A/N: Hopefully the website has been fixed now so you guys will actually be able to read this! Thank you for all your lovely support and comments so far, it really means a lot. Only three chapters (and maybe an epilogue) after this one! Enjoy :D
'Move away from her.' The Doctor was scared at the venom he heard in his own voice as he stood frozen in the doorway, shaking with rage and guilt and shock.
Rose's eyes locked on his, and he could see the relief that flooded through her expression coupled with the pain from whatever the bastard standing next to her had done to her. Maurice had whirled around at the sound of the Doctor's voice, and now moved to stand between Rose and the angry man at the door, a sick smile gracing his face. 'Mr Smith,' he said. 'Or should that be the Doctor?' He laughed as though he had said something amusing.
The Doctor grappled with his anger, telling himself that it wouldn't be a good idea to just march in and start mouthing off. With the chain in Maurice's hand and the table full of sharp and harmful instruments, he didn't think it would be beneficial to play with fire like that. Not while Rose was in the room with no way to help herself. 'I told you to move away from her,' he repeated menacingly. He purposefully kept his eyes off Ganjud's lifeless body in the corner; that was an issue that could be dealt with in due course once he knew what was going on and he had got Rose safe.
'I heard you,' Maurice said as he sauntered closer to the Doctor. 'I can tell from the expression on your face that you weren't expecting to see me here.'
The Doctor shook his head. 'No, on the contrary, I was fully expecting you.' His shoulders slumped slightly. 'I just wasn't expecting you here… like this.' He caught Rose's gaze again and sent her a silent message I'm so sorry. He cleared his throat. 'Move away from her,' he said for the third time.
Maurice laughed. 'Now why would I want to give you access to my prisoner?' He stepped back to Rose, moving to hold the chain up against her body. She shuddered and swallowed as his hand brushed against the raw skin on her collarbone. 'I'm very glad that you could join us though, Doctor,' he continued. 'I was wondering when you would be showing up. Have you bought the president's daughter with you?'
There was no answer. The Doctor knew without asking that hearing about Airlia's death would undoubtedly make Maurice angry. It was suddenly clear that the man was part of the regime he had just organised a revolution against, and he highly doubted that revealing his responsibility in the death of the president's daughter would endear him any to the man.
'I asked you a question Doctor.' Maurice swung the chain in his hand, the loose end scuffing threateningly against Rose's hip.
'She isn't here,' he replied, not willing to take the risk of not answering. It was clear from her injuries that Rose had also had to battle with the debate over whether to respond to questions or not. He couldn't tell just exactly how successful she had been in that, although it was obvious from the livid expression on her face as she regarded Maurice that she was a long way from being broken.
The other man sighed, lifting his arm to trail his hand down Rose's cheek and smirking when she gasped and pulled away, causing the chains restraining her to rattle loudly against the wall. 'Are you sure?' he asked the Doctor, his hand moving downwards to hover over the wounds on Rose's collarbone.
'I'm positive,' the Doctor replied. 'You can search the place to check, if you like. Hopefully it's obvious enough that I'm not hiding her in my jacket.'
Maurice regarded him carefully, clearly not believing him. He dropped his hand to press against Rose's wound, making her cry out as tears welled up in her eyes.
'Leave her alone!' The Doctor abandoned his plan of the careful waiting game and was across the room in two strides, reaching out to grab Maurice away from Rose. But the other man was faster, pulling a knife out of nowhere and holding it to her throat.
'Back away,' he said. He pressed the tip of the blade into her neck and twisted it slightly, a drop of blood spilling out to run down Rose's ivory skin and soak into the collar of her t-shirt. Her eyes widened but she made no sound, and this hurt the Doctor more than anything else about this nightmare situation. It was clear that Rose had become accustomed to pain in the time she had spent at Maurice's mercy.
The Doctor took a step back, holding his hands up and knowing that panic would be clearly visible in his eyes. He focussed his gaze on Rose, knowing that if he looked at Maurice then he was likely to want to cause the man great harm. He thought again of how they should have left Eustance before the revolution ever happened. He wondered if Rose would ever forgive him for what was happening now. 'Okay,' he said. 'You can put the knife away now.'
