A/N: So this took FOREVER. Sorry! :o

Chapter 25 - Going Underground

The Doctor opened his eyes, and found himself lying in a bed in a small, tidy, white room. It was empty of people, but he was connected to some machines that were periodically beeping. He instinctively tried to move, but was quickly reminded of falling thirty feet as pain shot through his legs, and he abruptly stopped himself with a muted yelp.

He unconsciously waited for Rose to chastise him, but there was nothing inside his head but silence.

'Rose?' he asked.

Nothing.

'Rose? Are you there?'

Nothing.

Was she gone? Had something happened?

He tried not to panic as that would hardly be productive; instead examining himself over whilst allowing endorphins to rush through his body to take the edge off of the pain. His legs were in casts, he was fixed in a back brace and his head was pounding with a savage headache. He could only figure he was in the clinic, and Jack was somewhere around.

Just as he thought about Jack, the door opened to reveal the immortal standing there holding two mugs. He grinned at the Doctor.

'Thought I heard your strangled yells of pain,' Jack said, moving to put the mug on the table next to the Time Lord. 'Am I talking to Rose or the Doctor?'

'The Doctor. Is that optional?' the Doctor asked, taking the mug. He was delighted to find it was tea, and drank it despite it being piping hot. Jack nodded and explained what had happened, the Doctor listening patiently.

'I think she's beginning to become an equal consciousness,' the Doctor mused as Jack finished. 'When I switch off, she switches on, and vice versa. That might explain why I can't hear her at the moment.'

'You can't hear her?'

The Doctor shook his head, which angered his headache, so he stopped quickly.

'But she's okay?'

'I don't know,' the Doctor confessed. 'You'll just have to find out when I go to sleep. If I'm right, she should wake up when I sleep.'

'And if she doesn't?'

'Then we'll have a serious problem.'

'No kidding. But where does it stop?' Jack asked nervously. 'What if she starts to dominate you? What'll happen to you?'

'I'm hoping we'll never find out,' the Doctor muttered.

There was a long pause between them as they both considered that.

'Look, try not to think about it,' Jack eventually said. 'We managed to get all the slaves out, Elliott needs you to help remove their collars. Then you've gotta do a healing coma or something, I don't think the Va'A'gnorns are gonna give up trying to get to you. The undergrounders sealed off the entrance we used but they'll get in another way and they'll make sure everyone here'll...' He trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence. '... We just need to get out and get to Geranda.'

The Doctor nodded, polishing off his tea before lifting his arms to Jack. 'Get me up.'

Jack was astonished at how much energy the Doctor had, despite being a man who had technically died hours previously. The Time Lord had briefed Elliott and Seth on the surgical process, and they had the first person in for surgery to remove their collar just ten minutes later. It was a young frenoonian man whose wound was clearly infected as he was feverish, swollen and shaking. He'd been put under anaesthetic and laid out prone on the table. The Doctor had given Elliott another crash course in frenoonian anatomy before the young man finally took position next to his brother by the table.

'Remember, clip the metal and pull to the right,' the Doctor reminded Elliott, sitting in a wheelchair to the side. 'Then stem the bloodflow.'

Elliott nodded. He was sweating slightly, Jack noted. He couldn't blame him. One wrong move and the frenoonian could be paralysed for life, or worse.

Seth looked at Elliott and the Doctor for a cue, and then reached down with the metal cutters and cut the band at the points it raised to the back of the neck, so only the sharp bits were left in the frenoonian's neck. He then, with Elliott's help, pulled the metal band away from the front of the neck. Just as it had with the Doctor – though much worse – the skin ripped away with it to leave a band of blood. As Seth dealt with the flow, Elliot took position, holding the remaining collar at the point the sharp metal cut into the poor alien's neck.

'Brilliant. Remember frenoonian anatomy, you need to pull to the right to avoid the major artery,' the Doctor said, smiling reassuringly at the young man.

Elliott took a deep, nervous breath, and began to pull. Immediately blood coated the frenoonian's neck, Elliott's hands, and the table.

'Keep going,' the Doctor encouraged.

The human did. He kept pulling, nanometre by nanometre, until the sharp points of the collar came out and the frenoonian was free. Quickly Seth covered the bloody wound in saline and pads to stop the flow as Elliott used the handheld scanner to check for damage.

'He's okay,' Elliott announced.

'Good work,' the Doctor told them as Elliott and Seth both relaxed. 'Get him to aftercare and do the next one.'

It took four hours to do the forty-five people needing their collars removed, Elliot taking great care over each and every one. It was only then Seth went, and with Jack assisting, his collar was removed just a few minutes later. Jack took Seth out to aftercare, and they were left with a pile of bloody metal in the corner and forty-six successful operations.

'Hey, you did it,' the Doctor said to Elliott, smiling.

'I did, didn't I?' Eliott breathed, finally relaxing and smiling. He looked at the Doctor. 'Thank you. And thank you for bringing Seth back to me.'

'You're welcome,' the Doctor replied.

Despite the fact Jack could see the Doctor was itching to leave, the Time Lord obediently stayed off of his feet to allow his body to heal. For the next few days they remained in the clinic, both Jack and the Doctor helping out wherever they could. Most of the freed slaves had been discharged and taken in by the community – given food, bedding and work to do – but a few had remained in the clinic due to infections or extensive physical abuse, as well as Elliott's other patients.

Elliott, Jack noticed, was constantly asking the Doctor questions – seeking his tutelage. The Doctor was obliging, being careful to explain absolutely everything in minute detail to make sure Elliott completely understood. Every procedure he guided Elliott through with all due patience and encouragement, and very soon the worst of the patients were healing fast.

Whenever the Doctor went to sleep, Rose woke up. Jack was updating her to the day's events, and then filling the Doctor in on what she'd said when he woke up. Mostly she was telling him to rest and take it easy, and he seemed to be taking that advice.

