A/N: Continuum! Featuring my new upgraded Gallifreyan that's still under a rehaul :D

Chapter 2 - Bad News

They all went to the kitchen, where the Doctor made himself seven pieces of toast, smearing them all to death with cheap Tesco jam just the way Rose liked it. Brax, Martha and Jack just watched in fascination until he sat down at the table, his plate stacked with toast and a piping hot cup of Yorkshire tea to accompany it.

Finally he looked up at Brax, a piece of toast in hand. 'I'm ready, what's the bad news?'

'Indifferent news,' Brax told him. 'It took some time, but I found a previous case of this in the library.'

The Doctor stilled immediately. 'And?'

'This,' Brax said, pointing at a particularly thick and dusty-looking book on the table. 'Just one recorded instance in Time Lord history. It occurred when a Time Lady was killed at the point of bonding. Her consciousness went into her husband and he reported having her talking inside his head.'

'What did he do?' Jack asked quickly.

'He went through all the hospitallers on Gallifrey, all the healers in Kasterborous, then beyond Kasterborous. Eventually became so desperate he... He went to Sirrus.'

'You don't mean the pleasure planet Sirrus, do you?' the Doctor supposed with a sigh, finishing off his first slice of toast.

'Sirrus?' Martha asked.

'Err... one of the most dangerous and criminal-filled planets in the known universe,' Jack told her, somewhat apprehensively. 'It's... absolutely full of ex-cons.'

'Not even the Shadow Proclamation dared to touch it,' the Doctor added.

Martha looked at him nervously, before looking back at Brax. 'So then what did this Time Lord do?'

'Apparently he found a healer on there, an old woman called Geranda. She did something, it does not say what, but whatever happened next didn't get documented,' Brax told them. 'But he's in the census ten years later, so he survived.'

'And his wife?' Martha prompted.

'Does not say.'

'Never does, does it,' Jack moaned.

'I think it's probably our best chance,' Brax summarised, gazing at his brother. For once he looked a little scared.

'So we have to go to Sirrus,' Jack summed up.

I don't like the sound of this...

'Any other options?' the Doctor wondered vaguely. The silence he received in return answered that one. 'Well,' he began again, scratching behind his ear. 'To Sirrus it is.'

'I will come with you,' Brax said.

'Me too,' Jack concurred, nodding.

'We'll have to get a ticket in,' the Doctor said, looking at Jack. 'I hope you know what that means.'

Jack nodded. 'Ready for it. I spent a while on Sirrus, I know the ins and outs of it,' he assured them.

What does that mean? Gettin' a ticket in?

The Doctor sighed, closing his eyes to talk to Rose. 'It means we'll have to spend a little time in prison and get branded.'

No. Don't do this. There's gotta be another way.

'Sorry,' was all he could find to say.

'Get some rest,' Brax said, clearly figuring the conversation he was having with Rose. 'You are still within the first fifteen hours of your regeneration cycle, we must be cautious.'

For once the Doctor agreed with his brother, nodding. He remained seated as Brax left, book in hand, the younger Time Lord just biting into his fourth piece of toast, but somehow it had become so bitter.

'I need to find Mickey for a backrub,' Martha moaned, struggling to stand up from her chair. Jack helped her, guiding her to her feet. She paused momentarily to look at the Doctor, sympathetic. 'It'll be okay,' she told him, cupping his free hand across the table with some difficulty. 'You'll both be okay. You're always okay.'

The Doctor smiled at her. 'I know.'

'Ugh, shouldn't have done that,' she moaned, gripping Jack to try and pull herself upright again. Jack just gave the Doctor a look as he helped the woman out of the door.

Only when they were all gone did Rose's voice speak in the Doctor's head.

No.

'What?'

Just no.

'We don't have a choice.'

Yeah, we do. You can't do that again. I nearly lost you, you were insane after you were imprisoned.

'That was for twelve years. This'll be for a couple of weeks, three months tops,' he countered.

Oh yeah, cos that makes a whole lotta difference. What did you mean by brandin'?

'High security prisoners are branded, it's like a pass,' he told her. 'It's the only sure-fire way of getting passage to Sirrus; you become one of them.'

No. I'm drawin' a line. You're not doin' it.