The knife was lowered but it didn't disappear completely, instead hanging down at Maurice's side where it could be utilised again in a split second. 'I think you underestimated me, didn't you Doctor?' he sneered. 'You came here and you just assumed that I was a poor man on the street, on the run from the evils of this planet. You bought every little lie I told you. But let me ask you this- that first night, did you not wonder why you found me on the street but then I went inside after we had finished talking?'
There was silence in the room, and so Maurice continued on.
'I saw you coming,' he said. 'I came out to wait for you. Everything that has happened to you since then has been manufactured, a lie.' He paused and cocked his head. 'Well,' he amended. 'Everything but this. This is very real.' He laughed.
The Doctor nodded. 'You're right,' he admitted. 'I misjudged you. That was foolish and I'm very sorry. But please, just let Rose go. None of this mess is her fault. None of it at all.'
The other man smiled haughtily. 'I'd like to believe that,' he replied. 'But I'm afraid to say that I don't believe that is the case. Not from what I've been hearing.'
'Believe me,' the Doctor insisted desperately, not caring what happened to himself now as long as Rose was safe. He could see her drooping against the pressure of her restraints, the metal cuffs digging into her skin. He could see dark red rings on her wrists where the bindings had slipped and the sight made bile rise up in his throat. He wanted to hold her.
'Can I take this to mean that you are accepting full responsibility for the uprising that is currently taking place in the vicinity of Valtallahan?' Maurice demanded forcefully, his tone suddenly interrogatory and official-sounding.
The Doctor nodded. 'Yes, that's right. I'm guilty of helping the people to liberate themselves, and of causing an oppressive government to be put under pressure and hopefully overthrown. I'm a guilty man. I'm guilty of a lot of things. But I'm not as guilty as you,' he hissed. 'You torture people without the slightest remorse and the lies you've told are disgusting. And that's only the things I know about. Who knows what else you may have done.' He stepped forward, truly angry now as his voice increased in volume and his fists clenched at his sides. 'And you're also guilty of hurting something that is very, very special to me and now let me tell you this, matey.' He was standing right up close to Maurice now, could smell his sweat and Rose's fear as he yelled in the man's face. 'You will pay for that.'
His hand shot out and grabbed Maurice's arm, twisting until the man dropped the knife. He then slammed him back against the wall, uncaring of the hands that shoved at his chest and cuffed him round the back of the head. The Doctor's anger had been brewing since he stepped through the door, and now Maurice was going to pay. He shoved the man viciously, feeling a sick kind of satisfaction as his skull cracked against the wall and he winced in pain. 'Oh yeah,' the Doctor added. 'I also suspect that you're guilty of killing Ganjud. And you should know that murder doesn't sit well with me.' He punched Maurice in the face, his nose giving way and blood spurting out to coat the Doctor's hand. His head lolled on his shoulders as he was lowered unceremoniously to the floor, unconscious.
The Doctor stood staring down at the man at his feet for a moment, wondering if he should be worried at the lack of remorse he felt for the injuries he had just caused. He wondered if it was a bad thing that he felt good for what he had done, that he didn't particularly care if Maurice ever woke up. Rose's soft sob bought him back to reality and he snapped his head up to meet her gaze, crossing the short distance to stand in front of her. 'Rose,' he said as he knelt down and unlocked the cuffs at her ankles with the sonic screwdriver.
She stumbled on the spot, swaying precariously as her restricted blood flow righted itself. The Doctor held her hips gently to steady her as he lifted the cuff of her jeans to see the red welts on her ankle. His stomach lurched and he stood up, keeping his eyes on hers as he carefully reached up to unlock the chains that held her wrists. She fell forwards into him as soon as they were opened, tears spilling from her eyes as the pressure on her arms was released and the Doctor put his arms around her and held her close, one hand moving lightly over her hair.
'I'm so sorry,' he whispered to her. 'I had no idea what I was sending you into.' He swallowed around the lump in his throat, determined that he wouldn't cry until they were safe and sound and back in the TARDIS. He drew back slightly to look into her face, anticipating anger and accusation but instead finding relief and appreciation and trust.
'Doctor,' she said, her voice slightly hoarse and dry. The Doctor hoped that it wasn't from screaming in pain. She smiled shakily at him. 'You took your time,' she teased him half-heartedly.
