Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! You guys are amazing, and hearing the reactions to the rather conflicting events was really fantastic. This chapter will start by clearing up the big question (aka just WHAT is Aliya's problem?), but won't go toward fixing it all just yet I'm afraid.

Enjoy! This little arc (supposed to be one chapter but now will be two) is fairly, well, messed up in terms of content. Sorry.

Just say it again and mean it

We don't miss a thing, you made yourself a bed

At the bottom of the blackest hole (blackest hole)

And convinced yourself that it's not the reason you don't see the sun anymore

And no, oh, how could you do it?

Oh I, I never saw it coming. No, oh, I need the ending.

So why can't you stay

Just long enough to explain?

When It Rains - Paramore

"You're in love with him, and he's in love with you, and it's like a goddamn tragedy, because you look at him and see the stars, and he looks at you and sees the sun. And you both think the other is just looking at the ground."

ohsebs, Tumblr

It had been a week.

A week of bawling her eyes out into her pillow and writing journal entries that mostly consisted of a hoard of swearing in as many languages as she could remember. That and the verbal and written repetition of the one key question.

How dare he?

The feel of his lips on hers, finally, after so many years of wishing and wanting, had been perfect. Until her sense had returned and all his words had rung home.

"Do you realise how much he wants you?"

"He desires you. Deeply. Passionately. In ways that make him shudder and despise himself."

"...to help me accept what I wanted. What I needed."

When they had woken up, she had been so relieved to see him alive that all the Dream Lord's words had faded. Because she had been in the Doctor's arms. The Doctor who was kind and gentle and her best friend in the whole universe. The Doctor who she knew would always care about her and try to protect her. His reminder about his tendency to lie had come back to her, and the Dream Lord's more disturbing taunts had fallen away. Because she could never believe that the Doctor could want to hurt her, not in the way his darker self had tried to claim.

Everything had been perfect.

And then he'd kissed her. And she'd realised that while he may not want to hurt her, the Dream Lord hadn't been lying about everything. He did want her.

While she might have been his first, Aliya had never been under any delusions about the size or variation in the Doctor's sexual history. She didn't know the exact number and she didn't want to, he had loved a lot of people over the centuries and she downright admired him for it. But until a few years ago she had believed that he was like her in the sense that he didn't have intimate urges for people he didn't love. What did humans call it? Demisexual. That's what she was, and what she had thought the Doctor was too.

Oh, how wrong she'd been, and what a way to find out.

"Theta Sigma is dead! And the man he has become has not loved you in many, many centuries. Not since cricket."

Every other cutting thing that had been said in their fight had long since been forgiven, and more or less forgotten. But that horrific revelation had never faded, what he had said to her when she had challenged him by saying he had to have been lying because they had spent the night before the Time War together.

His answer had crushed one of most precious memories she had held.

"You were distressed and scared. I comforted you. It was nothing...you were so distraught that you thought there was far more to it than there was. You practically launched yourself at me, and I didn't want to hurt your feelings any more than they already were, so I tried to comfort you."

The issue wasn't that he viewed and could experience sex differently to her. That he could consider it casual or just an act of comfort. That was his business. What bothered her was that he had let it be that when he was with her, while allowing her to think it was so much more.

And now he wanted to do it again.

On a logical level it wasn't difficult to understand. Understand what he now apparently needed and wanted. Aliya was the only other member of his species that was still alive, he was bound to experience a level of basic attraction to her eventually, by the logic of biology alone. She wasn't even angry with him about that, because that part wasn't within his control.

The reason she was furious and devastated was that he had apparently expected her to be okay with him acting on it.

The bastard knew that she was in love with him. For all his idiocy, she'd still screamed it at him once and that wasn't the sort of thing one forgot. If she hadn't been, or if he hadn't known, then his wordless proposition wouldn't have been particularly out of line. But she was, and he did know.

How could he expect her to be okay with the idea of them sleeping together for the sake of gratifying purely physical need? It was cruel of him to even consider that it wouldn't tear her apart.

