A/N: I almost feel guilty this one didn't come within a day :P

Chapter 22 - F is for Future Daddy

'Stand there,' Uncle Brax said. Leah nodded, and obediently moved to where he was pointing at a spot just above the ramp in the console room. 'I'm going to be accessing your timeline to find you somewhere in the future.'

'Why my timeline?' Leah wondered.

'Because you're guaranteed to stay with your father, so wherever you are, your father will be too. I'll be using the Tardis to measure your timestream. We will hear parts of your future, but I'll try to keep it to minimum so I don't have to erase your memory. Okay?'

Leah nodded. 'Okay.'

'You're going to be hearing your own voice, in short bursts,' Uncle Brax informed her, tapping a few buttons on the console. 'But it'll be quick. I'll keep going until I manage to fix a location on your father. Keep as still as you can.'

'Okay,' she said again.

'Now close your eyes, this might feel a little uncomfortable,' Uncle Brax said.

Leah closed her eyes, clenching her fists to brace herself for what was to come. Within seconds the TARDIS made a high-pitched whining noise that seemed to drill right into her brain, before there was a loud clunk that startled her slightly.

Then there were whispers, seemingly right behind her. She resisted to urge to look. Then they increased in volume, and she could make out words.

'Dadda, uv yoo.'

'You no see it, Daddy, please, I stay and help, 'k?'

'Please give me Floppy back.'

'Yeah, if you touch 'em and they're in a bad mood they might kill you.'

'Was that all really me, Uncle Brax?'

'Daddy!'

'Are you better now, Mummy?'

'Can I hold him? Please? Can I?'

'Theo, don't be such a baby!'

'Uncle Jack, this is so boring.'

'You're not funny, Dad.'

'Mum! Look out!'

'I'll fix it. I'll fix it.'

'Dad, I'm scared.'

'Why can't you save him? You can do anything!'

Then the voices abruptly stopped.

'Got a location,' Uncle Brax said. Leah dared to open her eyes to see him hunched over the console, staring at the screen.

'Was that really all me, Uncle Brax?' she asked, wide-eyed.

'Yes, it was,' Brax answered, still tapping at the console buttons. Slowly his face turned into a frown. 'Anzen? What's he doing on Anzen?'

'What's Anzen?' Leah asked.

'It's a safe haven for people who…' Uncle Brax suddenly stopped. 'Nah. He's visiting,' he ended up finishing.

'Safe haven for people who what?' Leah persisted.

Uncle Brax looked at her. 'Don't worry. Now, stay in here while I go and fetch your father.'

'Can't I come?'

'No. I'll only be a few minutes. Go to your room so you don't see him.'

Brax saw his brother the moment he stepped out of the TARDIS, standing at the entrance to the Anzen Palace ten metres away with his arms folded. He was still the same Thete, with the same face and same clothes, if a little more smartly dressed than usual. He had a new tie and a haircut. The moment Thete saw Brax he stood to attention, nodding to his brother.

'You knew I was coming,' Brax realised, frowning.

Thete nodded.

'So I tell you what happens here?' Brax asked.

Thete gestured at the Anzen Palace behind him. 'You kind of have to after seeing this, don't you?'

Brax's frown deepened. 'But why? Why are you here?'

'Why do you think?' Thete asked seriously. 'I'm visiting him.'

'By "him", you mean…'

'Yes.'

Brax swallowed nervously. 'I'm… I'm so sorry.'

'It's been fifteen years, we've got used to it,' Thete assured him, and then gestured to the TARDIS doors. 'Lead the way.'

After much deliberation, Leah had decided that she was going to completely ignore her Uncle's order for her to go to her room, and had stood waiting in the console room instead.

The moment the door opened, she was running forward.

'Daddy!' she shrieked happily as she saw her Dad strolling in. He beamed a radiant smile, dropping to his knees to meet her in a huge hug.

'Um, I don't think…' Uncle Brax began, but it was pointless.

'Hey,' her daddy said, kissing her on the forehead. 'Been a few years since I saw you like this.'

'So you're from the future?' Leah asked when she finally pulled back. He nodded. 'What's the future like? What am I like? Am I tall, Daddy?'

'You're as tall as me,' he replied, grinning.

Leah grinned back. 'So I'm really, really tall? Can I fly the Tardis? Properly?'

'Of course you can. You're better at it than me.'

'Am I smart?'

'Very. And before you ask, you're better at everything than me.'

'Leah…' Uncle Brax attempted to intervene, but Leah ignored him.