His eyes dropped as he began to fully comprehend the horrific extent of the situation he'd sent her into. 'I took far too long,' he said. His eyes slid shut as tears threatened to spill over. He couldn't let her see him break down, not like this. Not now. He had to stay strong for her. 'He hurt you.' He opened his eyes and studied her face, noticing for the first time the dried blood at her mouth where her lip had split. He watched her battle over whether or not she should lie to him before she eventually nodded and laid her head down on his shoulder, bringing her arms around him to prevent him from pulling away.
She shook against him. 'I'm so glad you showed up!' Her voice was light but he could hear the forced smile there, and he knew that she had to be hurting.
He lifted her head so he could see her face, tenderly moving her hair away from her eyes. 'Oh Rose,' he said. He kissed her forehead, pleased when she leaned into his touch. 'I keep leaving you when you need me, don't I?'
She shook her head. 'No,' she insisted. 'That's not true. How could you know?'
'I should have known,' he replied. 'First you end up stuck on an alien planet not knowing if you'll ever be able to get back and now this. If anything this is even worse. I shouldn't have sent you off on your own. I should have known Maurice was corrupt.'
'He didn't used to be,' Rose said quietly. 'It was the regime that changed him. He was a victim once too.'
The Doctor knew then that he didn't deserve her. How could she stand it? She'd just been caught in the middle of a revolution, then dragged through a trapdoor and tortured by a man he had thought she could trust. How could she stay with him and still find sympathy and compassion for the man that had hurt her so much? The Doctor often made jokes about the simplicity of Rose's human mind, but it was at times like this that she eluded him completely. Her ability for forgiveness was astonishing. If he was in her position, he didn't think that he'd be able to trust himself again. And yet she did. And then she pressed her lips against his to prove her point, her arms still around his back although her grip had loosened now; her muscles were tired after being stretched for so long by chains that had obviously been designed for someone taller than her.
He kissed her back for a few moments, tasting the blood from her split lip and the flavour that was just her and something else as well… No, not something else, someone else. He felt sick at the thought of Maurice touching her, using her and he pulled away from her gently, a renewed hatred for the unconscious man bubbling up inside him. 'Come on,' he said, forcing himself to sound kind, because he wasn't angry at her and he didn't want her to get the impression that he was. 'I need to get you out of here.'
She nodded and then shivered as he drew away, moving back over to Maurice. He realised belatedly that her jacket had gone as well as her coat, and he swore to himself that if she got pneumonia because of this he would make a point of coming back here, stripping Maurice naked and locking him out in the cold for a day or two so he could get a taste of his own medicine. He took off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, kissing her cheek as pulled the material snugly around her, knowing that the gesture would make her smile. He then went and pulled Maurice up, hauling him over to the chains.
Rose sat curled up on the floor in the Doctor's coat and watched as he strung Maurice up by the chains that had held her only a few minutes before, making sure that the cuffs were tight enough to dig uncomfortably into his skin. His head fell forward as he still failed to wake up from his fist-induced sleep. 'You just gonna leave him there?' she asked quietly.
The Doctor nodded. 'Yes.' The expression on his face made it clear that this was a non-negotiable option. His eyes flicked over to Ganjud's lifeless body in the corner of the room. 'We'll have to leave him too, for now.' His eyes held a question as he looked back at Rose. Tell me what happened?
She nodded and allowed him to help her up when he reached her once more. He pulled her into his side and held her against him for a long moment, his lips in her hair as they both tried to get their emotions under control. Then he took her hand, making sure he didn't catch the places on her wrist that had been rubbed raw by the cuffs, and led her out of the room. He pulled the door shut behind them and locked it with the sonic screwdriver, not caring if Maurice died before he managed to get out of there.
The Doctor was in no mood for finesse. He was going to get this nightmare situation cleared up as quickly as possible and then he was going to take Rose away and not leave her side for a good few days. And, he thought, if that meant they had to share a bed again, then so be it. Something good might as well come out of this disaster of an adventure. He held her hand securely as they walked in silence back along the corridor for the trapdoor. He knew one thing for certain: until this situation was sorted, he wasn't going to be letting Rose out of his sight. He had already hurt her enough for one lifetime.
