Phew! That was close! For a moment there, I thought I'd lost two whole chapters and would have to rewrite them. That would have delayed the story even longer! Fortunately, I found the chapters and they will be ready after a few alterations.

As promised, here's another chapter! I hope I can continue to provide a chapter a week. In the meantime, enjoy and let me know what you think.

Chapter 3

Rose shivered slightly, the chill of night seeping into the tent and waking her. Even as she woke, she realized that her being cold meant that the Doctor was no longer keeping her warm with his own body heat. Gradually sitting up, she wiped the sleep from her face as she looked for the missing half-Gallifreyan.

"Alex?" she questioned. Stretching her back, she mentally complained about how the ground wasn't exactly the best bed even with a large overcoat to lay on. "Doctor, where are you?" she queried again, worried when she didn't get a response.

She saw him sitting just outside the camp area, his back towards her. Standing, she walked over to him, noting that the energy tent had been deactivated. "Hey," she greeted gently, putting her hand on his shoulder. He didn't move, causing her concern to grow. Moving around him to look at his face, her heart dropped at the sight. Tears trickled from his eyes. She immediately knelt beside him. "Alex, what's wrong?"

He swallowed tightly. "The sky, Rose." He turned to look into her eyes and saw only concern and confusion there. "It's night time and the sky is burnt orange."

The blond-haired woman glanced up at his words and finally noticed that the clouds that had been haunting them the last couple of days had gone, leaving, as the half-Gallifreyan stated, a sky the color of overripe pumpkins. It took only a second for her to realize the meaning of the discovery. "Oh, god, Doctor. We're on Gallifrey, aren't we." Seeing him give her a vague nod, she covered her mouth with both of her hands, letting the verification seep into her mind before speaking again. "But you said Gallifrey was destroyed in the Time War."

"Obviously there wasn't a Time War in this universe," he murmured back.

"And that Gallifrey had red grass and silver trees," she added.

He huffed slightly. "Not all areas of Earth have pine trees and green grass. The second sun is about to come up in the south. Well, southeast to be more precise. The first sun is what gives the sky its burnt orange color at night. It's further away and to the northeast."

Realizing that the Doctor had been watching the sunrise, Rose looked to the northeast and noted the red disc in the distance. Then turning her head back to the southeast, she noted the second sun he'd referred to was just creeping into sight, its light gently grazing the landscape. She gasped slightly when she realized that the sunrise looked very much like how she had decorated Alex's bedroom.

The Doctor turned to her, his eyes wide at her reaction. "You saw this before. When you decorated my room, you saw this. What else did you see?"

She shook her head slowly. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" he repeated incredulously.

"Nothing related to this that I know of. You know my visions are hazy most times. And I tell you all of the visions I'm aware of. I didn't realize this was a vision until now. Then it was just… colors. In this pattern." Seeing him accept her explanation, she leaned towards him, grateful that he put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "So where exactly are we on Gallifrey?"

"There's only one place this barren. The Death Zone."

"Doesn't sound pleasant."

"It isn't," he agreed. "It was abandoned centuries ago in the other universe. A wilderness barely inhabitable. During the Dark Times, after Rassilon founded Time Lord society but before the Time Lords realized the great responsibility they had to preserve time and space, they used time scoops to draw victims to the Death Zone for their amusement. They would watch them struggle to survive, fight to the death."

"We were brought here by a time scoop," she stated just to say the fact aloud.

Alex nodded. "After the Death Zone was closed off, time scoops were abandoned on my Gallifrey. They obviously haven't been abandoned in this universe. And by the evidence we've come across, namely that couple we found and the mere fact that we are here, it's safe to say that the Time Lords on this Gallifrey are still using the Death Zone. They may have even poisoned that cavern we came across just to liven things up. We are in the worst possible place to be lost. Finding a way home may be harder than I thought."

"At least you didn't say we wouldn't be going home at all."

"I'll get you home," the Doctor stated firmly despite the drying tears on his cheeks. "I promise."

"Don't promise something you might not be able to keep," she warned.