'Am I pretty?' she asked next.

'You're beautiful,' he assured her. 'Just like Mummy, just with my best features.'

She laughed and hugged him again. 'I really miss you,' she told him. 'I mean, the you now.'

'I know,' her future Daddy replied. 'But he'll be back very soon.'

'So you fix Mummy?'

'Of course I do,' her Daddy replied with mock affront. 'You think I won't?'

Leah giggled and hugged him for the third time. 'I love you, Daddy.'

'I love you too.'

'Thete, please, I don't want to have to erase her memory,' Uncle Brax insisted.

'Oh, come on, I'm just telling her the obvious,' her daddy replied, grinning again as he stood back up. Leah took his hand in both of hers immediately.

'Leah, you'll have to stay here in the console room while your father…' Uncle Brax started again.

'No!' Leah interrupted, tugging her daddy's hand. 'Stay, stay, stay!' she demanded of him. 'You're gonna save Alex, right?'

He nodded. 'Of course I am.'

'Thete!' Uncle Brax tried again at the clear travesty of time happening right in front of him.

'What? It's obvious,' her daddy replied innocently.

'He's this way!' Leah told him, and began to drag her future daddy towards the infirmary.

Ten minutes after Jack had removed the VitChip from the Doctor, they were being moved into transit. The Doctor was still unconscious, so Jack had to drag him by the neck of his coat whilst attempting to remain under the sea of heads so they wouldn't be spotted. The Va'A'gnorns wouldn't have discovered they were missing yet, but it was only a matter of time. They would most likely lock down their entire estate, and he and the Doctor had to be on the other side of the gate when they did. Anything else would make life exceptionally difficult.

The slaves obediently walked close to him and the Doctor, shielding them from the view of the guards who were revelling in waving their guns around and using their whips. Every time they hit someone Jack cursed quietly to himself, swearing that he and the Doctor would liberate them.

Midway through the move, the guards were getting impatient. More cracks of the whips made the crowd shriek and disperse a little, but many of them stayed resolutely close to the Doctor, to keep him shielded and to stop people stepping on him accidentally.

They finally reached the transport - it was a lorry. They were all forced inside, which barely had enough room to contain them all before the the doors were closed and barred from the outside.

Then the engine started, and they were moving. Jack kept the Doctor in his lap, letting his head loll on his shoulder. He had to pull the Doctor's legs in to get some more space for the other people to sit, one of which was Seth, who was looking very nervous.

'It'll be okay,' Jack felt inclined to say at the sight of his expression, holding tightly onto the Time Lord. 'Just follow the Doctor's direction.'

'Okay,' Seth replied, though didn't look any less nervous at the prospect.

Brax led his future brother with Leah through the TARDIS, making sure no one was going to step out of a door unexpectedly and see them. They eventually made it to the infirmary without any confrontations, but Jackie was still sitting next to Alex's bed, reading him a book.

'Jackie,' Brax said as he stepped inside. 'I've got the future version of the Doctor. You going to have to leave.'

'No, it's okay,' the future Doctor said as he followed Brax in. Brax sighed, rolling his eyes a little and consequently deciding to give up on trying to preserve the Laws of Time.

Jackie gazed up at the future Doctor, frowning. 'So you're, um, from the future?'

'Yes.'

'How far?'

'I can't say,' the future Doctor replied, reaching Alex's bed with Leah still clutching onto him. He looked at Alex lying there supine, attached to a thousand machines. For moment he just stood still, watching him.

'What?' Jackie wanted to know. 'Get on with it!'

The future Doctor looked at her briefly, then back at his son. He then leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

'Okay,' the future Doctor finally murmured as he straightened, nodding to himself. 'Let's save you, Alex.' He stood up straight, looking at Brax. 'I need the medical trolley and oxygen.'

Brax nodded, and jogged into the supplies cupboard.

'Can I help, Daddy?' Leah asked.

'Yes. I need you to stand here…' He pulled her to a place next to the life support machine, and pointed out at the readout. 'If his heartsbeat drops below eighty-five or his blood pressure below seventy over forty, then scream the place down, okay?'

'Okay.'

'What can I do?' Jackie wanted to know.

The future Doctor looked a little winded. 'Umm… Nothing Jackie, you're fine. Just stand back.'

Jackie glared at him, sharp enough to cut through his eyeballs. 'This is my grandson! I wanna help!'

'Okay, okay.' He paused, thinking about that. 'Well, a cup of tea wouldn't go amiss.'