Rose clutched the Doctor's hand tightly as they re-entered the bar, standing by his side as he kicked the trapdoor shut. She wanted to cry with the relief that was currently washing through her, but any joy she felt had been tampered down by the pain coursing through her body at intermittent intervals. She was more than aware that she would be having nightmares for months after this, the memories of being hurt and taunted by a man she had thought was their friend coupled with the vision of Ganjud's chest bursting open in front of her haunting her even as she stood safe and sound back in the real world, the Doctor's hand moving to her back to guide her over to the table where Damien and Heather were sat. She did her best to forget that Maurice was still strung up and unconscious in the cell beneath the ground.
The Doctor ignored the other two people sitting at the table as he pulled out a chair for Rose, coaxing her to sit down and not failing to miss the grimace she gave as pain shot out from the large bruise that was forming on her stomach. Damien and Heather were staring with questions in their eyes, but the Doctor still didn't speak. Instead, he walked over to the bar and picked up the first aid kit before coming to pull out a chair and sit down next to Rose. She mused that they'd seen a bit too much of that first aid kit since arriving here.
'What…' Damien started.
The Doctor glanced at him but ignored the question, taking the bottle of disinfectant from the box in front of him and turning Rose so that he could carefully dab it onto the raw skin on her collarbones. She sucked in a breath but told herself it was good pain; the kind of pain that would soon recede and help her to feel better.
Unable to help herself any longer, Rose reached out and rested one hand on Heather's arm, tears clear in her eyes as she thought of the man lying dead in the same room as his murderer. 'I'm sorry,' she told the woman sitting opposite her, her voice choked as her breath caught on a lump in her throat. She was aware of the Doctor looking at her with worry as she spoke. 'He just… Maurice… He…' She couldn't say it.
'What?' Heather frowned, leaning towards Rose, her eyes wide and nervous. 'What happened?' It was clear from the panic in her voice that she had been worrying about what was happening since Ganjud had locked her upstairs. It must have looked especially bad when they arrived back in the room without her fiancé.
'Maurice shot Ganjud,' Rose blurted. 'It looked like he was going to disobey him, and so he shot him.'
'He's… dead.' It was a statement, not a question. There was silence in the room.
Rose nodded, feeling self-conscious as all eyes locked on her. 'Yeah… Yes,' she said. 'I couldn't stop him. I'm sorry! There was all this blood and then he just sort of… slumped. And then he died,' she finished with a whisper.
Damien shifted in his chair, his arm automatically going around Heather's shoulders and drawing her to him as the woman began to convulse with silent sobs. Tears spilt over his own eyes to run unchecked down his face. He fixed the Doctor with a piercing stare. 'How many more people are going to die because of this?' he asked, the menace in his voice contrasting harshly with the sorrow on his face. 'How many?'
The Doctor's head dropped, his hands falling away from where they had been wiping the blood from Rose's neck. He stared at the table and she could feel the guilt and regret radiating off him as she reached out and grasped one of his hands in both of hers. She knew that she would spend hours trying to convince him that it wasn't his fault, but she also knew that no matter what she said she'd never fully succeed. 'I don't know,' he whispered, his other hand sliding to rest on Rose's knee, squeezing it lightly in appreciation. 'I don't know.'
He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. His message was clear although he didn't say anything. We need to get out of here. There was nothing they could do to make this situation better. Circumstance had gotten too out of control to be reigned in, and the slump of the Doctor's shoulders told Rose that he had resigned himself to standing back and letting history run its course. The revolution was too far gone to pull it back now.
'So people are dead and now you're just going to sit there?' Damien was angry now. There would be time for him to grieve for Airlia later when all of this was said and done, but right now there were issues to be sorted out. And right at the top of that list of issues was the blame game.
'What else am I supposed to do?' The Doctor's voice was sad, and Rose was scared at the lack of life she saw in his eyes. He was clutching her hand and her leg tightly as though he might fall apart if he let her go or if anything else happened to her. She shifted her chair closer to his, her leg brushing against his under the table. 'I can't turn back time. I can't bring them back to life. All I can do is apologise. I could get down on one knee and do it that way, if you like.'
The other man chuffed in disbelief and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. Heather lifted her head from Damien's shoulder and looked at Rose, her eyes still filled with tears. 'Did he die quickly?' she asked, clearly resigned to the fact that her fiancé was dead and never coming back again. 'He didn't suffer?'