The Va'A'gnorns hadn't yet shown up, and the longer their absence, the more Jack worried that whatever retribution they had planned, the worse it was going to be. He and the Doctor just had to be out of the underground long before that happened. The Doctor might have left them a warning in the form of his ship's emblem, but Jack wasn't so sure the Va'A'gnorns were going to worry too much about that. There was only one Ka Faraq Gatri – the Doctor – and the Va'A'gnorns owned the entire continent. He didn't doubt the Doctor's ability to outwit them, but there was no escaping the fact that they were savagely outnumbered.

The underground was a strangely beautiful place. It was one massive community, where everyone knew each other's name and supported each other all they could. They only had power for three hours a day, but the community used it sparingly. Elliott explained that the power came from solar energy converters secreted overground, and as such the power was very limited. His clinic ran on reserves, so he operated at minimal power whenever he could.

Jack had only fleetingly visited the underground when he'd been on Sirrus before – they hid themselves very well. While they were eating, Seth told him and the Doctor how entrances were opened and closed regularly to make sure that nobody except the undergrounders knew where the entrances were. He also explained how all of the equipment in the clinic had been salvaged by him from the overground; there were tens of very well-equipped hospitals for the oligarchs and friends of the Va'A'gnorns within fifty miles of where they were.

'I've been stealing supplies from them since I was five,' Seth told them. 'Cos I was the smallest, no one noticed me. Someone found me some smart-looking clothes and I just merged into any human families that were there and no one batted an eyelid.'

'What have you stolen?' Jack asked.

'Everything. Blood, antibiotics, bandages, right up to machines like the scanner.'

'Wait, you stole the scanner? It's massive,' Jack pointed out, frowning.

Seth grinned. 'Yeah, that was a fun day.'

'And they didn't see you wheeling it out?' Jack asked.

'I grab a white coat now, and everyone thinks I'm a doctor just moving stuff around.'

'Don't they notice things going missing?'

'I don't think they care,' Seth told them. 'They just replace it the next day.'

'Too rich to care,' the Doctor mused. 'Because what's a hundred grand machine going missing? Nothing. Just gets written off.'

Seth nodded. 'I go up there every week and I see 'em all, all the rich people in these beautiful rooms being treated by these amazing doctors with the best machines.'

'While you're all left in the cold and dark,' the Doctor muttered. Jack glanced at him, his eyebrows had lowered. He was angry. 'What do you think of the people up there, Seth?'

Seth shrugged. 'I kinda wish I could be them, but then I look at them all walking around in their expensive stuff, throwing money down the drain. That's why I just slip in without anyone noticing. No one cares about anyone else, parents don't care about kids and I don't think the doctors care about their patients. They just get bonuses for letting the least amount of people die. Everyone's got their own agenda up there. It's cold down here, but I think it's even colder up there.'

The Doctor nodded. 'You're right. It won't be like this forever, Seth. I promise, I'm going to sort this place out.'

Seth smiled a little. Jack could hardly believe he was only fourteen.

Five days later, and Elliot removed the casts on the Doctor's legs and his back brace. The human clearly wasn't happy about it, but was surprised when the Doctor managed to stand up and walk around with only minimal winces. When the power was up Elliot did a full body scan, and was consequently astonished.

'You're healing so fast,' Elliott told him, showing the Doctor the results of the scan.

'As I should,' the Doctor mused, winkling at Elliott. He looked at Jack. 'I think I might drop into a healing coma, then tomorrow morning we can leave.'

'Yeah, what are your plans for that?' Elliott asked seriously.

'What d'you mean?'

'How are you gonna find Geranda when you don't know where she is?'

The Doctor pulled a face. 'Don't really know,' he confessed. 'But I'll think of something.'

'I'll go with you,' Seth suddenly announced.

Everyone looked at him. 'Seth…' Elliott began.

'I know the city, I know where she is,' Seth continued adamantly, straightening up. 'Please let me help you, Doctor, Jack.'

The Doctor paused, considering that. It was true that without Seth they would likely be wandering around the overground trying to find a needle in a city-sized haystack. They needed to find Geranda and finish this as quickly as possible.

The Time Lord looked at Elliott. 'How d'you feel about that?'

Elliott glanced at Seth, and sighed. 'Yeah. Take him with you.'

Seth grinned. 'I'll pack some stuff,' he said, and ran out of the door before anyone could say anything else.

The Doctor looked at Elliott again as the door closed. 'You're okay with this?'

Elliott shrugged. 'Do I get a choice?' he asked. 'You need him. He knows the overground better than anyone.'

'I can say no,' the Doctor gently reminded him, glancing at Jack, who nodded. 'We'll manage.'

'No, take him,' Elliott insisted. 'But… do me a favour?'

'What?'

'... Don't bring him back.'

'What d'you mean?'

'You're leaving the planet after this, right? Take him with you. Don't bring him back here.'

The Doctor gazed at him. 'There's room for you too, Elliott.'

Elliott smiled weakly at that. 'I'm the only doctor in fifty miles of the underground,' he told the Doctor. 'I can't leave. But Seth can. Just get him away from this planet. I don't care where. Anywhere but here. He deserves way more than this. Please?'

The Doctor glanced at Jack, who was standing there poker-faced.

'Okay,' the Doctor finally said.

Elliott smiled. 'Thank you. I need to check Elso's healing,' he said, and left.

The Doctor looked at Jack once more. 'I'll go into a healing coma now.'

Jack nodded. 'So I should expect Rose,' he supposed.

'Make sure she stays still, else I might not heal,' the Doctor said. 'We'll head off tomorrow morning.'

'Got it,' Jack said.

The Doctor closed his eyes, and slipped into his coma.