisely how to boil loose leaf tea. Any tea he drank usually came from tea bags dropped into the filter but he had watched Cathryn mix it a few times. "Is this right?" He gestured to the tea bong where he leveled the chai leaves in.

"Ah, yes. One tablespoon per cup. Can't really go wrong," she told him, nodding as he followed her directions. The irony. She thought. As an American she never thought she would be the one to instruct one born in the United Kingdom, especially Mickey Smith on how to make loose leaf tea. But as she was found out by some shock, only the Doctor seemed aware of how to make the beverage. Rose and Mickey, like the majority of British residents relied on tea bags. That's so strange. She just shook her head but decided to make no comment at least to those two about it.

"Is Bec coming?" He glanced at the door nervously, not wanting to waste words or risk them being overheard by the wrong set of ears.

"I'm sure she will be soon," Cathryn said, glancing towards the door. She turned back to Mickey, smiling warmly at him. He was proving himself to be a true friend, something she and Bec sorely needed. While they waited, she instructed Mickey on some of the finer points of mixing varieties of leaves and flavours to the tea.

"Ooo, that smells lovely." Bec's voice drifted in from the entrance a few minutes later. Cathryn looked back at her friend who was promptly closing the door behind her. Her hand, untangling still partially damp hair, while she approached the counter. Cathryn in the interim pulled out sugar and milk for the partially brewed tea that was starting to seep.

"Good," Mickey said, glancing at the closed door with relief but kept his voice quiet nonetheless. "We all need to talk." He took a deep breath. "I want you to know, seeing what he did last time, hearing what happened in France, I want to help." He paused, pulling the metal device from his jeans he'd been hiding. "I have to help."

Cathryn stared at the piece of equipment with renewed anxiety and confusion before exchanging glances with Bec. "Mickey. What is that?" She watched the young man pause as he looked again at the door. She approached him quietly, speaking softly. "He did something while we slept, right?" She saw the acknowledgement in his face as a feeling of terror started to dawn on her. "That device…. what does it do?"

He licked his lips. "He put the syringes or the dosages inside your arm. Like an implant." He extended the device out to her. "He wasn't going to tell you. Told us both not to. The drugs…"

"They're inside us?" Bec was horrified looking at both her arms uncertain of which one the Doctor used rubbing them both for signs of the procedure. "He can drug us whenever he wants?" She swallowed. Whatever terror she was feeling before in the Doctor's presence was now amplified.

"But… I think it's alright," Mickey said. "I think this will turn them off." He indicated to the device.

Cathryn only collapsed in a chair, dropping her head into her hands. "Which will tell him that we know. Shutting them down early. We can't risk that until…." Her voice trailed thinking of Pete's World.

"Until?" Mickey asked. The girls looked at each other before finally nodding in agreement. It seemed obvious that Mickey already took a risk in simply taking the device from the medbay; an act that demonstrated he could be trusted and that he simply wouldn't report what they said to Rose. No. He had done this without either of their knowledge and stayed as a vigilant guard while they slept. Cathryn looked down at her bag before removing her iPad. One piece of equipment that survived to this dimension.

"You trusted us to tell us this," Cathryn started. "So, we're going to fully trust you." She let out a breath before speaking. "Mickey, he says we're his family because of things we know. He said ancestral memory being a Time Lord trait. He started giving us injections."

"He said he could smell you," Mickey remembered. "But ancestral memory. You both know things. Things about him and about us. Well, Rose and I."

"Right. There's particles on us from the void. It's the stuff being the dimensional walls, created by the time war. From when he destroyed his own world." She explained. "We had to go through it to get to this dimension and whatever likely caused the rift exposed us to some temporal energy. He can smell artron energy for one thing and the hormone that triggers adrenaline in humans…." Her voice trailed. "The adrenaline. Should of thought of it before but…." She sighed. "He can pick up both those scents."

"But how do you know this?" Mickey asked, thinking about the visit to the museum. If the girls were hiding nearby, surely they would have been anxious to trigger an adrenaline reaction but the Doctor was quick to assert a family connection.

