A/N: And back to me! (Cheri)

Chapter Twenty One

The Doctor glanced around as he entered one of the offices. For the past couple of days he had been sneaking peeks at the paperwork while he was cleaning. He had been very discrete about it as there were CCTV cameras mounted in the corner so he made sure to always block the view and read one or two pages at a time while he was cleaning. Most of what he found was eye opening. Their black market operations were far greater than he would have guessed, stretching over several galaxies in the immediate area and a few galaxies beyond that. Everything from drugs to guns to women were moved around and documented. What sickened the Doctor were the lists of women that had been kidnapped and sold into slavery, some as young as four and five. Looking over them he couldn't help but think of his own wife and the abuse she had suffered at Callum's hands.

Over the past couple of days, Callum had allowed the Doctor and his wife to have sex two more times as a supposed reward for his cleaning skills. By now Lara had lost her fear of him and she could even sense that she was enjoying their moments together. For the most part he did too except Callum was still tying him to the bed so he couldn't touch her. As long as she was with him and unharmed, he didn't care.

He finished cleaning one of the offices, making sure to put the papers back neatly so no one would suspect he had been looking at them. He was thankful that Callum believed he had changed his personality since it gave him the freedom to snoop around and find out just what they were up to. Once he was finished with the papers, he turned around and nearly had a heart attack when he saw Lara standing in the doorway, dressed head to toe in her gown and headscarf.

"Lara, you nearly scared me half to death," he said as he moved towards her.

By now, Lara had lost all fear of him and she had been sneaking away from Callum when he wasn't looking and seeking him out. The Doctor secretly thanked the TARDIS for giving her awareness of him but at the same time he was afraid that her roaming would anger Callum and she would end up getting tortured or even killed.

"Lara, you can't do this," the Doctor forced himself to say. "If the master finds out you've been sneaking away, he'll beat or torture you."

"I know but I have to see you," she said.

He could tell she was confused and he sighed, wishing he could tell her the truth. He pulled her out into the corridor away from the CCTV cameras.

"Lara, you're endangering yourself by doing this. It has to stop," the Doctor said.

"Who are you?" Lara said.

"I'm…John."

She shook her head.

"No, that's not true. Somehow I know it's not. I'd never seen you before until you came here but somehow I know that's wrong. I know I've known you for a lot longer than a week. I keep having these dreams and you're in them and I had dreams about you even before I met you. I know it's wrong to keep seeing you like this but I just can't stop myself from coming and it frightens me. Who are you really?"

The Doctor looked around. Taking her hand, he led her into a cupboard where he knew there were no cameras and shut the door.

"I know this might be hard for you to believe but you were someone else once. Your name was Rain and you were my wife."

He briefly explained what had happened and what she had done. Rain listened quietly, her eyes unreadable as the Doctor explained how she had made herself human and gave herself a different identity. When he was finished, he waited for her to take everything in. Lara's eyes lowered to the floor for a moment in thought before they flicked back up to him.

"I believe you," she said. "It sounds ridiculous but…what you just said would explain the dreams and the fact that I somehow know you and need to see you all the time. I…made myself into another person to save you?"

"To save me and save our daughter, you sacrificed yourself for us," he said. "You became his slave so we could go free and you changed your identity so you wouldn't remember us and miss us and your family and be tormented by that. But my ship altered the programming a bit so you would have some remembrance of me which is why you keep feeling the need to seek me out. We've been together for over two hundred and twenty five years."

"But how that can be? We're human."

The Doctor smiled tenderly.

"We weren't human before this. The arch changed us both. Our kind can live for centuries."

"Is that what you were doing…with that device and the screaming?"

"Yes. You did it as well except you don't remember it."

"But why did you do that?"

The Doctor smiled. He took her right hand and kissed her knuckles.

"So you would be safe, my darling," he said to her. "And so I could be with you here while I work out a way to save you. Callum thinks I've got a new personality but I fixed it so I could stay who I was even when I became human."

"So we have to go back to the device to make me myself again?"

"No. That watch I had, it holds your true self. Callum has it now but all you need to do is open it and you'll fully remember who you were."

"So all I have to do is get it away from him?"

The Doctor shook his head.

"No, don't even try. Let me do it. I want you to be safe. Don't risk a beating, please."

"But what about you? If he finds out you've taken it you could be beaten too or worse."

He smiled.

"I don't care what happens to me. All that matters is you and your safety, Lara."

"Rain. I mean…that is my name right so shouldn't you call me Rain?"

He pulled her close to him.

"Only in private like here. I can't call you Rain openly and you can't call me Doctor or Thete," he said stroking her cheek. "You have to pretend that I'm a slave and call me John whenever others are around."

Lara embraced him and the Doctor enfolded her in his arms.

"Everything will be alright. Just keep on doing what you're doing and let me worry about the watch, alright?" he said to her.

She nodded and he briefly lowered her scarf, revealing her cheek so he could kiss it.

"I love you, my wife," he said to her.

"And I love you even if I don't fully know who you are."

He chuckled at that and gave her another kiss before he adjusted her scarf again.

"Come, my Heaven, we need to get out of here and you need to go back to Callum for the moment so he doesn't suspect something."

"I'm scared to go back to him."

The Doctor's heart ached at that and he took her hand, giving it a squeeze.

"I'll guard you, my love. Nothing will happen to you, I swear it."