She had to hold to the faith that he had assumed it wouldn't bother her, because the alternative wasn't pleasant to think about.

The Doctor had left her alone for the first two days post what she was calling the incident, but tried knocking on her door once a day after that, if only to offer her food of some description. She'd given him no answer and remained lying on her bed with her eyes on the ceiling. Each time, he had told her that he was leaving the food outside the door for her.

The first day he'd done so, day three after the incident, it had been pancakes with every topping under the sun. Problem was, she hadn't been able to decide if it was an apology or, well, something else. That hadn't stopped her eating the pancakes. Obviously.

The second day it had been a plate of cupcakes with bright yellow icing. Her favourite colour.

The day after that, it had been a huge fruit salad. Then hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies. And the added, "You can't stay in there forever, Aliya," in his plea for her to open the door and/or talk to him.

Which brought her to today. He hadn't come yet, and she hated to admit it, but she was sitting on her made bed, facing the door, and waiting. Oh, she tried to tell herself she was waiting for the food, and that the Sherlock Holmes book in her lap was holding her attention, but it wasn't working.

She'd never been a good liar, but she'd always been rather adept at lying to herself, so this was definitely a new low.

Five minutes later the knock on the door came.

"Aliya?"

As usual, she didn't answer, but she silently got off the bed and walked towards her bedroom door, being careful not to make a noise.

"...I'll just leave it here, then. But I do want you to know that I am-"

Aliya opened the door to reveal him outside it, all tweed and slumped shoulders and sad eyes. His mouth immediately fell open and she realised with an odd jolt that he had given up hope of her opening the door. He looked so ridiculous standing there gaping while holding a plate of waffles and ice cream that she almost wanted to laugh.

Of course, given the maelstrom that started up in her hearts again just from seeing his stupid face, that feeling lasted all of three seconds.

"Go on," she said, keeping her tone as nonchalant as possible. It came out rather stiff so she grabbed the plate off him and started to shove waffle into her mouth.

"Sorry," he finished, in a breathy exhale. "That was...that was sort of it."

She just held his gaze, waiting, and spooned up some ice cream in the meantime.

"I've just spent a week without you."

"How was it?"

The Doctor just sighed and shrugged helplessly. "Honestly?" She nodded through a mouthful of very cold ice cream. "Rubbish. Extremely very not...anything good, really."

Stop looking at me like a lost puppy, Aliya thought as she found it hard to look away from his weighted green eyes, it's going to break my resolve and I really can't afford to not be really fucking mad at you right now.

As it was, she couldn't think of anything to say. They stood in silence for at least ten seconds.

"Say something," he said, "Please."

"These waffles are really good."

He grinned for a moment, proudly, before coming to his senses and sobering again. "Aliya, please. I'm not going to pretend to understand, but I need you to know that I'd...I'd never trade our friendship for anything. I don't need any more than that. You're enough, even when you're just standing there eating waffles and looking cross with me."

"You really mean that?" Aliya asked. He'd finally managed to say something right, and she believed him.

"I do."

She couldn't help the tiny smile that came to her face. "Okay."

"Yeah?" His smile was so bright that it warmed her lovesick hearts like a sun did a planet. "How about a trip, then? We could set it for random, let the wind take us where we-"

"Sounds good. I'll get dressed and meet you in the console room." Aliya handed him the near empty plate and let herself give him another small smile before shutting the door. She leaned against it and shut her eyes, trying to decide if she was glad of what she had done.

He had been right the day before. She couldn't hole up in her bedroom forever, and now that she had admitted that, there was no point prolonging her isolation. Besides, there was a small part of her (or at least she was telling herself it was a small part) that had already begun to miss him desperately. He was her best friend.

Ten minutes later she was dressed in jeans and a long sleeved shirt and walking down the stairs into the console room. The Doctor, at the console, beamed at the sight of her.