"Because in our dimension, the Doctor, you, Rose and all of this was just a television show." Bec gestured to her friend's iPad. "I deleted all the apps from mine related to Doctor Who but-"

"You're joking." Mickey stared at them both before he burst into a fit of laughter. "A telly show. That's it. That's the mystery?"

"I still have my book I bought on my kindle application about Dr. Who right here." Cathryn opened it carefully, bringing up a page to show information about the Doctor's ninth regeneration. It had pictures of each Doctor as well as every companion that travelled alongside him. She still had to be careful in what she showed him, not wishing to cause a paradox. "This is one source. Back in our reality, there's tons of information about it on the internet."

"Oh, now this is wicked." Mickey was getting excited. "So the whole time, his highness was wrong? You don't sense time or know the future? We're just actors playing a story on a show?" He was shaking his head, wishing he had found out sooner. He would love to knock the Doctor down a peg or two. He furrowed his brow. "But you didn't tell him." He looked at them both, noticing their expressions. "He wouldn't believe you or…"

"Or worse," Cathryn muttered. If there was a way back home with the dimensional jumpers, she didn't want knowledge of her universe getting into the wrong hands. And right now, the Doctor seemed like the wrong hands. Telling him it was a television show… she could only shudder at what he might do if by some rare instance he came in pursuit. What would he do to her family and friends? Potentially so many people at home could be put at risk. It was a horrible scenario, just to consider him, not to mention the worse elements of the universe like the Master finding out. She took a sip from the tea cup that was placed in front of her in an attempt to calm her rattled nerves. So far, it wasn't working.

"But, hold on," Mickey said, looking at the picture again. "Who are they?" He was looking at the companion chapter and pointed at the pictures of Martha and Donna.

Bec and Cathryn exchanged another glance. It was one thing to tell the young man that their knowledge of the Doctor and his life was a tale of fiction in their world, but could they risk telling him about the future?

"Ahh..." Bec began, trying to find a way to answer without telling too much. "The Doctor, Time Lords, they live a long time. Hundreds, thousands of years. You and Rose won't travel with him forever," she explained, deliberately putting two separate truths together so he wouldn't realise how imminent the end was coming for himself and the blonde Londoner.

"What about you two?" he asked in concern.

Cathryn swallowed and shook her head. "He's wrong. We're not Time Lord. We're not his..." She shook her head again. "There have been other instances of humans being infected by Time Lord biodata. They did this during the Time War. Experimentation on humans and other species. They were called Scions of Gallifrey, if they succeeded and that's a big if. The risk involved…..there's a good chance it won't work at all." She wanted to be clear. Mickey only looked at them with a mixture of shock and disgust.

"And what happens if it doesn't..?" Bec asked, not having heard about this before. Cathryn met her eyes sadly, shaking her head a third time. Bec immediately turned away to refresh her tea. The brunette took a deep breath. It had only been a few days yet. If they got away, they still had a chance of reversing the damage.

Rose chose that moment the join them in the kitchen, still looking a little groggy as she woke up. She stumbled over to the pot of tea, needing something to kick her body into gear. "Thanks Cathryn," she muttered gratefully, he voice still heavy with sleep.

"Actually, Mickey made it," Cathryn corrected smugly, proud of her friend and cross that Rose and the Doctor seemed oblivious to his worth.

"Sorry?" Rose asked, turning blearily on the spot.

"Yeah," Mickey agreed. "Not so useless am I."

"I don't think you're useless," Rose defended. "I never said that."

"Maybe you didn't have to," he muttered. "So, where's the Doctor. Why you not with him?" He posed it as a challenge but he wanted to be sure that the Time Lord in question hadn't been lurking nearby or just behind the door. Besides, Rose had walked in with his overcoat draped over one arm.

