Etched in History
Clarity
The cage that held the older woman slowly opened, two Dalek guards moving beside her as she walked slowly over to the poor student. Retreating a little, the biological machines then stayed perfectly still and silent. If everyone in the room didn't realise the true danger that they were in, they would have sworn that they were only life-sized models of the monsters, but there was no time for a pause to ponder the phenomenon properly. Despite everything, though, the sight that commanded all eyes – and eyestalks – was the meeting of the two women. This time, of course, Rynne knew the truth, so there were no immediate hugs and the like involved.
Stopping about a metre or so away from the younger woman, Jane gave a weak smile. "I'm glad to see that you're okay." In return, Rynne looked her old mentor up and down briefly to make sure that she definitely wasn't hurt, at least not yet, and then returned the smile with a glare, unable to actually say anything. "I'm sorry, Rynne, but what would you have me do? You can see how terrifying they are, and I know this is the only way that we could be saved. The Daleks promised me that we could go free, so…" After Jane trailed from her sentence, the Doctor opened his mouth to form a snappy response, but Rynne just raised her hand to keep him quiet for a little longer. Looking more than a little surprised, he and Martha then exchanged looks, and then their eyes returned to the scene before them. Rynne, of course, hadn't turned her head at all, the glare becoming even more poisonous in its intensity. A step forward, and Jane may have seemed a touch worried, but she still extended her arms for an embrace, all in the hope that she would be forgiven. "I knew you'd understand!" Another step, and then Rynne's eyes narrowed with an unknown intention. Suddenly, there was a sharp crack! of flesh hitting flesh resounding in the underground chamber, where Rynne's hand slapped Jane's cheek. Hard.
"How dare you! How dare you do that? Do you know what this could do? Do you know what they could do with everything?" Her hand moved up and slapped her again, the other woman beginning to shake, but refusing to retaliate. "And you think the two of us are more important than everything else? Have you actually wondered what they want to do with everything I've written? Have you?" A torrent of fury erupted, and both the Doctor and Martha hand to come between them, with the Time Lord pulling Jane back a few steps and Martha standing in front of Rynne, her hands resting on the girl's shoulders. "You don't deserve to live!"
Martha looked deeply into Rynne's eyes, just seeing a blazing fire burning through her, straight into Jane. The amount of anger there was unbelievable, considering the crime. Yes, Jane may have done something more wrong than she could ever hope to understand, but she had at least thought that she was saving Rynne's life. "Come on, is that really fair? She wanted the best for you, and she didn't know what would happen!" In response to that, Rynne said nothing, glaring ahead as she did, although something had changed. With Martha's frown of uncertainty, the Doctor let go of Jane, leaving her standing with tears now rolling down her cheeks, all so he could have a proper look at the girl. The tenseness in her muscles had left her, the gaze now unfocussed as she seemed to be somewhere else, Martha's touch the only thing keeping her physically steady. "Rynne? Are you alright?"
Pulling his spectacles out of his pocket, the Doctor accompanied his companion in frowning, although his was more from concentration, a million thoughts running through his mind. "Rynne… what do you see?"
Martha glanced at him, but the Doctor ignored it, knowing that she could easily ask questions later. The student blinked, and the glare softened into something more like pained grief. "I-I can see it."
"What can you see?" Repeating the question again, the Time Lord's voice was much lower, almost secretive. With a brief shake of her head, the girl opened her mouth a little, unsure of herself as some kind of scene unfolded in her mind. The Doctor looked away for a moment, deliberating within his mind before lifting his own hands. Instead of meaning to harm, though, his fingers reached out for the student's temples, his face merely a handful of inches from hers as he closed his eyes, waiting to feel the contact of skin as he prepared to create a telepathic link with her, making him able to see exactly what was in the back of her mind.
"600 rels have passed! You must continue working! Continue! Continue!" The tinny resonance of a Dalek's speech echoed upon the silence the group had cultivated, forcing Rynne to snap back to reality too quickly. The Doctor even turned to see them, but not after he had already touched the sides of Rynne's head.
"I'm trying to help her!" the Time Lord bit back, much more concerned about what was going on in that mind of hers before the Daleks decided to do something to forcibly extract the information from the girl's mind. Actually, he was rather surprised at the fact that they hadn't just kidnapped her and used that plunger-esque device to drag the electrical signals of knowledge so they didn't have to wait, but he wasn't about to point that out to them. After all, Dalek Caan could have easily gone mad and forgotten about the most obvious things when creating this new 'empire' of his, and there was no way that the Doctor wanted Rynne to go through any pain.