"Great! So, I've set it to random, and I haven't peeked. Shall we?" He offered her his arm, which she stared at stonily until it dropped back to his side. Satisfied, she walked past him and towards the doors. Her isolation might have been over but he was deluded if he thought that things were alright between them.

"Come on then," she said over her shoulder when he didn't follow her. Once he was standing behind her, she threw open the doors to reveal a forest in what appeared to be a season synonymous with autumn. "Well, could be worse. Could have been lava, or a volcano. It just occurred to me how dangerous random trips could be."

"The TARDIS wouldn't let us do anything too deadly, don't worry," the Doctor pointed out, and she had to admit that he was probably right, though only his TARDIS was so remarkable.

"Fair point."

They stepped out and shut the TARDIS door. It was warmer than they expected in the forest and Aliya was glad that she tended to automatically push long sleeves up to her elbows. Then again, compared to almost plummeting into the sun, nothing was going to seem hot to either of them for a while.

"It's nice, wherever it is," Aliya offered as they walked towards what appeared to be a city. "This was a good idea."

"I do occasionally have them."

"Occasionally being the operative part of that sentence."

"Harsh."

"But true." Especially given the events of a week previous. Not that she'd ever say that out loud. Oh, who was she kidding, with enough reason she would definitely say that aloud.

As they got closer to the city, they realised how grand it was. A huge wall that was fifty feet high encircled it. Despite this, when they reached what had to be the entrance to the city, they were surprised to find that no one guarded it.

"This place must be friendly," the Doctor said, sounding impressed, "Handy for travellers like ourselves."

Once inside the city, the grandeur only became more apparent. The road they walked was lined with sizable houses made of stones of all different shades, while the street itself bore gas lamps and had gorgeous intricate designs carved into the stone footpath beneath them.

"This is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen," Aliya remarked, grinning at him before she caught herself and promptly looked away. That was when she noticed the people. "Doctor, they're all staring at us. They look humanoid, we look humanoid, so what's the issue? Our clothes aren't so different from theirs." Most of those walking past them had clothing made of much finer fabric, but that surely couldn't be what it was.

"Hm. Not sure. I suppose we'll find out if it's important." They continued for another minute before he spoke again. "Aliya, they're all men. We've been walking through a main street for several minutes and not seen a single woman."

"Oh. You're right," she exclaimed. "I was too busy looking at the buildings. It's probably not a big deal though. Just because they're humanoid, doesn't mean they have a gender binary or anything close to it. They could be like Sontarans."

"They don't look like clones."

"They probably aren't, but I'm far from an expert on alien reproduction, so I don't think I can help you spin any more theories. Besides, does it matter?"

"Suppose not."

They walked and discussed the architecture for a few minutes before a vehicle resembling a 1930's automobile pulled up. A uniformed man with a well maintained moustache stepped out of it.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we've received several complaints, and due to the laws of Greywall, and by extension the nation of Petara, I have to ask that the two of you accompany me to the House of Law," he said, addressing the Doctor and only looking at Aliya long enough to convey an unspoken criticism that she couldn't decipher.

"Why? We're just walking, we haven't done anything. Is this how you treat all guests to your city?" The Doctor asked indignantly.

"Sir, you know perfectly well that you are breaking one of the fundamental laws of our society." The policeman, if that was what he was, glanced at Aliya. "Now please, get into the driver."

Driver, apparently, was their word for a horse and coach. The two Time Lords wordlessly agreed that for now it was best to comply. They could use the psychic paper to get them out of whatever this was at the other end. First they'd prefer to know just what obscene thing they had apparently done wrong.

"Is it just me, or does he seem to be just looking through me?" Aliya muttered to the Doctor in Gallifreyan.

"Bit early to say. I'm probably the one who's broken the law somehow, hence he only needs to address me."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Maybe bowties are illegal here or something."

"No, I saw someone wearing one."

"Tweed then."

"Possibly."

They shared a tiny smile, and Aliya couldn't bring herself to regret it when they were in the back of a police coach and were potentially going to have to talk themselves out of getting thrown into yet another jail.

