A/N Thanks to everyone who's reviewing and to all the support and encouragement! It really means a lot to me. Here's a small little chapter that will hopefully lighten the mood a bit … or loll everyone into a false sense of security?

Chapter 10:

Ren passed an eye quickly, indifferently, over his work. Blondie lay shocked and gasping on his back, rapidly bleeding out and staining the bright sand red. The man tried to talk but too much blood had flooded into his mouth, effectively gagging him and causing him to choke slightly with each strangled breath. It was a pitiful sight, but Ren held no pity for the sufferer. This was nothing new. Ren had killed before. Done whatever it took to stay ahead in this alien and unforgiving world. Threats had never been taken lightly, and this man would have taken his advantage too far.

But now a side Ren had been suppressing for a long time was coming forth. His anger at being stranded, his frustration at not being able to do anything about it, his constant fear of being discovered. And it all mixed together to create, instead, cruelty. Could he, somehow, make this man's death worse?

He found his answer in words and he looked over Blondie's injuries again, a small smile playing at his lips. "Now, apparently, you're a science man, Crvas." He started quietly. Blondie glanced up at him with wild, fearful, pained eyes. "Do you know what happens with a belly wound? The bullet rips through the skin tissues and stomach pouch, allowing the gastric acid to be released where it oozes into the open wound and other vulnerable systems in the body. It's like dipping a paper cut in a vat of acid and lemon juice, only a thousand times worse, I'm sure. At least, that's how it is for my species. I wonder if it will be as painful a passing for yours."

Blondie tried to say something, but all that came out was blood. He coughed and sent speckles of it mixed with saliva across his own skin. Ren leaned down so he was glowering into his old officer's face, inches away from bumping noses.

"No one disobeys my orders and goes behind my back. No one threatens me. And no one will lay a hand on the Doctor and Rose until he pulls through with his promise to me, do you understand?" He didn't wait for Blondie to choke out a response as he sneered viciously, "You've always driven me insane, you know that? So have a long and slow death, Crvas. For me."

He stood and brushed the damp sand off his knees before realizing their little 'conversation' had attracted an audience. He glanced around quickly at the faces staring, blankly, at their captain, all their orange eyes transfixed on what had just happened. Rat-Face was among them, but his eyes instead were downcast on the struggling sight of his friend coughing pointlessly against the rising oblivion. Ren didn't even attempt to hide the gun in his hand as he turned to his men and, steel in his contact-laden eyes, challenged, "Well? Does anyone else have a problem with the way I run my outpost?"

His dare was greeted by silence for a moment before everyone quickly turned away, getting back to work. Ren refastened his gun to his hip, smiling at how easy it is to get out of anything in these parts. In this business, in this company, and this far away from regular civilization, one is never just fired or arrested for anything. They are dealt with right then and there, making Ren's job of covering his tracks just that much cleaner…if that could be called clean…

However, as the crowd dispersed and Ren uncaringly strolled out of the garage area and back across the courtyard, one figure remained rooted to the spot. Rat-Face stared down his greasy, pointed nose at Blondie still shaking and bleeding on the ground. Casting one quick look over his shoulder he ran to his friend, crouching down beside him. "Crvas, what the hell did you do?" He whispered harshly, still unable to believe what had happened. There was so much blood, all of it coming from his teammate, and he doubted he had much time left. As horrifying as it was, this sort of thing was not uncommon.

He hadn't been expecting a reply from the man who was barely hanging onto life by a thread, so when Blondie managed to cough passed the blood build-up in his throat and speak, Rat-Face jumped with surprise. Blondie struggled but in the end was only able to get out one weak word. "A….alien…"

Rat-Face looked around desperately as if some sort of miracle medical machine would appear and save his teammate. "What do you mean? What did the alien do?"

Pain streaked across Blondie's face as he tried to shake his head. It was getting harder to keep his eyes open, harder to remind his lungs to inflate and his heart to beat. "No…" He managed one more time. "'s lie…"

"What's a lie?" He asked anxiously. "Did the alien tell Cap something?"

Blondie just gurgled as his body began to shut down.

Rate-Face wasn't going to have ay of that. He grabbed the collar of Blondie's red-stained shirt, lifting him up slightly and shaking him. "What did it tell him?" He nearly shouted in his desperation to understand what was going on. Had the alien planted some kind of lie in the Captain's head that would cause this to happen? Was it telepathic? Was it trying to turn the captain against his crew? Captain Ren had always been quite distant from the men he commanded but he'd always worked with more of a leniency and diplomacy than most in charge. What could have possibly cause him to suddenly become violent against a man everyone thought was in his good favors?

However, Blondie wasn't responding. Rat-Face shook him again, realizing that if he didn't get any answers they could all be at risk of the alien's manipulation. "What did it do?" Still there was no reaction. Blondie wouldn't be having a reaction to anything anymore.

Rat-Face dropped the body and sat back, staring at the lifeless form of his teammate and …friend? He felt a sudden rage boiling in side him at the sight, coupled with the throbbing sensation of fear and uncertainty coursing through his system. But there were two thing he was certain of: one was that whatever had happened between the Captain and 'Crvas' had been that alien's fault. That alien had the motive (Blondie having too much fun playing with it, hurting it, humiliating it) and most likely the means (who knew what those creatures were capable of? This wasn't Eyal, they weren't equipped to test and control these things).

And two, that the alien would pay for Blondie's death. Both of the aliens. Dearly.