'It's apparently the only way to fix this.'

That didn't even have an endin'! Brax missed somethin'. Go to the library right now and find somethin' else.

'Rose...'

What about a psychograft, you said about a psychograft, yeah? Why won't that work?

'If it was that easy the other Time Lord would have done it,' the Doctor pointed out.

Then the book's wrong!

'Oh come on,' the Doctor told her. 'It won't be like last time. I've got you in my head this time around, I won't be on my own for twelve years like before. Look, I promised Jackie I'd fix this and frankly I don't think I can live the rest of my life with you in my head. It's just a planet full of angry aliens with guns. What's new about that?'

There was a long pause.

'Rose,' he prompted.

Okay. I'm with you.

He smiled. 'Thank you.'

Don't think I'm happy about it though.

Jack reentered the room, offering the Doctor a grin as he sat down again. 'Still feeling okay?'

The Doctor sighed and shrugged. 'Fine.'

'What does Rose think of this by the way?'

'Not happy,' the Doctor assured him.

You bet I'm not!

'Hey, Rose,' Jack said, leaning to the Doctor. 'I've got him, relax. Besides, we're recon professionals.'

'When were you on Sirrus?' the Doctor wondered.

Jack looked a little embarrassed. 'After I left the Time Agency I went into private espionage,' he confessed. 'I was contracted into delivering the public humiliation of a high up noble on Trion. I pulled it off, but I got sold out. Went to Sarn, did my time, my cellmate was this shady Shamboni who said he had contacts for some work and I found myself on Sirrus. When we landed he tried to beat the hell out of me to show off against his friends that he could kill an ex-Time Agent, and I ended up killing him. His friends then just wanted me dead for it. I went on the run. Took ten months to get onto a supply ship and get out.'

The Doctor watched as Jack seemed to involuntarily flinch at the memory. 'You don't have to go back,' the Time Lord told him honestly. 'Me and Brax'll cope.'

'Oh, no, I wanna help,' Jack insisted. 'You're gonna be lost without me, I know that place like the back of my hand. How have you been on Sirrus?'

'Quick visit, I was chasing down the Head of the Terracore,' the Doctor said. 'Nearly got shot six times in five hours.'

'Fun day,' Jack mused.

'Didn't feel like it at the time,' the Doctor replied.

Doctor, I don't want this.

The Doctor closed his eyes to signal to Jack he was talking to Rose. 'We just talked about this. This is our only option.'

I know, but…

'Thete,' Brax suddenly said, ducking his head in the doorframe. 'Come to the console room.'

'What?' the Doctor asked, looking up sharply.

'You've got a message.'

'It just came through, forwarded anonymously,' Brax explained, hitting a few buttons on the console. Without much warning the monitor erupted into life. A grainy picture full of lines of interference obscured a large face with black hair and a beard, but even in low quality the Doctor recognised him for a long distant memory.

'Hunfrid,' he whispered, his eyes wide.

Before anyone could ask, the sound crackled into life and a voice came through.

'This message is for the Doctor. It's me, Hunfrid. I'm sorry to call you out of the blue but I need you. Please help me.'

The face abruptly cut out, and there was only silence.

Who was that?

The Doctor sighed, scratching the back of his head. 'Hunfrid, a giant living on Planet Colossus Major,' he muttered. 'It's a planet separated into tribes. Each tribe has their own giant that protects their villages. I accidentally stopped off there… After the war.'

Immediately everyone looked at him, confused.

Oh, is there where...?

'Yeah,' he muttered to Rose.

'What?' Jack asked. 'What happened?'

'After I activated the Moment and survived, I started… Well, I wasn't in the mood for much.' He paused, patting the TARDIS console. 'I had… Well, I did something and I crashed there in the middle of a tribal war; their giants were fighting each other. I dropped out of the Tardis straight onto a battlefield, badly hurt and close to regeneration. Hunfrid and his brother passed me - they were on their way to their village which was about to be attacked. They stopped, Hunfrid picked me up and took me to a healer in a forest while his brother carried on to the village. But by the time Hunfrid got to his village… it had been attacked and burnt to the ground. They'd all died, including his brother who'd been overwhelmed without him to help.'

He tugged at his ear awkwardly as everyone continued to stare at him, horrified.