"He's workin' in the transpower room. Said the regulation of power wasn't being distributed at max quantities or somethin'." Rose frowned. Truth be told, the Doctor deferred coming into the kitchen, saying he needed time before he spoke to either of his granddaughters. Meanwhile, it left Rose with a somewhat tedious task of removing a chocolate stain from the coat he treasured. Having her own experience when it was just her mum and herself, she pulled a bottle of vinegar from the shelf, mixing it with regular dish soap to use as an active stain solvent.

Bec stared thoughtfully at the coat in Rose's hands. This was just the sort of opportunity she could use.

"Rose, I've been meaning to ask," she began offhandedly. "When we first met you and the Doctor, he had that badge or licence thing, saying he was from Health and Safety, or whatever it was. Does he have lots of those badges? For other agencies?"

"Oh, no," Rose said, shooting the woman a grin. "He's got this psychic paper. People look at it and see what he wants them to. Hang on, it should be..." She started searching through the pockets until she victoriously pull out the black wallet. "Ah-ha! Here we go! Here, take a look," she offered, holding it out for Bec to take.

She took it curiously, barking with laughter when she opened it up. There was an ID visible with a profile photo of Rose posing like a member of Charlie's Angels she showed it to Cathryn so she too could read the words

Rose Tyler

Super awesome and

time traveler extrordinaire!

The girls glanced up as the Londoner who shot them her cheeky tongue in teeth green before turning back to the stains on the coat. "'S a bit of fun. His psychic paper. Can't let your mind wander when you use it. Jack Harkness was always lettin' his concentration drift."

Bec could only look at the item in her hands. "Do you think I could try it?" She asked Rose, who had gone back to work at the stain.

"Go right on." Rose encouraged. "The Doctor's not needin' it at the moment. Can't see why he would mind. You can test it on Cathryn and Mickey."

Bec concentrated firmly on a few words in her head, before holding up the small wallet for Cathryn to see.

"Yes," her friend answered, offering a slight grin over her tea as Bec flashed the words 'Does this work?' to Mickey and Cathryn.

"It's pretty cool," Bec commented happily, flipping it over to have another look at it. Again she concentrated for a moment and was rewarded with the words, 'Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?' printed as she'd seen in Short Circuit.

She giggled as the writing seemed to swirl in front of her before the displaying image was one she desired. A stick man with his arm raised as if he was waving. She thought of those books that would have like pictures in the bottom corner, where, when you flicked the pages, the pictures would appear to move. After a moment, her stick man began to move and flicker like in those books, and she showed Cathryn the waving man.

The brunette let out a giggle at the amusing photo. "Do something else," she demanded, clasping her hands together.

"Like what?" Bec inquired.

"Oh, I don't know…." Cathryn said with a mysterious smile. "See if you can pretend you're an agent with the FBI." She nodded, raising her eyebrows. "And you have to act the part too. No one at the FBI has a sense of humor they are aware of."

"Alright. FBI." Bec responded. "Let's see how this goes." She focused hard, before flipping open the wallet. "Agent Edwards, FBI." Bec said sternly, channeling her inner agent K. "With no sense of humor, I'm aware of."

Cathryn shook her head and Mickey chortled. "No, you had that extra line appear. Just think FBI." She was quite certain the agency didn't have as a slogan that they didn't have a sense of humor.

Bec took a deep breath. "How's this?" She flipped it open again. "Rebecca Edwards, FBI."

Now the brunette nodded. "Looks good. Mickey?"

"Definitely authentic," Mickey agreed.

"Here Cathryn." Bec passed her the psychic paper. "You give it a go."

The brunette looked at the thin wallet in her hands, pausing in deep thought before finally opening the wallet. Bec looked at it, raising her eyebrows. There was a picture of a raven flying across the page as the words seemed to write themselves in gothic script.

'Quoth the Raven, nevermore.'

"Well, that's just a little morbid." Bec muttered, shaking her head remembering the rendition of the poem in a Simpsons Tree House of Horror episode.

Cathryn shrugged. "It's one of my favorite poems."

"No, 's a good start," Rose encouraged. "I love that poem." The blond paused from her scrubbing. "Now let me see you tell me that you're a member of Scotland Yard." She gave a little laugh. "A police officer in a police box, yeah."