Lara nodded and the Doctor lowered the scarf and kissed her nose before he put it back in place. They held each other's hands as they walked to the door. The Doctor opened it, looked around and when he saw it was all clear, he let Lara go outside before he followed her and shut the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alan sat outside on the porch staring numbly up at the sky. Everyone had found out that Frazer and Angel had left the planet without telling anyone. For Alan it was more than he could take, first his sister then his brother now his daughter was missing. He had tried to contact them both telepathically but both had thrown up blocks against him and he felt like his hearts were dying as tears ran down his cheeks.

While he sat there, Rose stood behind him, not making a sound as she stared at her husband quietly. With each passing day he was sinking further and further into depression and it terrified her that her bubbly husband was becoming a shell of his former self. He hadn't laughed in days, hadn't joked to anyone and barely cracked a smile. The man sitting in front of her was like a stranger and she didn't have a clue how to get her husband back. He had barely reacted when he found out that Angel and Frazer had gone, to him it had been just one more heartache piled on top of the rest. Rose had to calm Elizabeth down after they found out since she had been ranting and raving about how stupid her sister was and how much she hated her at the moment for breaking her father's hearts even further. She had gone to her room where Rose assumed she was still fuming. She just wished that everything would go back to normal.

She finally came forward and tentatively put her hand on Alan's shoulder.

"Hey, Stitch," she said trying to cheer him up. "How's my little Vashta Nerada, eh?"

"Leave me alone, Rose," Alan said in a dull voice as he stared up at the sky.

"I can't leave you alone. I miss you," Rose said walking around to his front. "I love you so much, Alan, and it hurts when you try to push me away."

"Everyone's pushing everyone else away, Rose, why should I be any different?" he said dully.

"Because we need to stick together through all of this."

Alan let out a hollow laugh.

"Yeah, try telling that to our daughter," he said to her.

"Well, can you blame her? The whole family's falling apart around us so she swans off with her boyfriend to get away from all of it."

"Maybe I should take a leaf from her book then."

"No!" Rose said, putting a hand on his arm. "Don't you dare leave now, Alan Timelord, ya hear me? You're needed here!"

"Bullshit, Rose!" he said angrily. "Everyone here is an adult and they're perfectly capable of looking after themselves. I'm not their babysitter just as you weren't my babysitter when we were first stranded together."

"So that's it, eh? You're just gonna swan off too," Rose said angrily. "Run away and leave everyone behind, including me. Is that your plan?"

Alan sighed.

"Rose, just let me be, alright? I wanna be alone with my thoughts."

Rose fought back the tears.

"Fine," she said a choked voice as she stood up, "I'll be in our bedroom then when and if you ever need me."

"Rose…" Alan said as she stomped away.

Alan flinched when he heard the porch door slam. Lowering his head to his chest, he began to shake as he cried silently.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lara opened the door of her cupboard and peeked outside into the empty office. After the Doctor told her the truth, she started using the bobby pins that she wore in the bun in her hair as a means to pick the lock and set herself free before Callum woke up. Even though she couldn't remember being married to the Doctor, she still believed him and wanted to help him out. Despite his warnings, she had kept her eyes peeled for the fob watch but so far she hadn't been able to locate it. She silently shut the door and hurried off to the office where Callum was keeping him locked in a closet. As she hurried towards the office, she stopped briefly and grimaced. The past couple of days she had felt queasy, especially in the morning, and she wondered if she was getting the flu. She ran into the office and unlocked the door.

"Doctor?" she whispered as she came inside and shut the door.

"Rain," the Doctor said, embracing her.

Even though she had no real memories of her life as Rain, she insisted that in private the Doctor call her that in the hopes that eventually she would remember again without the aid of the watch. Once the door was closed, the Doctor turned on a flashlight that Lara had managed to steal and bring to him. She reached up and pulled down the scarf, revealing her face to him. The Doctor kissed her lips hungrily for a few minutes before pulling back and shaking his head.

"You can't keep doing this. It's not safe," he said.

"But I have to see you."

"I know that, Rain, but if Callum finds out, he'll punish you and the last thing I want to see is you suffering."

Lara began to sob softly.

"I can't help myself," she said to him. "I know now we must have had a relationship because you're all I ever think about. I hate Callum. I hate being around him even though I supposedly grew up with him as my master. I love being with you. You treat me like a human being and if I have to risk death to be with you then I will."

The Doctor drew her close and rubbed her back as she wept softly. He had thought that the TARDIS giving her some awareness of him had been a blessing but now he viewed it as a mistake since Lara could no longer control her urge to see him and it was putting her in grave danger.

The Doctor frowned when she heard Lara let out a low moan.

"What is it?" he asked her.

Lara leaned back up and put her hand on her stomach.

"It's nothing, I don't feel well."

The Doctor put his hand on her forehead, feeling her temperature. He noticed she was slightly sweaty but other than that she felt fine to him.

"What are your symptoms?" he asked.

"I just get nauseous sometimes, especially in the morning. I threw up yesterday and had to be quiet about it since Callum…"

She trailed off when she noticed the frightened look on his face.

"Oh no, no, no, no…"

"What is it?" Lara asked.

"We're human now, Latara."

"Yes, so?"

He looked at her.

"He's been making us have sex without protection. When we were Gallifreyan we were both sterile but now…"

He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Oh my love, I think you're pregnant with my child and it couldn't have come at a worse time."