'It's my fault, I owe him more than my life,' he finished in the ensuing silence.

'That's not your fault,' Martha told him. 'You were helpless.'

'That's what he said,' the Doctor murmured. 'But I have to help him.'

'You can't,' Brax interrupted suddenly. 'Rose needs to get back into her body.'

I don't mind waitin'.

'I don't mind waiting,' the Doctor repeated out loud.

Brax sighed, looking at him a little apprehensively. 'Thete, we have no idea how Rose being trapped is affecting her or you. We don't know what happened to that Time Lord, plus Rose is a human. There may be a different effect; she's not a Time Lady, she's not even Gallifreyan. It could be killing her consciousness. You know how fragile human minds are.'

A brief silence hung in the air, and in the Doctor's head.

… Doctor, I don't wanna die.

'I know,' the Doctor muttered to her, and ran his hand through his hair again. 'But I can't abandon him.'

'Hey,' Jack suddenly said, finger in the air. 'What if we went on your behalf?'

The Doctor looked at him. 'What?'

'You go and sort out Rose, and Torchwood will handle this,' he said, gesturing to himself, Ianto and Gwen.

'We will?' Ianto asked, wide-eyed.

'First mission on a brand new planet, what d'you think?' he asked his employees.

Gwen was grinning. 'Love it.'

'Wait,' Brax interrupted, looking at Jack. 'You can't, you must go with Thete. You know the underground network better than anyone. I will go with Gwen and Ianto, I know Colossus Major.'

'Besides, wouldn't it look much better if you sent your brother?' Martha pointed out.

The Doctor messed with his hair again. '... Yeah,' he muttered weakly.

'So, Ianto, Gwen and I will go and tackle the giants, Jack and Thete will sort out Rose,' Brax summed up, looking at the others gathered around as if looking for volunteers.

Martha pulled a face and gestured to her now massive pregnant belly. 'Don't think I'd be much use.'

Mickey nodded, stepping up beside his wife and resting a hand on his shoulders. 'Think I'd better stay with her.'

'And I'll look after the kids,' Jackie said.

Everyone looked at Rhys next, who shared a glance with Jackie. 'You're gonna need a hand with that.'

'Can I come?' a little girl's voice suddenly asked from below the Doctor, startling him slightly. He looked down to see Leah standing there, gazing up at him.

'You're going nowhere,' the Doctor told her firmly.

'What?' Leah cried, annoyed. 'I wanna come with you!'

'You can't, it's too dangerous.'

Leah sighed, hands on hips, looking indignant. 'I thought you said I should start doing stuff now!'

'This is the underground network, there's a lot of dangerous people,' the Doctor told her firmly. 'I don't want you there, I can't keep worrying about you. Next time.'

Leah looked up at him, her eyes wide and shining. Her little eyelashes fluttered and she gripped onto his jacket, tugging it. Immediately the Doctor's hardened exterior broke a little, and the little girl who had him wrapped around her little finger slowly began to grind him down…

'No, Leah,' he said firmly, looking away from her doe eyes.

'Daddy!' Leah interrupted in a wail, still tugging on his jacket. 'Please, Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. Daddy...'

'Leah, you can stay with us,' Martha told her positively. 'You can play with the new baby.'

'Don't wanna,' Leah said firmly, folding her arms and sticking her nose up.

'Oh sweetheart, don't worry, we'll have loads of fun here,' Jackie said. 'You, me, Tony and Alex can...'

'I don't wanna play with Tony!' Leah yelled. 'I wanna help!'

'Well, you're not going to,' the Doctor said.

'I'm not a baby!'

'You are four-years-old,' Gwen pointed out.

Immediately the temper tantrum began. 'I wanna go! I wanna go! I wanna go!' she screamed in a rage, jumping up and down on the spot and occasionally kicking the TARDIS console. Then she started ranting in Gallifreyan, her little face increasingly becoming more and more red. 'Ei'ann'eon! Ann'eon! Eon'arit'jishh'ei'leii geroi! Ei'ohh'berr! Jishh'ei'berr!'

The Doctor groaned. 'Leah...'

'N-eon'holl'ei'afa'marr-gea!'