Rose only had to hesitate for a moment before shaking her head and replying, 'No. It was quick. Instantaneous, almost.' She swallowed, deciding not to mention that Ganjud had probably suffered for months if not years at the hands of the regime, forced to lend them his support and his premises for their operations under pain of torture and death. It was obvious that he hadn't told Heather because of the question she asked next.
'Was he… Was he involved in that nasty government?' she asked, her breathing suddenly erratic. She had to be terrified of the answer.
She bit her lip and shook her head. 'No,' she said quietly, knowing that the Doctor would be able to see the lie in her eyes. 'Maurice was, though.'
'Is he dead?' That was Damien.
The Doctor drew a deep breath. 'As good as,' he replied.
'Good,' Heather said. She seemed to shrink in size as she leaned back in the seat, fresh tears springing up to trickle from her eyes. Her gaze lost its focus. 'I'm never going to see him again,' she whispered.
Nobody said anything for a long moment, knowing that no words would ever take away the pain of losing the person you loved more than anything. There were things that could have been said in response to Heather's comment; no, you won't see him again but in time you'll learn to live with it and move on, you'll find somebody else to love and some days you won't even think about him. But that was in the future, and empty promises weren't going to help now. Everything was different now. Things had changed.
'I want to get Airlia,' Damien said eventually. Everyone looked up at him as he broke the silence. 'I want to get her out of that room. She doesn't deserve to be left there.'
Rose frowned, realising that she didn't actually know what had happened when Damien and the Doctor had gone to rescue the president's daughter. Although, from her obvious absence and the things that Damien had said, it was obvious that they had been too late. She was dead. Another innocent.
'Okay,' the Doctor said, his voice gravelly. 'We'll go and fetch her. And then we're getting out of here, Rose and I. We'll see this through and then we're leaving.'
'You're going to abandon the mess you made,' Damien retorted.
'Yep.' The Doctor nodded. 'It doesn't seem like anything I do here is doing any good, so surely it would be better if I went? Besides, if the revolution works out there'll be a new government soon. Everything will right itself without me having to do anything.'
The other man shook in his seat. 'You killed the woman I love and now you're running away?'
There was a pause before he answered. 'It looks that way, doesn't it? But let me tell you this; everyone gets to be selfish sometimes. And this is my time. So let's go and get Airlia's body out of that stinking hell hole and then we can all get the hell away from this place. All of us.'
Nobody moved for a long minute.
Approximately forty five minutes later, at Hansley Bridge. It was deserted. Everything was still now as the sun dropped down behind the buildings and night began to fall once again. It seemed as though it was always dark or grey on Eustance. Cheering could be heard from over towards the government district; apparently something had gone well. No more gunshots could be heard. It was almost serene, almost beautiful. It would have been a triumph if it wasn't for the loss of so much life and vitality, if two people's lives hadn't been turned upside down because of the unfortunate death of loved ones.
Damien stalked ahead as they approached the door that led the way inside the headquarters of the Liberal Rights Alliance. Heather walked behind him. Rose and the Doctor walked behind them both more slowly, both tired now, both wanting this day to end and die its death just like so many people had in the past few hours.
They went inside the bridge, making short work of the doors and locks and walking down the corridor to the room where Airlia had died. Nobody was around; the only sound was their footfalls and breathing and the sounds of some muffled cheering from the celebration going on just under a mile away. The happiness seemed wrong somehow when there was such a sombre atmosphere in this section of Valtallahan.
They reached the room in silence, all of them walking inside and then stopping dead. The blood on the floor and the walls told a horrific story that they were all glad they didn't know the details to. Scraps of fabric and the lingering stench of burning flesh added to the god-awful tale. It seemed cut and dry. Someone had been hurt, and then they had died tragically.
But these stories always have a twist in them; just when you think the end might be near and closure is within reach, something happens. Something is screwed up and plans are ruined. They had expected to come in here and find Airlia's dead body, laid out on the floor ready for Damien to take into his arms so he could carry her to the rose garden and bury her there under the bench where they first met.
But someone or something- circumstance perhaps, or sheer bad luck or the God of Irony- didn't want him to find closure; they wanted to torture the broken man some more. The four people stood just inside the room expecting to find one man's dead lover. Instead they found nothing. The room was empty. Airlia was gone.