Author's note: This chapter is long. Lots of information. It is all starting to come together I suppose. I hope you enjoy.

As always, reviews are very much appreciated as they help me improve!

Chapter Eight: Split investigations

Bella sat upright giving a small gasp. She was suddenly wide awake, her bedroom slowly filling with a very soft light from the gap in her curtains. Looking to her right she found Sally asleep in the chair beside her bed, sitting in what looked to be a very uncomfortable position. She slowly glanced in front of her to where Sally's friend Jack was asleep on the floor leaning against the wall.

She frowned, trying to remember why she had woken so suddenly and slowly, it came back to her. She had been having this strange, yet amazing dream about these aliens who had been pretending to be her former guardians, Mary and Mark. They had been so tall, their skin a brilliant shade of bright green, their eyes black and their claws long and sharp. There had been five adults in all and two young children, who had, at one point in the dream, sat on her and nearly squished her.

There had also been a man. He was tall, smart and brave, as well as incredibly kind. He had a contagious smile and an infectious sense of adventure. He had saved Bella's life in the dream and he had tried to help her escape.

She felt that it was all very strange; she could have sworn that she's had the dream before and the man felt very familiar. In fact, she had dreamt of him a lot, but today she felt as though the familiarity was more than that. She felt a sudden need to go back to her home. She couldn't explain it, it was very out-of-the-blue, yet she wondered why she hadn't gone back sooner, why she had come to stay with Sally at all. She couldn't remember making a conscious decision to stay with her. Now that she thought of it, there was a lot that she wasn't too sure on anymore, and that made her feel incredibly uneasy. Feeling enigmatic about her current situation, she decided to go back to her house, thinking that for some reason it was where she needed to be today.

Quietly, she slowly climbed out of bed, tiptoeing past Sally and walking over Jack's legs to open her cupboard to get out her clothes and her boots before walking back over Jack and out her already open door.

She got dressed in the bathroom quickly, brushing her teeth and pulling her hair into a low, tight bun before looking at her reflection in the full-length mirror on the back of the door. Even though she was in her own clothes, she didn't feel like herself in the slightest. She felt different, she felt wrong. Something was very wrong and something important was missing, she just didn't know what it was…

Picking up her boots in her hands, she crept out of the bathroom, down the hallway and towards the front door, desperate not to wake anyone up; she had no idea how to explain what she was doing and she didn't want anyone to try and stop her. It was important, she could feel it.

She stepped into the small cloak room and pulled on her black leather, knee-length riding boots, pulled on a heavy coat, put a pair of thick riding gloves in her pocket and grabbed her black riding helmet before opening the front door and stepping into fresh snow.

Normally, the sight of snow would make her grin like a child, but today it made her feel slightly ill. Gingerly, she walked through it towards the stables, stopping only once to glance back over her shoulder. She had felt as though someone was there, that someone had been watching her, despite the fact that she could see nothing there. Ignoring the strange feeling in her mind, she trudged to the stables where a fond nicker greeted her.

Yet another thing that she couldn't understand; why was her horse, her absolute pride and joy, at Sally's house as opposed to her own? Shaking her head, before placing her hand to her forehead due to the headache that only seemed to be getting worse, she wondered if it were possible that she suddenly had gotten early onset Alzheimers.

"Good morning, Amund." She said kindly to her horse, who had poked his head out of his stall. "Time to do some investigating, I think."

- O -

The Doctor had been standing in the doorway of the TARDIS when Bella had reluctantly stepped into the snow. He had seen her hesitate, and then walk almost begrudgingly towards the stables. She had hesitated again, stopping to look back behind her, straight at him and the TARDIS, but he knew that she hadn't seem either of them.

He stepped out of the TARDIS, following Bella's footprints wearily around the house towards the thick-stoned stables. He stopped beside a tall tree, his face troubled as he watched Bella slowly saddle-up her horse. He wondered what she was up to, especially since her expression didn't sit right with him; she was frowning, obviously deep in thought, a slight look of determination filtering through her frown.

He managed to stay out of sight as Bella led her horse from his stall and putting on her riding helmet before mounting somewhat gracefully. He wasn't sure how Bella would react to seeing him after what had happened the night before, and in all honesty, he didn't want to find out, not until he knew what the Trickster had truly done to her, and if it were at all possible to get her memories back. He shivered slightly, not wanting to think of the possibility of Bella not being able to get her memory back; it would be just like Donna all over again.

He stood by the tree, watching Bella ride slowly away until he could no longer see her in the distance, where he headed back towards the TARDIS, hands in his pockets. He noticed shortly thereafter that Sally was bounding out of the house looking worried and Jack followed behind her.

"Doctor –"

"She's already gone." The Doctor said quietly, trying to keep his voice as emotionless as possible, which was quite difficult, considering he felt as though he was on the verge of losing yet another companion.

"We need to go after her," Sally said, assuming that Bella had taken her horse, so she had begun to move towards the stables. "Who knows where she'll go and what she'll do."