'Miho'afa'eon'marai-gea joh'eon'alox y eon'lei-o'laqui je'eon'oh?' the Doctor asked seriously.

Leah faltered, sighed a little and looked up. 'Naqu, Poha,' she said desperately, before looking at Brax. 'Weepa-Brax, naqu!'

What is she sayin'?

The Doctor didn't answer Rose for a moment. He just sighed, glancing at Jack who shrugged, unable to understand the exchange. He looked at Brax instead, who was just standing there, clearly thinking.

'She wants to go to Sirrus,' he muttered to Rose.

No. Not to Sirrus.

'No,' the Doctor agreed. He looked back at Leah, opened his mouth to tell her she couldn't go, when suddenly Brax interrupted, hand in the air.

'Perhaps if she came with us?' he suggested.

What?

'What?' the Doctor asked.

'What!?' Jackie almost shrieked.

'It will be far less dangerous than Sirrus. There will also be three of us to cover her. We would have the Tardis to so she can head back at any time. Plus we could use her, she is quite small and that is an advantage on Colossus.'

'Hey!' Leah said indignantly, standing on her tiptoes and sticking her chest out to make herself look big.

'No, that's my granddaughter!' Jackie snapped, fixing him with the ever-familiar Tyler stare of death, her hands on her hips. The Doctor looked back at Leah, who had assumed the same posture and the same expression, only directed at her grandmother.

'Granny!' Leah protested.

'You're just a child!'

'Wait,' the Doctor interrupted before an argument could erupt, looking at Leah. 'What d'you think?'

'Yes, please!' she enthused.

'Are you crazy!?' Jackie yelped.

'What are you thinking?' the Doctor directed at Rose, closing his eyes.

I dunno…

'Up to you.'

… Okay. But you'd better threaten Brax.

'Don't worry, I was doing that anyway,' the Doctor assured her, and opened his eyes again. 'Okay,' he told Brax. 'You can take her.'

'Doctor!' Jackie cried, looking just about ready to slap him.

'Yay!' Leah said happily, arms in the air. She immediately hugged his leg, so he dropped down to hug her in return, a bit tighter than usual. She finally let go and beamed up at him. 'Thank you!' she said, and then looked at Brax. 'When are we going?'

Brax considered his brother. 'Tomorrow,' he decided. 'Once he's out of his regeneration cycle.'

'Okay!' Leah replied, running out of the door.

'Doctor!' Jackie cried again, far more dangerously as soon as Leah was gone.

Mum, it's okay!

'Mum, it's okay,' the Doctor repeated.

'No, it's not!' Jackie retorted.

'Jackie,' Brax said, turning to her and fixing her with a sincere gaze. 'I will look after her, I promise. She is safe with me. I will protect her with all I have.'

Jackie sighed, flipping back her long blonde hair. 'Okay. But if there is so much as a scratch on my grandchild...'

Brax nodded. 'I understand. No harm will come to her.'

Jackie nodded, smiled at him, and strolled out of the door.

'How did you do that?' the Doctor asked his brother seriously. 'She never accepts what I say.'

'Must be my natural charm,' Brax joked.

She fancies the pants off of him, she's bein' all gooey, seen it a million times before.

The Doctor visibly winced. 'Let's not go there.'

'Where?' Jack asked.

The Doctor gave a vague gesture to his head, before looking at Brax. 'If anything happens to her...' he paused, considering the people surrounding them. 'Eon'ber'afa'ceforai aluba rio kie Otherstide.'

'N-manai,' Brax said. 'Now go and rest. Big day tomorrow.'

Ei'ann'eon! Ann'eon! Eon'arit'jishh'ei'leii geroi! Ei'ohh'berr! Jishh'ei'berr! - I hate you! Hate you! You never let me do anything! I wanna go! Lemme go!

N-eon'holl'ei'afa'marr-gea! - You said I was mature!

Miho'afa'eon'marai-gea joh'eon'alox y eon'lei-o'laqui je'eon'oh? - How are you mature when you scream if you don't get what you want?

Naqu, Poha. Weepa-Brax, naqu! - Please, Daddy. Uncle Brax, please!

Eon'afa'ceforai aluba rio kie Otherstide-n. - You are going to be regenerating from now until Otherstide.

N-manai - Understood.