A/N: So, a few of you seem open to a sequel... goody. :D You're all probably going to hate me for this chapter though. As a precaution, I've barricaded myself in a safe house :P

i-is-monstarr-RAWR - oh, it totally is. Loved the tux :D The Nightmare Child was something born during the Time War. There isn't a lot known about it, save that it was deadly enough to consume Davros...

smilinsteph - aww thank you! And yes! Love it. New episode comes on Thursday, hopefully we'll meet Angelo again!

padmay97 - yes, he is, a bit :L

BeatnikFreak - hahahahaha oh dearrr... you're welcome, my lovely! *huggles*

Jo Brookes - oh, you'll find out... ;)

MandaPanda89 - It was a brilliant episode :D

Snowy702 - right-o! Looking forward to it :P

blackcat711 - hehe. Oh, you're going to hate this chapter xD

Mrs 11th - hehe it is an awesome Suspian fic, I adore it :D

Tsukiko13 - I bring more for you!

Ourania-Annais - I'm considering a sequel, yes :)

Here is a chapter which I may get beaten up for... imma just leg it now. Byee! *runs*


Starlight, starlight, shining bright,

Something dark is born this night.

Born in blood and battle days,

Born for chaos in the fray.

Know no bounds of evil doth he

For evil he was conceived to be.

Darkness is what hath made this child,

Born for blood and nightmare wild.

Deorsa closed the book, a sinister smile forming.

"So it is true."

His eyes glittered at the sound of her voice.

Silver bells.

"My dear, it has been true since the day I was born," he replied lightly. "I never told you because I felt no need to."

"You never felt the need to tell me you are the Nightmare Child?" Ondine's tone was scathing. "The creature who annihilated thousands and thousands of beings? No? Not important?"

"My true potential was never revealed until the day my father killed our baby," he answered calmly. "It was bound within me till then. I myself had no idea of my identity."

"And you're fine with it, are you? Fine with ending all those lives?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Should I be anything else?"

Ondine slapped him. "You really have no conscience, do you?"

"Ondine, I am the Nightmare Child. I was born free of any sort of guilt. The only contrition I ever feel is if I harm you, because you taught me what shame is."

His dark eyes were unreadable, and Ondine tilted her head.

"You killed Davros."

He inclined his head. "I believed so. Though as I understand it, one of his minions managed to salvage him."

Her eyebrow rose, but she chose to ignore that comment, instead uttering another.

"You don't understand what it is to be good, do you?"

"No. I never have," he said calmly. "I never will."

"Do you want to?"

"I could try, but I doubt I'd be able to stand the taste," he murmured dryly. "I am sin personified, my love. Humans would most likely call me the Devil… but he's been around for millennia. I'm not quite that long-lived."

"How old?" she pressed. His lips quirked.

"Personal question, I see."

"I'm your wife; personal questions are my job."

He laughed quietly, his eyes appreciative. "Of course you are. Delightful creature, aren't you?"

"You never did tell me your age," she pushed. He sighed.

"I'm not going to be able to evade this, am I?"

"Not a chance."

He smiled. "Your Doctor placed me at around seven hundred and fifty. However, he was wrong. Quite, quite wrong. You see… I am unlike any other Time Lord. I do not have a regeneration limit. This current form is my thirteenth. And I am older than he is, despite his confidence that I am not. My age exactly… well."

He smiled knowingly.

"Spoilers."

He vanished, and she jumped as his voice caressed her throat from behind, as his fingers brushed her cheek.

"Oh, I still make you tremble," he chuckled. "But is it from fear… or desire?"

His lips touched her shoulder, and she flinched.

"Don't you dare."

He withdrew at once, masking his surprise.

"You must know I would never hurt you," he said softly. "I hold you too dear."

She was silent.

"Would you look at me? Please?"

Slowly, she revolved to face him, her expression indecipherable.

"If you hold me dear, as you so say, then you won't go after Theta," she said coldly. "You will not harm him. You will not even touch him. Is that clear, Aidan?"

"My darling, I'm far too busy to go chasing after your lover-boy," he replied idly. "I have other things to contend to."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Such as?"

He smiled. "Why don't you come and see?"

He held out his hand, and warily Ondine took it, allowing him to escort her.

He led her wordlessly to a door at the end of the passageway. It was plain, unassuming, and he opened it; with a smile, he beckoned her inside.

Ondine glanced around her, confused beyond belief at the décor and the furniture.

Until she saw the child in Deorsa's arms.

Her hearts stopped, and he glanced at her.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" he said tenderly, kissing the baby's forehead. Ondine backed against the door, shock plain on her face.

"You cannot be serious, Aidan. You told me nothing happened that night!"

His eyes sparkled. "Use your common sense, darling. Wouldn't you have noticed a bump? It would have been fairly obvious, love."

"Then where the hell has she come from?"

The child, suddenly seeing Ondine, began to squirm, wanting her warmth.

Ondine felt a surge of protectiveness, and moved closer, instinct making her almost desperate to be near the little one.

"Give her to me."

Smiling, Deorsa handed the baby to her, and surprise hit Ondine as love swelled within her hearts.

The little girl stared at her innocently, her big blue eyes wide, her pink mouth open in surprise.

Ondine glanced at Deorsa as the truth dawned on her.

"She's mine, isn't she?"

He inclined his head. "Yes."

Her eyes darkened.

Then you're a bastard.

Deorsa's eyebrows rose.

"What's her name?" Ondine asked quietly, feeling a stab of regret that she did not even know that.

Amusement flickered at the edges of his eyes – something which confused Ondine, for reasons she couldn't think why.

"Leila," he answered softly. "Her name is Leila."

"She has no Gallifreyan name?"

"She does. It is the equivalent to Leila." His lips curved, and proceeded to let the name roll off his tongue. "You approve?"