The Doctor quickly shook his head. "We have more important things to do." He said gravely, making Sally stop and turn back, staring at him unbelievingly. Even Jack looked taken aback.

"Like what?" she enquired angrily, hoping that the Doctor wasn't putting Bella second to his boxed spaceship. If he did, she felt that she would definitely need to wollop him.

"Like finding out who is alive that shouldn't be." The Doctor said, his hands still in his pockets, and Sally admitted that it did sound pretty important. "And I know just who to start with." He added.

"Who?" asked Jack and Sally at the same time.

"Edwin Milton." The Doctor stated and Jack nodded in a fierce kind of approval, both of them turning towards Jack's car.

Sally frowned, looking from the retreating men back to the stables, knowing that someone should really check on Bella to make sure that she was okay. She looked back to the two men and found the Doctor waiting for her.

"Come on," he said sounding exasperated, as if waiting for her to move forward.

"Really?" asked Sally shocked.

The Doctor grinned at her, a true, proper smile, the first one she'd seen since he had arrived, and Sally took that as a yes and ran forward to catch up to him.

"We aren't all going to fit in my car." Jack pointed out slowly.

"Can we not go in the police box?" Sally asked curiously, watching the Doctor very closely.

The Doctor shook his head. "No."

Assuming that he wasn't going to give any explanation, Sally offered to drive them. "We can take my car, if you want?"

"That'll do." The Doctor said and he and Jack followed Sally towards her little, white Toyota.

"Still no improvement then?" Sally heard Jack ask the Doctor as they walked.

"No, it's the opposite really," he admitted slowly. "She's gotten worse."

"Have you any idea what is causing it? Jack pressed and Sally could hear genuine concern in his voice.

"I have a hunch," the Doctor answered but he didn't elaborate.

From inside the house at his bedroom window, Dylan had watched the whole scene unfold before him. It stung him a little to see his sister leave with the Doctor so eagerly. It was one thing for Bella to do that, but his own sister?

As he watched Sally's car disappear down the long driveway, he quickly got dressed, grabbed his bike helmet and walked outside and into the shed to get his dirt bike. He needed to tell Bella how he felt about this whole mess before it was too late, before she remembered everything again. If he managed to do that, she might just stay with him instead of the Doctor.

- O -

"So – uh – what is it that we are going to say exactly?" Sally asked the Doctor and Jack nervously as the three of them walked towards the Sleeping Policeman. "'Ah – hi, how are you? We were just wondering if you've died recently."

The Doctor looked innocently to her. "Yes." He said and she stared horrified at him. "Look, sometimes it's just best to come straight out and ask…"

They had reached the front door and came to a halt.

"It's locked," Sally said feeling slightly disappointed. "Now what are we going to do?"

"Bless," Jack said condescendingly as the Doctor reached into his overcoat and pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointing it at the lock. It buzzed loudly for a few moments before the lock clicked and the door opened.

Smiling slightly at Sally's shocked expression, the Doctor pushed the door fully open.

"Try and act normal Sally." He smirked as she stared open-mouthed at him. "Otherwise people might think we are breaking and entering."

"But –"Sally tried to protest.

"Come on," the Doctor said as Jack gave a laugh, putting his hands on her shoulders to guide her into the empty, dark pub.

- O -

Bella dismounted from her tall horse, staring at her house in wonder. Pulling the reins over Amund's head, she led him through her front gate.

Her home had fallen completely into disrepair; her once flourishing garden had died, weeds having overrun everything. It looked to her like at least a year's growth, including the once well-trimmed lawn. All her hard work over most of her life seemed to have disappeared. She couldn't understand how this could have happened; she hadn't been gone that long. In fact, she couldn't even remember leaving at all…

She took her horse around the back and left him by the back door, going up the back stairs, taking her helmet off and pushed open the back door and squeezed her was through the vines into the music room.

Bella looked around in horror, seeing that practically everything that she owned, every item in her house had been upturned, opened or damaged. The paintings on the walls hung at odd angles and the piano - one of her most loved things in her home – had one of its legs missing.

Blinking back tears, she walked over all the bits of upturned furniture, the broken acoustic guitar and her now broken violin (which was probably her most prized possession) and into the hallway to check every other room in the house and discovered that it was all the same. Muddy, booted footprints lined the floor and large scratches caused the wallpaper to hang off the walls, in her room particularly, where all her photographs had been ripped from the walls.

What has happened here, she thought emotionally, sliding down the wall beside her, why can't I remember? She asked herself, hitting herself in the head out of sheer frustration. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

The last thing that she could honestly remember was sitting on her own in the living room with a bag of biscuits watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the TV; after that, nothing. Plus she was still a little fuzzy on what had happened before that too because she couldn't remember when or why Mary and Mark left. She had a nagging feeling in her mind that it had been because of something in the small shed to the side of the house.

After slowly getting back on her feet, she walked back downstairs through the music room and into the stormy weather, the clouds creating ominous shadows everywhere she looked. Picking up her horses reins she made her way to examine the shed, but someone called out to her.