He pulled her into a hug in response, not speaking lest he do exactly as she just warned him against. After several long minutes, he released his hold, his eyes wide with realization. "Oh, it all makes sense." He ran his right hand through his hair as he hopped onto his feet and started pacing. "It all makes terrible sense now."

"What makes sense?" Rose questioned in confusion.

Realizing that his girlfriend didn't make the connections, he turned to her and explained. "Aderyn was making a biological weapon against the Powerful Ones, right? Where did she get a viable source of their DNA? We never answered that question, did we? So where did she get it?" He spread his arms, indicating the source with his actions.

"She got the DNA from you? But why would she need your DNA?"

"Because I'm half Time Lord. Don't you see? The Powerful Ones are the Time Lords and the Great and Powerful Empire is the Time Lord Empire. It explains everything: the time scoop, us being on Gallifrey in the middle of the Death Zone, Aderyn's experiments… My DNA was perfect for her experiments because it was the only place she could get Time Lord DNA. And she had plenty of opportunities to get it. Every time we went to lunch together, she could get it off of the glasses and plates. Every time I helped her with an experiment, she could get samples." He gritted his teeth, a pained expression on his face. "She used me. I thought we were friends. The emotions I felt from her said we were friends. But the minute we met, she started planning. She befriended me just to get my DNA. Our friendship was a sham."

"That's not true," Rose protested. Seeing the doubt on Alex's features, she stood and took his hand. "Maybe she did befriend you for your DNA but I know that your relationship developed into true friendship. Anyone who saw you two together knows that. And she was sorry for her actions."

"How do you know?"

"Her last words. Remember?"

The Doctor took a breath, recalling the awful day when he knelt in front of the thick window and watched the Avian die. "'Forgive me.' Her last words were 'forgive me.' I did then and I do now. Just… it hurts. It hurts knowing that she used me." Taking another breath, he exhaled loudly and wiped his face with his hands as a means of clearing his thoughts and burying his emotions for the time being. "The question now is how do we get home? Because we're in trouble, Rose. Real trouble. The Time Lords having a vast empire and enslaving other species? Having the Death Zone was bad enough." He nodded to affirm his own thoughts. "We need to keep moving. If this Gallifrey is anything like my Gallifrey, then there must be a Citadel. If we can get to it, then I can figure out a way for us to get home. We'll just have to do our best to avoid Time Lords, especially when we get to the Citadel, because we have no idea how they're going to react to our presence. Especially yours, since you're fully human. But avoiding them is going to be tricky."

"To say the least. So, how do we get to the Citadel?" She heard his stories about the Time Lord glass-domed city, how beautiful it was in the early morning with the suns' light streaming in and lighting up the walkways and roads.

"From what I can see, this Death Zone is very must like the other. In which case, we just need to get to the Tower of Rassilon and transmat there."

"And where is the Tower of Rassilon?"

"In the center of the Death Zone at the top of the tallest mountain there. If we continue following west along this range, we should be able to get to the Tower. It'll take a while, though. With how low these hills are, I'd guess we're closer to the eastern edge of the Death Zone. Could take weeks to get to the center."

"Better than staying here and hoping for a miracle," Rose muttered.

"The only problem that I see with it is the man who's been following us," Alex stated as he guided her back to the campsite.

"We're being followed?!"

"Didn't I tell you?"

"No, you didn't!"

"Well, we are," he stated as he started to gather their belongings. "He's been camouflaging himself well but I feel his presence. I'd say he's been follow us since we cooked up those cherote'ii."

"And we haven't done anything about it because…?" the blonde questioned, following Alex's lead in pretending not to notice the intruder.

"Because he's too far away for me to actually feel his emotions and determine his intent. Plus he hasn't acted against us."

"But you can tell he's a he?"

"Gender's easy to determine. But intent based on emotion? That's tricky. Especially since I think he knows that I'm empathic. Why else keep at that distance when closer would provide him with better surveillance information?"

She huffed, still clearly upset with the hybrid. "I still don't understand why you didn't tell me the minute you felt his presence."