All the while, the Doctor's hands stayed on Rynne's temples, although not in the proper position for him to connect to her mind, but that touch was enough. Without another word, he had a flash of what she saw, and it was horrific. Orange skies burned black and grey whilst the air was filled with the sounds of screaming and metallic bloodlust. Red grasses found themselves reduced to cinders from the weapons of the two great armies fighting upon it, where the shrilling of laser guns shot across the once-perfect landscape, and – "Gallifrey…" The Doctor couldn't help but whisper the name of his home as he recognised scenes from that last, supposed 'Great' Time War, where the Daleks had managed to land upon the beautiful planet and start to ravage it. The images were so strong, he almost believed that he could smell the smoke and taste the ash, but that wasn't right. "Impossible…"
By this point, another had noticed the ruckus, and Dalek Caan took only such a short time to return to their position. "What is the meaning of this?" The tone was defiant, demanding them all to just do as it commanded. The Doctor was just too confused, knowing that it took much more than that to slip into the precise thoughts of a human, making him wonder if there was some kind of so-called 'psychic' phenomenon with the girl.
Martha and Jane simply stood, open mouthed as they watched the pair there, transfixed and even able to ignore the Dalek leader commanding them to explain. Before anyone could even begin to speak, though, Rynne slowly lifted her hands to meet the Doctor's, their gazes locked intensely for a few moments as their skin touched. The pregnant air held so many secrets, so many questions that were left unanswered, and in that moment, so much could become clear…
Until Rynne's eyes rolled into the back of her head, legs giving way underneath her as she crumpled to the ground. "Aid her! Aid her!" The instruction wasn't out of kindness and fear, of course, but of something else that no one else could really fathom at the moment. Even the Time Lord was too preoccupied with Rynne to listen to the Dalek, as he threw himself down on his knees, wide-eyed, not knowing what happened, and not even able to begin to tell the others what to do.
Martha was more than useful at that moment, rushing to the other side of the girl, convinced for a moment that she had just fainted under all of the stress that she had been under. However, Rynne them started to twitch, her fingers and ankles jumping like a scratched record, all before a full attack made her spasm with pain, suddenly retching and writhing, the agony racing through every pore of Rynne's being. "Oh, my God! Rynne? Rynne!" Martha tapped her cheeks with her hands, hoping that the girl would respond, but it seemed to be too late. Jane hung back, the tears more pronounced as she choked back sobs, the only sounds she made utterly incoherent. The Doctor watched on, the shock even making him waver. At the same time, though, that snapshot picture of Gallifrey was whirring in his mind, and he couldn't seem to focus on anything else, as if there was something stopping him from helping. So, it was up to his companion to do her best, although what was happening made no sense. "Come on, Rynne! You're alright!"
It didn't seem that way after a while, though, considering that the seizure stopped along with Rynne's breathing. This fact seemed to be the only thing that could bring the Doctor out of his frozen state, hand now at the student's throat as he checked her pulse. Nothing. "Martha, there's no heartbeat." Even though his words seemed calm, the spark in his gaze spoke of worry, and the medical student quickly got to her knees, straightening out Rynne's legs before she moved back up to her chest. "Martha!" The sharp tone made them both move faster, even though time itself seemed to slow. Hands clasped together, Martha pumped on top of Rynne's heart, remembering that the girl had told her it was off to the side a little. The Doctor, meanwhile, started with the kiss of life, breathing air into the lungs as best as he could, pinching her nose, determined to save her. The pair worked hard, and after a minute, the Doctor felt a small splutter beneath him. "It's alright, it's working, Martha, it's working!"
To the Doctor's grin, Martha matched it, stopping the pumping slowly as she lowered her head to Rynne's chest, carefully listening for the beating there. Her gaze quickly became grave, though, as the beating was off, almost as if there was a murmur there. "No, Doctor, something's wrong!"
"What? What is it?"
"It's… Her heart, it's an irregular beat!" Almost jumping downwards to kneel opposite his companion, the Doctor frowned, wondering whether this was the girl's condition getting even worse. Martha leaned backwards so he could move in properly, quickly resting his own head softly on her chest, the colour draining visibly from his already worn out features. "Doctor?" His head lying at one position, it then moved backwards, more towards himself, as Martha presumed he couldn't find Rynne's heart. As she was about to point it out to him, Rynne sighed, her eyes now closing as the pain floored her, a true faint this time. The Doctor, on the other hand, slowly moved himself back into position on his knees, looking directly at his companion. Impatience then took over, and Martha flung her arms outwards as she almost snapped at him. "Doctor, what is it?"
"Her heart…" The Time Lord's voice then cracked, looking down at the now peaceful girl, lying on the ground, forgetting about everything else but the three of them. "Martha, Rynne isn't sick. She's got two hearts."
A/N: Sorry for the late update, I've had exam results and all kinds of things to worry about the past few weeks - university here I come! - but a review tonight made me want to hurry myself up and finish this chapter, so here you go. See? Reviews feed me muse:P Anyway, please tell me how you feel this is going, and I hope you like the twist to the story!!