Jackie looked as though she was about to slap the Doctor, and probably would have if Leah hadn't been standing there. So instead she simply shot him a singeing look and left out of the door to make tea.

When the Doctor woke up, everything was a bit more blurry and colourful than it normally was. He groaned on impulse, and immediately felt a hand resting on his face. He looked up on instinct and saw Jack was holding him. They were no longer in the cell.

Okay?

'Yeah,' he muttered, attempting to sit up, but his limbs were mostly useless and he ended up falling back onto Jack who obediently held him. That shouldn't have happened.

'You all right?' Jack asked seriously.

'Think I got the barbiturate quantity wrong,' the Doctor said quietly.

'No kidding. Let it do its work,' Jack advised.

'Doctor, are you okay?' It was Seth, the Doctor realised, sitting at the Time Lord's feet.

'M'fine,' the Doctor replied, resigning to remain in Jack's grip for the moment. 'Where are we?'

'We're in transit, on the move,' Jack answered. 'Only about a hundred metres so far, I don't think we're out of the grounds yet.'

The Doctor quickly did a mental calculation. 'We're going east. That's good.' He looked back up at Seth. The boy was looking a bit resigned. 'What's wrong?'

'I'm okay,' Seth muttered unconvincingly.

The Doctor guessed his mood. He was instrumental in the escape plan and starting to realise that. 'You'll be fine. Me and Jack'll do the hard bit.'

Seth didn't reply for a moment.

'What?' the Doctor asked.

'I'm scared,' Seth muttered.

The Doctor considered him for a moment. 'How old are you, Seth?'

'Fourteen.'

Fourteen? He's a kid! How can they do this to a kid!?

The Doctor nodded to acknowledge her. 'Human?' he wondered aloud next.

'Yeah.'

'How did you get here?'

'My brother says we were refugees from Titan. The war there killed our parents and we had to get out. There was a refugee ship from Miranda that my brother got us onto, but there were pirates and we got taken to Sirrus. We escaped to the underground but I was hurt, so my brother found a clinic. The doctor, Doctor Pi'cho, wanted an apprentice so my brother took it up. Doctor Pi'cho died last year though, so my brother took over his clinic. But last week we were low on supplies, I had to go overground, but I went too far. The poachers got me.'

'How long have you been on Sirrus?'

'Since I was four.'

Oh my god.

'What's your brother's name?' the Doctor asked next.

'Elliott.'

The Doctor nodded. 'Well we're getting back to Elliott, so don't worry about that. Just lead the way and me and Jack'll make sure everyone's okay, you included.'

Seth smiled a little.

'There we go,' the Doctor encouraged, and looked around at the rest of the slaves who were all staring at him. He did another mental calculation. They were likely to hit the five mile point in the next twenty minutes. 'When we reach five miles, me and Jack will unlock the doors. Let Seth go first and follow him. Run as fast as you can without putting too much stress on your necks. Help everyone who needs help along the way. If we're seen we'll get shot at, but hopefully if we're quick enough I won't have to come up with a plan B.'

'What about you, Doctor?' Gnola asked.

'Don't worry about me,' the Doctor replied.

'But your manacles, you can't run,' another slave pointed out.

'I'll be fine,' the Doctor insisted. 'Just worry about each other.'

They all fell silent, not looking too convinced, but the mood had lightened somewhat. Some people even started to chat a little.

They have a point. How are you actually gonna run?

'With a lot of enthusiasm,' the Doctor muttered to her, before glancing up at Jack. By the expression on his face the Doctor tell he was thinking exactly the same thing.

'I'll carry you,' Jack told him firmly.

'No, you'll be up the front making sure Seth is okay,' the Doctor replied, finally able to sit up and bend his legs to get some circulation going.

'Are you kidding? You'll never outrun anyone with those on,' Jack said, indicating the manacles. 'I'm picking you up and running with you.'

'I'll be at the back to help anyone who's in danger.'

'Let me do that.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'I won't be able to keep up with Seth.'

Jack sighed a heavy, breathy sigh. Clearly he realised he wasn't going to get anywhere. 'You're an absolute pain in the ass sometimes, you know that?'

The Doctor grinned. 'It'll be okay.'

Suddenly the lorry stopped. The slaves immediately quietened, a wave of panic washing across them.

What's that!?

'It's okay, it's the gate,' the Doctor said quickly to everyone. 'Just a few seconds and we'll be out.'