"You were asleep. I didn't want to wake you, especially since he's far enough away for us to prepare for any kind of action he might want to take against us. That and I was preoccupied with deluding myself into thinking we weren't on Gallifrey until the final piece of evidence literally shown in my eyes."

"So, you suspected this was Gallifrey for a while now," the blond supposed as they finished packing their belongings.

"Ever since I noticed the plants. Some of them are native to Gallifrey. And then there were the cherote'ii, the heavier gravity, the thinner air… I just didn't want to believe that it was true. Can't deny twin suns, twin moons, and a burnt orange sky at night though."

"So we're just going to go to the Citadel with whomever following us for whatever reason," Rose stated as she helped Alex put on the backpack.

"Unless something happens to change the plan… pretty much, yeah. Very likely he'll do something before we get very far, though."

"Great. Something to look forward to." The sarcasm wasn't lost on the hybrid.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The terrain got rocky the further along the range that they went, indicating that the hills were slowly becoming low-lying mountains. As they walked, the wildlife increased, allowing the two of them to collect two more cherote'ii which Alex cleaned and cooked, once again storing the skins for later use.

They were passing through a canyon when the Doctor abruptly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Rose questioned. She scanned the area with her eyes, following the hybrid's actions.

"Got a bad feeling about this place?" he queried back, clearly on edge.

"No. But we know Bad Wolf is a bit random."

"True," he conceded.

A flash of blazing light streaked by, barely missing them before exploding on the rock wall behind them. The Doctor and Rose ducked instinctively, yelping slightly in surprise. Laughter echoed in the canyon as seven men appeared from behind boulders and out of crevices, surrounding Alex and Rose. They were a scraggily bunch, their clothes and faces showing that they'd been away from anything close to civilization in a very long time. Perhaps years, Alex supposed as he raised his hands above his head, encouraging Rose to follow suit.

"Hand over your possessions," one of them called out, clearly the leader of the group. He was the only one with a laser weapon, which he raised and aimed at Alex's head, emphasizing his intentions if the latter didn't follow through with his demands. The others carried knives of various sizes.

"All right. All right," the half-Gallifreyan stated, slowly lowering his hands to ease the backpack of his shoulders. "Take whatever you want. Just let us pass unharmed." He tossed the backpack towards the leader before raising his hands again.

The leader gestured for his men to move in to collect their loot before going to one side and resting on a boulder. Even as the men converged, Rose screamed in surprise, prompting the hybrid to turn around. One of the marauders held her tightly in his arms and was attempting to undress her. A bawdy wave of laughter went through the group of marauders.

"Let her go!" the Doctor ordered.

"Why should I? You said to take whatever we wanted." Another round of laughter came forth.

Alex's actions were too quick for them to realize he'd drawn his bow. He rapidly released an arrow which grazed the man's cheek, instantly silencing the laughter. He loaded another arrow in his bow, aiming it at Rose's captor. "I said, let her go," he warned again, his voice threatening.

"And what if I don't?" the marauder questioned with derision.

"Then the next one goes between your eyes."

The man quickly put Rose in front of him, one hand tightly around her neck while the other gripped her waist. "You couldn't even hit me properly the first time. What makes you think you won't hit her?"

"I'm not aiming at her."

Angered by Alex's response, the man reached down and drew a large knife.

"Barlow!" the leader called out, seeing that the situation was deteriorating rapidly. "We're not Time Lords. Let the female go."

"I will take what I want!" Barlow contradicted, putting the knife to Rose's neck. "And I know I'm not alone in wanting a little… female companionship." He lowered the hand from her waist so that it threatened to touch her nether region.

The Doctor released the arrow. Rose's captor collapsed dead behind her, prompting her to scream and hurry to Alex's side. The hybrid wrapped an arm around her protectively, watching the rest carefully to see how they would react to the death of one of their own.

"Nere'i!" one of the men called out. A cry of outrage filled the remaining five followers as they charged towards the couple, halted only by the leader sending a laser blast into the air.

"But, Nuru, he's Nere'i! He killed Barlow!" one of them protested in fury to his leader.