Cathryn sighed, concentrating hard on that image in her mind before opening the wallet again. "Cathryn Stuart, Scotland Yard."

"Didn't know the Scotland Yard decorated their badges with unicorns around the frame," Mickey chided and Cathryn pressed her lips together. "Sorry, I was thinking about my niece. She loved unicorns and…. let me try this again."

It took a few tries each for them to get the proper hang of it, to not let their distracting thoughts mar the identification. All in all, both girls were alleviated they had a chance to practice. To be certain, it appeared easier than it actually was.

"Why don' I make breakfast?" Rose suggested. She was pulling out eggs and sausages along with toast. "Probably are hungry after being stuck in France."

Bec was nodding, sitting at the table, her hands clasped around her tea. Breakfast did sound good right about now. Cathryn slowly rose to her feet to assist Rose in the preparations as Mickey started to put on a pot of coffee.

That was when it happened. One minute, they were cooking a meal, chatting casually and then suddenly, all the lights, every single one went off, leaving them in pitch blackness. They couldn't see. Cathryn could hear everyone cry out in panic at the sudden shock. Bec immediately pulled her phone out of her pocket, flicking on the torch function with the camera flash, shining the bright little light at the roof to provide a faint light in the room.

"What's going on?" Mickey demanded. "Are we in trouble? Did someone attack the TARDIS?"

"I don't know," Rose said quietly, panic clear in her tone. "We need to find the Doctor. Maybe whatever he was working on. A mechanical issue."

"No," the Doctor suddenly interrupted from behind them, having sprinted to the others to check their safety immediately when the ship lost power. "Repairs were going fine. It's not mechanical."

Cathryn took hold of Bec's hand, having to feel for it slightly in the gloom. They both knew precisely what was occurring but even at the emergence of these events, the ones they had been waiting for, they could feel their hearts pounding in their chest and could once more feel the loss of warmth they now attributed to the presence of the TARDIS.

"Doctor, what happened?" she demanded.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked first. "Rose, Mickey…" He paused, glancing at his girls. Even at this distance, he felt the anger and fear surging through the bond. "Cathryn? Bec?"

"We're fine. Just…" Mickey inhaled deeply. "Yeah. We're all okay."

"The TARDIS," the Doctor mourned. "She dead. Just…." The grief was heavy in his voice.

"You can fix it, yeah?" Rose asked.

"Nothing to fix. She's perished. The last TARDIS of the universe extinct." His voice was resolute. The five passengers slowly made their way to the console room with the Doctor carefully leading the way.

"But we can get help?" Rose pressed. Cathryn grimaced, holding tightly onto Bec's hand. This was it. Whatever makings or chances their plan had, this was the one possibility they could use to have it come to fruition.

"Where from?" the Doctor asked bleakly.

"Well, we've landed. We've got to be somewhere," Rose insisted.

The ancient Time Lord shook his head. "We fell out of the vortex, through the void, into nothingness. We're in some sort of no place. The silent realm. The lost dimension." His tone was a miserable one. They were lost and trapped in the void forever. It was only a matter of time before the ship and they were destroyed by the nothingness. At least they would have some limited protection while the shell of the TARDIS protected them, shutting the emptiness out.

Before anyone could stop him, Mickey opened the door. His eyes widened at what he saw before he turned back to his fellow companions. "The lost dimension," he repeated. "Otherwise known as London."

xxxxxxxxxx

Authors' note:

Here we go! Into the eagerly anticipated 'Pete's World.'

…well… We've been eagerly anticipating it! :-D

As I said last time, we've caught up to where we are writing. We'll do our best to get each chapter to you as soon as we can, but I can no longer offer a definitive update schedule.

Thanks again to our friends Almadynis Rayne, Fan Fictional Authoress, and LovelyAmber Light.

Also, please have a read of our little Halloween story, Time Warp. The first of three chapters has been loaded on emptyvoices profile.

s/11586077/1/Time-Warp

Tootles! *waves*

azaadin & emptyvoices