"I do." Unconsciously, Ondine kissed the top of Leila's head, snuggling her close.

"She was conceived during my imprisonment, wasn't she?" she whispered. Deorsa watched her calmly, choosing not to answer.

"You suit motherhood," he murmured instead. His expression was warm, and despite her animosity, Ondine smiled slightly.

"How old is she?"

"Six months," he replied.

Ondine was struggling. She felt both adoration and anger, and she did not know which to let loose.

Anger at the fact that he'd impregnated her and she had no recollection of it.

Adoration for the little one now happily dozing in her arms.

She pressed a kiss to Leila's forehead, and gently laid her in the crib, lightly stroking her cheek before straightening and fixing Deorsa with a look that sent electricity thrumming through him.

"You – outside. Now."

She grabbed him by the tie he wore and dragged him out of the nursery, to the room across the corridor.

She regretted it the minute the door closed.

They were in his private chambers, and suddenly Ondine was very, very aware of the dangers it posed.

"Mm, you haven't been so forceful in years," he teased. "It's quite delicious."

"If you think I'm going to fall into your bed after this bombshell, you've got another thing coming," she hit back.

"Well, there's always the armchair," he mused, throwing her a sly look. She resisted the urge to hit him.

I'm always so physical with him… he brings out my violent side.

But right now I don't give a damn.

"How dare you," she said coldly. "You've gone too far, Aidan. Finally. I could call it rape – yet you swore to me you'd never do such a thing."

"If you cannot remember it, how can you put a name to it?" he reasoned. "I stand by what I said. I have not and never will force myself upon you."

She gazed deep into his eyes, blue to black.

"Why don't I believe you?"

She saw a flicker of hurt in him before he managed to suppress it.

"I'm so glad you hold such an opinion of me," he said icily. He turned, and before she could protest, he had disappeared.

She swore, and covered her face with her hands.

She'd meant that… but she hadn't. She wanted to wound him, and yet she didn't.

Aidan? Aidan?

A pure surge of resentment answered her, and she winced.

Look, I'm sorry. Please. Come back.

No reply.

Blinking back tears, she stumbled to the nursery, and watched Leila sleeping. Already she felt protective of her, knew that a mother's devotion tied her to the little one.

And she had no desire to lose her.

The first Time Lord born for an age.

It almost made her smile.

"I don't know what to do, Leila-love," she whispered. "I hate your father… but I love him. Oh Rassilon, there, I said it. I still love him. Even after all he's done. I can't break this bond we share. And… the worst thing is… at times, I'm not sure I want to. He's not a virtuous man – gods, he's the Nightmare Child – but he loves you, that I can see. And he loves me. I'm good for him. I keep him stable. Both you and I show him what it is to love. I think… without me, without us… he'd be so much worse. He needs me. I know that now. But the thing is… your stepfather-to-be proposed to me only two days before, and I accepted. Because I love him too. So, so much. Is it a crime to love two people at once? Is it?"

She sighed, running her fingers along the rim of the cot.

"Because I do. I'm married to one and betrothed to the other. And it's backwards. I haven't slept with my husband, but I have the other man. In human terms, I'm a terrible woman. And my fiancé trusts me to abstain. But how can he, when I don't even trust myself? I'm falling back in love with Aidan. Because despite his heritage, despite his identity, since he came back he's never once laid a finger on me. He's changed. He regrets what he did to me, I know he does. And here you sleep, my love, a product of a union that I don't even remember." Her voice was bitter. "And in a strange way I want to. I want what we had. What we loved before his father destroyed it. It was wonderful… and one night obliterated it."

She touched her lips, her teeth biting the tips of her fingers.

"Oh gods. I do. I love him. But I can't. I can't let him in. Not anymore. Not even for you, Leila-love. I can't lose Theta. Yet I'm drawn to Aidan more and more. Theta believed in me. He believed I could resist. And I don't know. I just don't know."

She fell quiet, a tear glistening on her cheek.

"You still love me."

Pain shot through her hearts, and she looked at him tearfully as he stood in the doorway, his expression astonished.

His eyes softened, and he came to sit beside her.

"I never knew," he said, his voice lowered.

"I feel so ashamed," she whispered. "If I kiss you, I'll be guilt-stricken. If I sleep with you, the guilt will overwhelm me. I can't, Aidan, I just can't."

"It's all right, hush," he soothed. He made no move to touch her, for he understood that that would only serve to heighten the guilt she already felt.

She had to come to him of her own accord.

"What do I do?" she asked helplessly. He smiled gently.

"I'm biased, a ghrá. I cannot choose for you. You must make your own decision."

"Oh, when did you become such a gentleman?" she grumbled. He laughed.

"I've always been one, my dear. You merely chose to disregard that fact."

She looked at him then – really looked at him.

The dark eyes, the shoulder-length near-black hair that framed his tanned face, the strong jaw, the tempting lips.

He was so different to Theta, she realised.

"I built so many walls up against you," she murmured. "But the thing is… you just knock them down. I can't hide from you. Not anymore."

She rose, and he stood with her, watching. She smiled sadly.

"And I really don't know what to do now. Since the problem is… I love you, Aidan. And I want you. I'll admit that now. Even after all that's happened. Even after all you've done. I don't want to control myself around you. I'm too tired of resisting it all. I don't want to hold back any longer. I can't."

His voice was soft.

"Then don't."

Her eyes shimmered.

"I love Theta."

"And you love me," he said quietly. She bit her lip.

"Yes."

"Then perhaps this will help you choose."

He closed the gap between them, and gently he leaned down.

He kissed her, undemanding, uncomplicated, and Ondine inhaled as she felt their bond reignite.

Like a spark in the night.


A/N: Oh gods. Don't kill me. Please don't!

Lightning xoxo