There was a loud clunk, and the back of the lorry opened. The Doctor only just caught a glimpse of Spleen's brother standing there before he instinctively ducked, taking Jack down with him. Several slaves shifted closer to them, shielding them from view. The Doctor managed to get a position on his front, seeing a slice of Spleen's brother through a gap. The draconian looked even more threatening in the low light of 3am.

Spleen's brother stepped up into the lorry, panning his gun across the slaves in a cool fashion who all shrank back in fear. He moved slowly and deliberately, pacing around the lorry. The crowd just parted for him as he took his time to inspect each and every potential slave.

He's getting closer!

With a sinking feeling, the Doctor realised that Spleen was going to see him and Jack. Jack had obviously realised this too as he grabbed the Doctor's arm, squeezing it.

Spleen's brother moved closer. So close in fact, the Doctor had to duck his head to make sure the draconian wouldn't see him through the gap. But he was pushing apart the crowd, getting closer and closer...

The Doctor tried to fathom an escape route, but there was no room for manoeuvre, as everyone was packed like sardines. But suddenly his leg was grabbed and he was pulled back along the floor, deeper into the crowd of slaves. He didn't fight it, letting whoever was dragging him to burrow him further into the crowd, Jack receiving the same treatment beside him. In the dead, tense silence, the chink of his manacles deafened him, but Spleen's brother didn't seem to notice. The Doctor then found himself lying up against the wall, a barrier of legs hiding him. But he could see the draconian's feet, moving ever closer...

No, not now, please not now…

The draconian's feet suddenly stopped, and turned away.

'Her,' he said.

Who? What's he doin'?

There was a squeal of panic from one of the female slaves, and heavy boots arrived. It was easy to discern from the following sounds that she was being dragged off of the lorry.

'Him.'

A male, this time, again dragged off the lorry. Spleen's brother signalled off a handful more who were all taken out.

'And… this one, I think,' Spleen's brother completed.

'No, what are you doing? Why me?' a voice cried. The Doctor recognised it. That was Gnola. Why were they being taken off?

'Shut up,' Spleen's brother retorted. 'Move or I'll shoot you.'

Gnola whimpered, utterly terrified, before the heavy boots of the guards returned to take her off.

'There, that should keep her clientele happy for a week,' Spleen brother said jokingly to someone out of the lorry. A female laughed.

Immediately the Doctor realised that the slaves were being escorted off to go into the female draconian's business - the very one he'd nearly become a part of.

His blood boiled.

No. Don't move. Don't do anythin'.

He ignored her, shifting ready to jump out of his hiding place to save Gnola.

Don't you dare! Don't move! DON'T MOVE. You can't save them!

The Doctor pulled up his legs.

NO! Don't do it! Don't you dare do it! You can't do anythin' to help them! Stay still! STAY STILL!

The Doctor suddenly found himself frozen, unable to move. He could only lie there, watching as Spleen's brother took one last look around the lorry.

Don't move, don't let him see you!

Finally Spleen's brother turned, and left out of the lorry. The doors were closed and bolted behind him.

Then the Doctor could move. He pushed himself up and out of the crowd, stumbling to the back doors. 'Gnola!' he shouted, bang his fist on the metal, but his cries were lost in the revs of the engine pulling away. As they began to move, the Doctor slid weakly to the floor, head in his hands.

You can't save everyone… I'm so sorry.

Jack dropped to sit next to the Time Lord, a hand on his arm. 'We'll go back for them,' he told him.

'They're gone,' the Doctor muttered to the floor. 'That type of slavery; they won't last a week.'

You couldn't. I'm so sorry.

The Doctor just nodded. He knew she was right. Of course she was right. Not that it made him feel any better. Those people, Gnola included, were going to die in humiliation and agony and there was very little he could do about it.

Sirrus, he thought bitterly. This was Sirrus. This was normality here. Even if he did manage to save all these slaves and save Gnola and the other people taken by Spleen's brother, there'd be another load in their place in six hours. The cycle was never-ending. It kept going. A never-ending spiral of misery and death descending deeper in hell with every moment. Pirates would bring people to Sirrus in the morning, then poachers would take whatever lifeforms they could from the overground at noon, clamp them in chains in the afternoon and send them out in the evening, just before the pirates woke up to head back out in the morning.

He decided that when he had a spare ten minutes, he was going to deal with this pitiable, putrid, pathetic little planet once and for all. But he had things to do first. He did a quick mental calculation.

They were heading east at a steady rate. It would be fifteen minutes until they reached five miles.