Jails were, unfortunately, a rather regular experience for anyone who travelled with the Doctor. So many societies, so many rules that were far too easy to forget.

The ride to the House of Law was short, and the building itself unassuming. When they arrived they were led through a small foyer to an office directly opposite the large front doors. The man sitting at the desk stood upon their entering.

He was of an unremarkable height, and plain to look upon, but there was something about the glint in his blue eyes that had Aliya ready to dislike him instantly. His dark brown hair was slicked back and he wore a blue suit that was as brightly coloured as the other clothing she had spied on the street. He held himself with a confidence that in any situation might have been admirable, but given that they didn't know just how much trouble they were in or what sort of penalties they could be facing, it was hard to be thinking nicely of him.

"My name is Tarren Mill, and I'm the Chief Enforcer of Greywall. No doubt you know why you're here," he said, and the Doctor opened his mouth to dispute that only to be cut off, "Now, sir, if you could give your name and hers."

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Aliya. Now, if you could-"

"Is she yours?"

Mill's question, in its casual and blunt manner, had both of the Time Lords frozen and frowning. First at him and then at each other.

"Mine?" The Doctor asked blankly.

Given everything that had happened, the Dream Lord's words, his revelation, his kiss...the question made Aliya's temper soar and her skin prickle. She had an answer to offer, instantly and forcefully, regardless of what this Chief Enforcer meant by it.

"No," she spat, alarming Mill for some reason before a cold look settled on his face.

"Then whose?"

She crossed her arms. "No one's."

Mill lifted an eyebrow. "I see." He lifted something that resembled a radio to his mouth. "Can I have Mr Fall in here immediately?" Then he turned to the Doctor. "I thought I was simply dealing with some out of town idiot, having her on the street like that, but this is far more interesting." He eyed them both curiously, his gaze like cold steel. "What is your business here, Doctor?"

"We're just passing through. Seeing the sights. That's not illegal, is it?" The Doctor spread his arms and smiled, making it clear that he thought he was in the right.

"Not for you." Mill's eyes flicked to Aliya and she found herself wondering just what sort of planet they had landed on. Being ignored and side-eyed was getting tiresome very quickly.

That was when another man, presumably Mr Fall, entered the office. He was a tall auburn haired man who was skinnier than any particularly healthy person could be. With only a glance in Mill's direction, he started to circle Aliya like a hawk, even going so far as to lift up her hair to peer at her neck.

"Clean," he said to Mill, who nodded. Fall removed a small device from the pockets of his long jacket and held it in front of Aliya for a few minutes before it gave two shrill beeps. Fall let out a low chuckle and Mill's mouth dropped open for a moment before he got himself under control.

"Well, I owe him a favour, this should repay it nicely, and then some," he remarked, and Fall gave him a fraction of a smile. "Be sure to tell him how we found her, and then tell me what he says. It could keep me amused for the rest of the-"

"Do you want to explain what the hell is going on?" Aliya asked, outraged. "Did you just scan me?"

The look of alarm that crossed Mill's face was identical to the one he had briefly worn when she had spoken the first time. "She's-"

"Anomalous," Fall finished, eyeing Aliya with an odd appreciation that only served to make her uncomfortable. "I mean, some of the virgins have attitude before they're sold, but nothing so…"

"Impertinent?" Mill's face was flushed with anger. "I won't be spoken to like that by some woman."

"Sorry," the Doctor interrupted, taking another step towards Mill's desk, "Did you say virgins?"

"Unaware you had one with you?" Mill sneered. "Interesting that you didn't find out...one way or another. You know, I was interested in knowing just what you were doing with her, but under the circumstances, you can simply go on your way, Doctor."

"Aliya? But she's not-" He cut off abruptly to look back at her, but she had no more idea of what they were on about than he did. That didn't mean she wasn't downright worried and disturbed by the way they were talking about her. "I take it that when you say I can go, that doesn't extend to her."

"Of course not. It's already been established that she doesn't belong to you, therefore as an unmarked woman, she becomes property of the city."