Indecision seemed to flood their cell as the Doctor's body began continuously fluctuating between being far too hot for his usual body temperature and far too cold, causing him to shiver and shake where he lay. Rose watched from nearby, her knees pulled up to her chin, unsure about what to do. There was nothing she could cover him with to give him some warmth at those times for they had never been given a blanket of any kind and the Doctor was practically naked, save for his sand-covered boxers. She wanted to hold him close, give him some of her own warmth, but wasn't sure if the movement and contact would cause more harm than good. She remembered having sunburns before – though not anywhere near as bad as these – from a vacation trip and remembered how painful and tender it was to touch.

Rose had no idea how long it'd been since the Doctor had been returned, she had no way of telling, but it had at least been a couple hours. She had been awakened from a worried and erratic sleep by the sound of the containment center's door being thrust open and assumed it was early morning, but in this windowless cell it was impossible to know.

Well, the Doctor would know. The Doctor always knew.

Rose was pulled out of her sleep-deprived trance – she'd barely closed her eyes since the Doctor hadn't returned three nights ago – at the sound of dry coughing beside her. The Doctor's eyes fluttered open slowly as he winced at scratchiness of his throat. He glanced around, moving only his eyes until they landed on Rose, huddled by his side. He managed a small smile.

"Hey." He greeted hoarsely.

"Hey yourself." Rose smiled back. "How're you feeling?"

The Doctor tried to sit up but almost instantly gave up with a groan. "Sun-kissed." He finally managed with a grimace. Rose couldn't help a small, nervous laugh.

"You're going to have one helluva tan tomorrow."

"And just in time for bathing suit season." He joined her laugh, trying to ignore the uncomfortable way his inflamed, tightened skin pulled with each crescendo. But it was better, much better, than it had been earlier. He could breathe again without too much pain and burning and much of his skin had already begun to turn from deep scarlet to pink. He coughed roughly again. "Is there any water left?"

Rose nodded as she passed him the canteen, which was only half empty. The Doctor took a few very careful, calculated sips before forcing himself to stop. The first gulp scraped painfully against his raw throat but the rest were pleasantly, mercifully cool and refreshing. Once he was done he passed the canteen back to Rose, who simply shook her head. "You keep it, I already had some." The Doctor quirked on of his eyebrows and set the bottle down between them instead, on equal ground.

With an anticipatory sigh, the Doctor dragged himself up into a sitting position. His skin felt hot and clammy at touch. Rose caught a look at his back, which was far more red and untreated than the rest of his body – except for a six-inch stripe of white down his spine from the pole.

"Here, roll over. I couldn't get your back earlier." She said, picking up the tube of cream the medic had handed her. The Doctor rolled carefully onto his stomach so she could reach his back, which felt like it had been cooking against the impartial stone floor of the cell.

Rose squeezed a substantial amount of the cream onto her hand and started massaging it into the Doctor's crimson-colored shoulders. The Doctor hummed contently as the medication cooled and soothed the aching burn. "Been a while since I've had a massage." The Doctor commented with another small smile.

"Well, once we're out of here I say we're due for a vacation. We'll find the universe's greatest massage parlor and all the banana daiquiris will be on me. Virgin though…We all know how you get when you're drunk."

"Oi, that was one time! He had really long hair and it was dark, a completely reasonable mistake that I'm sure anyone could have made."

"You tried hitting on a tree, too, remember?"

"What, I liked its foliage."

"That's quite enough information, thanks."

"You started it." The Doctor retorted with a whine, sounding like a six year old in the process. "Besides, I'm going to need a drink after this little adventure. Or maybe two."

"Just don't go and pull a Jack Harkness in Cabo, 2752 on me." Rose scolded playfully. "I've seen enough inter-animate marriages to last me a lifetime." The Doctor laughed at the memory.

"Okay, I'll try not to marry any mailboxes, I promise."

"Thank you."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while. Rose had finally finished rubbing the cream in and the Doctor folded his arms into a makeshift pillow, content to just lay there with his eyes closed, enjoying the crisp cooling sensation on his skin. His healing would soon catch up again and he'd be good as new in a few hours tops. Rose collapsed onto her back next to him, staring at the ceiling.

"Did anything happen while I was gone?" The Doctor asked suddenly, fixing Rose with one questioning eye. Rose sighed and shook her head.

"Nothing. They brought in some more of that absolutely revolting stuff they call food, but other than that…nothing." She shrugged with one shoulder so as to – unsuccessfully – hide the shudder that ran through her. "Nothing." She repeated, this time choking slightly. "I didn't know what happened. I just heard the sirens and shooting but they didn't tell me anything. I thought – I thought you might be –"

"Rose, hey, shhh…" The Doctor quickly pulled himself to his side so he was next to Rose and looking down on her beautiful face. Her features showed how scared she had been. One tear escaped her and she had no idea why. She hadn't cried the whole time he'd been gone. She had just sat and stared at the door, listening and waiting for any sign of her Doctor returning. And suddenly it was crashing all around her like some giant cruel tidal wave. The Doctor pulled her close into a hug, ignoring the way his skin seared at the contact. "I'm fine. I'm right here, okay." He reassured her quietly. "I'm right here. Nothing's going to take me away. I'm with you, always. Okay?"

Rose nodded into his bare chest. His skin felt pleasantly warm even though she knew it was too hot for him. She knew she was probably hurting him and thought she should pull away, let his burn settle without irritating it, but she didn't want to. Three days she'd been without him, not knowing what had become of him, and now he was back and holding her, proving he was there. Why would she stop?

For a long time they stayed like this, the Doctor's finally normalized double-heart beat pounding through Rose's ears soothingly. They needed this, both of them.

Because neither of them knew how much worse it was all going to get.

TBC

A/N Short and sweet and a little bit sinister. This next chapter is proving really hard to write, so it might be a while before it comes out. It's…It's going to be a doozy, and that's all I'm going to say about that…In the meantime, you can occupy yourself with leaving me some encouraging reviews! As I said above, I adore each and every one of them.