Rose led Rehprom down a hallway to find the Canad a room. Rose wasn't quite sure what to say to her. Rehprom had been through so much anguish in her life. Even though Rose had also been through many traumatic events since she first met the Doctor, at least she always had the choice to stop. Rose knew she had a refuge in the TARDIS, and that if she wanted to, really wanted to, she could go back to Earth, to her old home. She could stay there and be safe.

Rose thought back to the day she asked the Doctor if she could see her dad on the day that he died. She didn't have to go back and watch her father die. She chose to.

Rehprom didn't have that option. She had seen both her parents die, her home altered forever. She could never go back to her home planet and live a happy life. Rose also realised that although they could take her back in time and place her on Canad years before the Rican invasion, years before she was even born, it would still plague her to know what was going to happen to her home. Plus there was her brother and mate to think about. Rose knew that she could never leave Jack and the Doctor behind if they were ever in the same situation.

Rose decided to talk about a nice, neutral topic; the TARDIS.

"I bet you've never been on a ship like this before," Rose said with some confidence.

Rehprom shook her head. "No. This ship is amazing. It's almost like it's alive."

Rose smiled. "In a way, she is. She's telepathic. Can enter your mind and read your thoughts and stuff. Also likes to rearrange the corridors, as I've already said, and she doesn't always like to land in the right places. Like this one time, me and the Doctor arrived back on Earth and we thought we'd only been gone for twelve hours but in fact we were gone for twelve months."

Rose looked to see Rehprom's reaction to her story and instead saw the alien had stopped a short distance behind her, and was now gazing at a door like it was a painting in a museum. Rose backtracked, slightly embarrassed. She too looked at the door. There was writing on it that Rose didn't recognise. It was obviously in an alien language. Not Gallifreyan - there were post-it notes with the Time Lord's native language all over the TARDIS console room, and so Rose was able to recognise that easily enough. The writing on the door was in a different alphabet altogether. Rehprom was smiling.

"Can you read that?" Rose asked.

"Yes," Rehprom said. "It's old Canad writing, I'm one of the few left who can still communicate with it. Well…me and my brother, that is."

"What does it say?"

"It says 'Rehprom'."

Rose smiled.

"I guess this is my room then," the Canad said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Rose agreed.

Rehprom opened the door and beheld a medium sized room. There was a bookshelf filled with literature, a desk and chair, a wardrobe, and what looked like a round bed with no sheets or pillows. The walls were a pale blue with white trim. Rehprom nodded and smiled in satisfaction. "This is good."

"But there's no sheets or pillows though," Rose commented.

Rehprom crossed to the wardrobe and opened it. There were some traditional Canad garments inside, as well as stacks of pillows and blankets. "No, it's okay," she said. "I'll make a nest using these."

"Okay," Rose said. She watched as Rehprom tried and failed to stifle a yawn. "I think I'd better leave you to it then. If you need anything, just find me or Jack or the Doctor. Hopefully, the TARDIS will help you out too."

"Okay," Rehprom said. "Thank you for everything. I'd be dead if it weren't for you and the others. Please tell the Doctor and Jack for me that I'm extremely grateful."

Rose smiled. "I will. Have a good sleep." Then she left, closing the door behind her.

---

Rehprom snuggled deep into her newly made nest. It was sculpted out of the pillows and blankets she had found. For the first time in almost two years she felt comfortable. The only other good night she had had since the Ricans took over was the night she had spent with Xaler. She closed her eyes and was soon lost in a dream.

She was in her old cell. It was cold, cramped, and outside. This was because Ricans were generally very claustrophobic. She could make out the sign labelling the block of cells that hers was a member of. It read "Flow Dab," just like it always did.

Rehprom shivered. She was wearing the belt restraining her tail again. A face leered at her from between the bars of her cage. She recognised it as belonging to the leader of the guards, a large, cold-hearted bully named Tyran. His massive leather wings were spread in a threatening pose. Rehprom was close enough to make out the individual feathers, which was about ten times too close for her. Tyran reached a hand through the bars towards her, a cut on the hand dripping acidic blood. Rehprom wanted to scream, to fight, but she was paralysed. All she could do was whimper as the hand zoomed forward.