"Property?!" The Doctor and Aliya exclaimed in unison.

"To think we found a virgin just wandering our streets," Mill murmured, a smug smile settling on his lips as he approached Aliya, "Rather pretty to boot, nice enough figure, even if the hips are a bit too narrow...Fall, tell Anders that I want ten percent of whatever he sells her for, will you?"

"Sells me? Don't you dare-"

A band of cloth appeared in front of her eyes for all of one second before it was across her mouth. The rest of her words were muffled as the gag was tied at the back of her head.

She had forgotten that Fall was behind her.

"No!" The Doctor rushed to her side and tried to pull the gag off only to be pushed away by Fall, who had apparently more strength than he appeared to.

"Guards!" Mill's call had three men in identical uniforms rushing into the room. Two seized the Doctor when Mill nodded towards him, and another stood in front of Mill's desk and waited. "Help Fall get her to the concubine house. I think she's going to give you trouble."

The whole situation was so absurd and horrific that it overwhelmed Aliya's usually somewhat cool head in a crisis. She was frozen. At least, until Fall and the third guard started yanking her by the arms to the side door.

"No! Aliya!" The Doctor yelled, fighting against the iron grips of his guards in his desperation to get to her.

Even though her arms were being held, she was able to, with some difficulty, lift her hands to pull the gag from her mouth. "I'm his!" She cried, kicking and twisting with all her strength to try and get free. "I'm his, I swear! I'm his! I'm his!" She continued to scream it even as she was dragged out of the door. The last thing she saw before it swung shut was the Doctor screaming her name.

"Aliya!"

The door closed between them and while he could no longer see her stricken face, he could still hear her screams. The repeating but fading mantra. I'm his. In any other circumstance, the words might have brought joy or even giddiness to his hearts, but here and now? After she had rejected even being on his arm and made it clear that she was still wary of him?

For her to say that, to have to scream it in the hope that it would save her...he wanted to be sick.

Concubine House. That was where they were taking her. To be sold. Unstrained fury began to rise in his chest.

"You bring her back this instant, you bring her back to me," he demanded, turning the look of the Oncoming Storm onto Mill. As any sane person would, the man faltered.

"The law is the law, unmarked concubines belong to the city, and therefore are taken to the concubine house to be sold," he said slowly.

"She's not a concubine, she's just a woman!"

Mill blinked with genuine confusion. "What? There's... no difference. I have no idea what you are trying to say."

The Doctor spent a moment internally grieving for the sort of lives women on the planet apparently led. And then he fixed his eyes on Mill again. "I need her. She's mine."

"You had your chance to say so," Mill snapped, though rather nervously, "You couldn't think that we would just let a virgin walk away, would we? They're worth too much."

"How did you even know she was one?" Not that she was, but they apparently didn't realise that.

"Fall's device, its entire purpose is to perform a very quick medi-scan. To ensure the concubines are in fit physical condition. And to determine if certain attributes remain intact."

With a jolt, it all suddenly made a lot more sense. Aliya's body was still new by Time Lord standards. And, he was fairly certain, virginal in the sense they cared about. Why couldn't you have slept with Jack? He internally cursed. The fact that I'm now wishing you had only proves how twisted this whole thing is.

"So what, every single woman here is property?" The Doctor asked, unable to keep the disgust from his voice. "What about the children?"

"They are sent to a school in the capital city until they are of age to be exported."

He let the word 'exported' pass him over only so that he was able to resist the urge to be empty his stomach contents all over the man's desk. "And how old is 'of age'?"

Mill shrugged. "It varies. Any age above fifteen, but they like to keep a variety. Some want virgins, but fully developed ones, so others may not leave until around twenty one. This Aliya is probably the oldest virgin I've seen. Pretty things like her are usually put to use by eighteen."

The Doctor shut his eyes momentarily to keep himself from doing anything more stupid than usual. If only because stupidity wasn't going to get Aliya back.

"If you wish to, and can pay, you can simply buy her back," Mill said, frowning at him, "Since it apparently matters so much."

