Chapter Five

Doctor must hate Boy now. Doctor would send him away. Hate was good. Master wanted Doctor to care. If Doctor hated, Doctor would leave Boy behind and Doctor would be safe.

But Boy didn't want Doctor to hate him. Boy loved the Doctor; Doctor had helped Boy so much. Boy wanted Doctor to be a friend again.

But then the trap would happen. Doctor would hate Boy anyway. Better a little hurt now. Better ruin his Master's plan now by making the Doctor leave him behind. If Boy were away from the TARDIS, he couldn't obey his Master. If he were anywhere but here, he couldn't destroy the Doctor.

--

Adric's fingers parted and the shard of vase clattered to the floor. Blood was soaking the Doctor's suit, but he didn't try to stop it. Instead, he just put his arm round the kid, who was crying again, huddled on the floor. Adric wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his face in his knees, much as he'd been when they'd found him.

"Doctor, are you alright?" Donna asked.

"It's not much more than a scratch," he answered. He was hugging the boy, which seemed like a stupid way to act towards someone who'd just attacked him for no good reason. The act of comfort just seemed to make Adric's crying worse.

The Doctor half-lifted the kid to his feet and then sat him down on the bed.

"It's OK, Adric," he said, speaking soothingly. "No one's going to hurt you anymore. You don't have to fight. Just rest." He eased Adric down so he was once more lying on the bed. The boy turned his head away but all trace of violence had gone.

"I'll make you better, Adric. I promise. The Master will never hurt you again."

Donna just watched. The Doctor's shirt and jacket both had a puddle of red on their front. Only when he'd tucked the boy into bed again did he appear to pay any attention to them. He left the bedroom, inspecting the cut as he did.

"Shouldn't we be locking him up or something?" Donna asked. She couldn't understand how the Doctor could be so calm about someone stabbing him.

"He's just frightened and panicking."

"He tried to kill you."

They reached the console room, the Doctor removing both his jacket and shirt.

"Aw. I loved this suit," he murmured, seeing the hole and the stain in the front of the jacket.

"The suit is the least of your problems. That kid stabbed you!"

"This?" The Doctor looked at the cut, a gash a little over an inch long. It wasn't deep and the blood wasn't flowing particularly fast. He pulled a medical kit out from under the console. "This is just a scratch. I've given myself worse cuts shaving."

"I can't believe you've managed to stab yourself while shaving."

The Doctor appeared to think for a moment, then attempted a grin. "Well... maybe just the once." The humour of his words never made it to his eyes. He pulled out a bandage and started applying it to his chest. Donna stepped closer to help.

"Whoever he may have been once, right now that kid is a danger," she said.

"He's been tortured for centuries," the Doctor said. "He's been trapped. The Time Lords had a way of freezing time within a container. It was used for transporting dangerous prisoners or the critically injured. In some cases, it was possible to leave the person's mind unfrozen, so that they could communicate with the rest of the universe, pass on vital information. The Master put Adric in one of these containers and left him aware, but cut off from any communication." There were tears in the Doctor's eyes that were unrelated to the pain of the wound.

"He has been trapped outside time for hundreds of years," he went on, "unable to move, unable to see, unable to call for help. That would be enough to drive anyone mad. But it's worse than that. The Master made it possible for Adric to still feel pain. He's been tortured for so long and I didn't even guess he was still alive."

Donna's mind didn't want to process the horror of what she was hearing. Even with her anger at the kid for attacking the Doctor, she was tempted to go back into that room and hug him herself. That someone could actually do such a thing was beyond evil.

"Why?" she asked.

"To hurt me. There was no other reason. The Master's not even alive to see me suffer. He did this out of pure malice!"

Finished with the bandage, the Doctor pulled the bloody shirt back on. He started pressing switches and the central column began to move.

"I thought you said we wouldn't be able to just leave," Donna said.

"I was wrong. The place has absolutely nothing to do with the Master's trap. It's all Adric."

"Then where are we going?"

"I'm taking you home."

"What?"

The Doctor turned to Donna, the tears still shining in his eyes. "I was wrong to let you come with me. I should have learned. The people around me get hurt."

"I chose to come with you."

"So did Adric. Now look at him. You've seen the life I lead, Donna. If you stay with me, sooner or later you'll get hurt, maybe killed. It's not safe."

"But you need someone. You said so yourself."

"I've got Adric. He's got no one else. He's got no family and he can't return to his people. It's up to me to look after him."

"You can't do it on your own. I can help."

"Adric was tortured for centuries just because I cared about him. I've made a lot of enemies, Donna. They'd do the same. They'd hurt you to get to me."

"I don't want to leave." Donna thought of the normal life she'd had, just one day of tedium after another. She needed this life and that Doctor needed someone beside him. And that kid was going to be more of a handful than one person could cope with.

"If you want me to leave," Donna said, "you're going to have to carry me out the door."

The Doctor was silent for a moment, staring at the controls. Donna waited, confused by the sudden silence and wondering if she should say something more.

"I've been told that before," the Doctor said at last, his voice quiet but strained with emotion. "I was told exactly that. By Adric."