Then a voice from behind Tyran called out. Rehprom instantly recognised it. Acro! There was a whip crack and Tyran yelled in pain as her brother lashed him across the back with his tail. Again and again this happened, much to Rehprom's delight. Somehow, not a drop of blood landed on Acro's tail, even as the Rican's back and wings were shredded. He too, seemed paralysed, though he flapped his wings madly in an attempt to escape.

Soon, Acro was joined by another welcome face as Xaler appeared. Together they fought Tyran until he was no longer regarded a threat. Xaler picked him up effortlessly and hurled him away.

Acro smiled at Rehprom and Xaler in turn, then vanished as his sister focused her attentions on her mate. Xaler approached Rehprom's cage and touched the bars. This somehow caused them to evaporate around her like water on a hot grill. Rehprom all but collapsed into his strong arms. She felt him remove her belt and she wrapped her tail around him. They kissed deeply. Xaler seemed to be all around her, filling her senses. She wished this moment could last forever and she drunk him in, as much as she could hold, and even that was not enough. At last they just stood there, holding each other.

"I love you," Xaler whispered.

"I know. I love you too,'" Rehprom responded. For a moment, she felt entirely at peace.

It was short-lived, however. A sudden feeling of fear wormed its way into Rehprom's mind. It was the fear of the unknown future. Xaler sensed this and kissed her forehead gently.

"Don't worry. It'll be all right. Just have faith and hope and we'll meet again soon. I promise."

A tear slid down Rehprom's cheek, soaking into Xaler's chest. He continued to hold her close and kiss her tears away.

Rehprom smiled sadly in her sleep as her stomach began to grow.

---

The Doctor needed to keep his mind busy. This was why he was once again unnecessarily tinkering around underneath the TARDIS' console, his sonic screwdriver buzzing away merrily. The TARDIS was being very patient in allowing herself to be meddled with in this way. It was almost like acupuncture for her mechanical self. She was keeping one 'eye' on Rehprom and her dreams. There was something about the Canad that wasn't quite right - some DNA that didn't match the rest of hers. It was logical to assume that the foreign DNA belonged to her babies, but it was still wrong. It didn't even match the rest of her species.

Rose also couldn't stop thinking about Rehprom. "She'll be all right, yeah?" she said, partly to reassure herself.

"She should be," the Doctor replied.

"I think she can handle herself," Jack added, fiddling with something on top of the console.

Suddenly, something groaned and banged in the background. Jack cocked his head. "Whoa, that didn't sound very happy." The ship groaned again, louder this time. It was almost a growl. Steam hissed and an alarm on the console beeped.

The Doctor bit his lip and crawled out from under the console. He stood, plopping the sonic screwdriver into his pocket. He tapped a control on the console, but with little effect.

"Come on," he muttered, tapping at another control.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked.

"To put it simply, something is distressing the TARDIS," the Doctor explained. More steam hissed loudly. The Doctor raised his voice, addressing the ship. "Hey! Come on, now! None of that!" His voice became softer, barely a mummer. "Tell me what's wrong."

His eyes closed as the TARDIS painted a picture for him in his mind. He saw black Rican wings enclosing two people. He saw a cord wrapped around the waist of the one who was physically attached to the wings. He determined them to be a male and female in an embrace…only there was something not quite right about that cord… He realised that it was a Canad tail. The wings shifted slightly and the Doctor caught a glimpse of the female. Red-brown hair, streaks of blonde. Then the vision ended. The Doctor opened his eyes.

"Doctor?" Rose looked at him, her face a mask of concern. Jack also frowned at the Time Lord.

"I think the TARDIS is trying to tell us something," the Doctor told his companions. The noises gradually died down.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Something to do with Rehprom. We'll have to ask her more questions when she wakes up." He paused, thinking for a moment. "Maybe we should give her an exam as well, in the infirmary. I think she's hiding something the TARDIS reckons we should know about."

Rose's eyebrows arched. "Like what?"

"I don't know for sure," the Doctor said. "But we'll find out."

AN/ Reference guide for this chapter:

"Aliens of London" and "Father's Day" references. Just good examples from the series.

I have actually come up with the Canad alphabet. I can read and write it. I have no life.

I sometimes like to think of my bed as a nest. Who doesn't?

"Flow Dab." Bad Wolf. 'Nuff said.

Tyran comes from the word tyrant. This describes him nicely.