"Matters? Yes, it does, currently more than anything in the universe. Take me there."

"That's impossible, I'm-"

"Talking to somebody very dangerous," the Doctor growled, "Unless you would like to find out why the stuff of nightmares turn and run from me, and you can look in my eyes and know that I mean it when I say that they do, you'll take me straight to the concubine house and help me get her back. Right now."

Mill had the bravery to keep eye contact with him, but not enough to refuse. "Fine," he said reluctantly. "We'll take my private driver."

The trip there was longer than the Doctor would have liked. When the carriage came to a halt - who would have thought that there would be such a thing as coach traffic? - he couldn't quite keep himself still.

"Calm yourself, man," Mill cursed, watching him fidget, "If all else fails, there are other concubines. Prettier ones, younger ones, ones just as pure if that's what you want."

"It's about her, not me!" The Time Lord said with as much restraint as he could muster. "She's my…" He couldn't find a word that encompassed her meaning to him. Come to think of it, he didn't think he ever had.

Mill stared at him. "You love her," he said, with a disgust that surprised the other man, "Dear lord, you're one of those pathetic lot. At least try to hide it. The smart ones have only the one concubine, and don't marry. The smarter ones find themselves husbands and maybe an extra concubine or two to throw people off the truth. If they can afford extra concubines, that is."

The more the Doctor learned of the world he was on, the more it bewildered him. "What about you? What do you have?"

"My husband and I have two shared concubines. One is with child."

"Should I be offering you congratulations?" The Doctor muttered as he looked out the window. As a new question occurred to him, his disinterest faded back into dark curiosity. "What do you do if it's a girl?"

"Send her to the capital city, of course." Mill frowned deeply at him. "How is it that you know none of this?"

"Like I said, I'm a traveller. I'm not from here."

"The laws are the same, all across the planet."

"Then perhaps you should think about how far I might have come."

After that they rode in complete silence. It took much longer to get to the concubine house than the Doctor would have preferred, but all he could do is hope that the coach taking Aliya had been similarly delayed and therefore not far ahead. The coach finally halted and the Doctor all but leapt out in his haste to get inside.

The foyer boasted a high ceiling and grand furnishings of wood and marble, but he was not in the mood for appreciating the artistry. He strode up to the small desk next to the closed but grand set of doors directly opposite the ones he had entered through.

"I need to make a purchase," he told the tiny man there, planting his hands on the desk, "Right now. Would have only just arrived. About as tall as my ear. Blonde. Sort of weird eyes."

"The one Fall would have brought in, not half an hour ago," Mill called out as he hurried to join the Doctor.

The man behind the desk, who was a full foot shorter than the Doctor, stared at him with wide hazel eyes and tugged on his hairy ear nervously. "The virgin?"

"Yes."

"I'm afraid that…Gendry Landrun arrived just after we'd given her the virgin's stripe," he stammered, "And the moment he saw her, he had to have her. Said it had been a good couple of years since he'd indulged in a virgin, and that he was very taken with her. She'll most likely already be at Landrun House, with the other girl he bought."

"That's what, twenty he's got now?"

The Doctor, for once, had no words. No words to convey the amalgamation of rage and fear burning in his chest and begging to be released.

Aliya had been sold. Like a pretty toy for a rich man to play with. To break. But he swore, to the Guardians, to himself, and most of all to Aliya as if she were there, that he would get her out before this Gendry Landrun could lay a finger on her.

He'd stood idly by once while someone hurt her. Never again.

So...Aliya's an idiot (not a giant surprise), and now she's in, well, the worst sort of trouble, really. *hides in bunker*

Don't kill me. I promise the next update will be a quick one, since these two chapters were going to go together as one. And once this arc is done...all I can say is that we'll finally have Daliya ready to get everything out in the open. *fights down ridiculous levels of excitement*

Please let me know your thoughts, even if it's just to scream at me at how much of a horrible person I am!

Love you all,

-MayFairy :)