"There you are!" Dylan said thankfully as he walked towards her, carrying his bike helmet under his left arm. "I've been worried about you."

"There was nothing to be concerned about," Bella said to him stiffly. This was a time that she wanted to be alone, not have someone else with her; all she wanted to do was to go to her father's shed because she knew that everything would make sense to her then.

"Of course there was," Dylan told her sternly. "We all wake up and you've already gone –"

"You know that I ride early, Dylan," Bella interrupted him coolly. "So why are you really here?"

He frowned at her. "Did you have a bad night's sleep or something?"

"No," Bella said. "I actually had one of the best night's sleeps that I've had in a long time."

"Right, so why are you being so narky then?" Dylan said, seeming slightly put out after hearing her say this.

"I'm not," Bella said hotly. "You're the one who looks like they've got a pole up –"

"Bella!" he complained.

"Well you do!" she blushed at his reprimanding. "Don't think I haven't noticed your behaviour towards that Smith bloke, I can't understand what your problem with him is really."

Dylan looked away from her, pouting slightly.

"So, what is it that you wanted?" Bella pressed. She felt like she was wasting precious time.

"I want you to stay with me." He said quietly, not meeting Bella's eyes.

She looked to him startled. "Dylan – what do you mean?"

He looked to her. "He'll fix it – I know he will. I've seen the way he looks at you. He'll find a way to make you remember and then you'll leave and you won't come back. But I want you to stay –"

"What on earth are you going on about, Dylan?" Bella asked confused, slightly concerned for her friend's mental wellbeing.

"You and the Doctor," Dylan sighed, frustrated. "It isn't right, Bella – he's dangerous and being around him could get you killed! I mean, whoever did this to your house was obviously looking for something on the Doctor because – well, you're not too important to anyone, are you?"

"Not important?" she repeated furiously, glaring at him. "I will have you know that my mother's father was the king of Nealon –"

"Oh yeah, what's that then, some old country estate over in Wales?" Dylan scoffed and Bella didn't answer because she didn't have a clue what she was going on about.

"Well, excuse me for not bowing, my ladyship." He continued obnoxiously.

"Shut up," Bella snapped, turning away from him.

"See what I mean, that guy has seriously changed you –"

"Dylan, I have no idea who or what you are talking about!" Bella shouted angrily at him.

"You –"he yelled back, "- fell in love with some strange, tall man with stupid hair and went of travelling with him; leaving me here with no goodbye, no explanation, nothing!"

Bella stared at him for a few moments, opening and closing her mouth a few times before shrieking, "WHAT?"

"You know how I feel about you," Dylan said angrily. "You knew that I loved you the moment I kissed you –"

"And you've known for years that my feelings towards you were not the same." Bella said sternly. "When you kissed me it was a moment of weakness, I was distracted by the dangerous situation that we had been in!" she finished, not actually able to remember what the dangerous situation actually had been.

"But you could have loved me back!" Dylan said, half pleading to her now. "Can't you see, another week or so and I could have shown you that you actually loved me back –"

"You make it sound as though I am some dog that you are trying to train!" Bella cried outraged.

"That isn't what I meant!" Dylan said hastily.

"I don't care what you meant, the fact is that I have never loved you like that and you know it!" Bella said angrily. "Just accept that I have found someone else –"

"Who?" he asked quickly.

"What?" she asked suddenly confused.

"You said that you had found someone else, who is it?" Dylan asked and he couldn't stop himself; he knew that he could be putting Bella at risk, especially after last night, but he wanted to hear the three words that he was so desperate to hear. "This mysterious man, who is he?"

Bella bit her lip, hesitating, looking as though she was on the verge of tears. "I – I don't know."

"I didn't think so," Dylan said, giving a satisfied smile.

Bella looked at him feeling flustered and upset. Dylan obviously knew something that she didn't and she felt that he was being incredibly cruel about it. Between what had happened to her home and what Dylan had all but said, Bella got the feeling that her memory had been lost or something like that. It was the only explanation that she thought was plausible. The feeling that she was missing something had grown increasingly stronger and what she herself had just said only made her feel that it was true. Her head felt like it was about to explode and she didn't know how much more she could withstand. She needed to see inside the shed.

"If you got what you came for," Bella began coldly, "Which you undoubtedly have, I would like you to leave."

"What?"

"I want you to leave." She repeated. "Go home, get off my property, I don't want to be around you anymore."

Dylan stared at her unbelievingly. "You aren't serious?"

"Go," Bella whispered.

He continued to stare at her for a few moments before he gave a hollow laugh. "What has he done to you?" he asked quietly, his voice full of disappointment and pain. He took one last look at her, shaking his head in displeasure before walking away from her.

As Bella heard his dirt bike start up somewhere in her front yard, Bella sunk to the ground where she stood, silent tears falling down her pale face. She gripped tightly onto her horse's reins, feeling completely along, more along than she had felt in years.

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