"And Barlow deserved it!" Nuru countered, moving between his men and the Doctor and Rose. "Number one rule in the Zone! We are not Time Lords! We don't take on slaves, especially not sex slaves. And if any of you want to argue with me against that rule, I'll shoot you down faster than he did with Barlow!"

"But he's Nere'i!"

"And that gives you an excuse to kill him? Not all Nere'ii are our enemies just because of their ancestry." Turning, he approached the couple. "You're either extraordinarily brave or extraordinarily stupid to come into our territory without your troop, Nere'i. You're fortunate that I'm so tolerant."

"Troop? What troop?" the Doctor questioned, still wary of the marauders around them. "Why do you call me Nere'i?"

"You're very skilled with a bow which tells me you're Nere'i. Only a Nere'i could make that shot. I'm surprised you're not with a troop."

"Thank you… I think." Alex frowned in confusion. "But if you appreciate my skill, why do you keep insulting me by calling me Nere'i?"

The latter gave a small laugh. "Do you not know what you are?"

"Apparently not," the hybrid murmured with obvious disconcertion.

"Excuse me," Rose interjected, clearly confused and more than a little worried. "But… what does Nere'i mean?"

"Worthless one," Alex translated. "Quite an insult in the Gallifreyan language because everyone in the whole universe is worth something."

"Lovely," she stated, showing her agreement with his being upset by the word.

Nuru regarded the couple for a long moment before focusing on Alex. "You're both obviously new to the Zone so I'm going to let you off easy. You can have everything that Barlow owned, including his share of the loot. It's the least you deserve for his trying to steal your mate."

"Thank you," the Doctor accepted the offer, deciding not to risk a confrontation that would result in their deaths. Rose chose to remain quiet for the same reason.

"But…" Nuru put in, nearly overlapping Alex's words. "I suggest you leave this area as quickly as possible because, if I encounter you again, I will kill you both. And I suggest you find a troop. Not all Humans are as kind to Nere'ii as I am." Without further word, he gestured for the backpack, which was brought immediately to him. Making sure that his men got their share, he tossed the backpack towards Alex before the group vanished into the rocks as rapidly as they had appeared.

Carefully looking around to insure that he and Rose were once again alone, the half-Gallifreyan picked up the backpack and looked in it to see what they'd been left. "We've got enough food to last a day if we're conservative and plenty of cherote'ii fur. They took everything else, including the containers. Well, everything except the knife. I guess Nuru decided we could keep that. On the plus side, they took those tent spikes and they're about to fail. The next time it rains, they're in for a nice wet surprise."

"I guess that's better than no justice at all," Rose grumbled.

Noting her tone, Alex went over and hugged her gently. "They're gone, Rose. And I seriously doubt that we will see them again any time soon."

"That's not what's bothering me. It's you." Sensing his surprise, she clarified, "You killed that man. And I know you're capable of… killing when it's necessary. We both are. It's just…" She buried her face into his shoulder. "I think it's just finally really set in that we're stuck here and we're going to have to fight to survive long enough to get home, which won't be anytime soon." Pulling away slightly, she looked upon his face and ran her hand over his chin, which now sported thick stubble. "We've been here four days already, we've hardly eaten, neither of us have had a chance to clean up, and most of our supplies have just been stolen by the only intelligent life we've come across so far. You can see how that's a bit… discouraging."

"To say the least," he agreed, touching her face softly. A moment later, he pulled away and slung on the backpack with their remaining supplies. "I think… we should follow Nuru's advise and see if we can find one of those troops he told us about. If we are Nere'ii as he said, it wouldn't hurt for us to be with other like ourselves."

"But what is a Nere'ii…"

"Nere'i," Alex corrected gently. "Nere'i is singular. Nere'ii is plural."

"Whatever. But what is it other than a 'worthless one' as the translation indicates?"

"No idea. Let's find out." He gave her a broad smile which brought a matching smile to Rose's face.

Nere'i – pronounced "nay-ray-ee" while rolling the "r" / Nere'ii – pronounced "nay-ray-eye" while rolling the "r"