NOT THE ONLY ONE

A/N Beta read by Just Celia

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It was weeks since he had made the decision to bring Romana to his ship; now he was met with silence. She wouldn't talk to him or look at him. Had it been a bad decision? Romana was stubborn; there was no doubt about it.

Braxiatel put Kaatje to bed and tucked her in. It had been a long time since he'd had to be responsible for a child, but Romana was clearly incapable of caring for even herself right now; he knew she was at breaking point and maybe that would be a good thing if she was able to let go and to heal.

These days he seemed to have to completely care for her. She wouldn't get up, eat, or even get dressed. She would lie on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He wondered what she thought of.

"Uncle Brax, Why doesn't Mummy love me?" his young niece interrupted his train of thought.

Brax was shocked. He had never considered that his niece would pick up on what was going on. He had done his best to shield her from it. She was just a little girl and she should be a child for as long as she could, but despite his best effort's she too was suffering, although clearly not as much as Romana. Romana would not even talk.

"Kaatje, she loves you very much, but the people on Demon's Run hurt her very much, so we're going to have to be very patient with her and very brave. Can you do that?"

She nodded

"Uncle Brax, will the Spaceman come and eat me?"

He sat on the bed "No, you and Mummy are both safe, nobody will ever hurt you," he leaned over and kissed her forehead.

He felt she wanted to tell him something, so he waited.

"Is daddy a bad man?"

"Who told you he was bad?" Braxiatel asked softly.

"The scary lady. She wore an eye patch. She said daddy destroyed her home; he destroyed Gallifrey."

Braxiatel froze for that moment; could she be mistaken, he wondered. Did this little girl know far more than she should? Could another Time Lord be behind all this? Either way it would all end if Irving Braxiatel had his way. Nobody would hurt his family and the people he loved.

He waited until her eyes closed and was sure she was asleep before quietly leaving the room.

When he entered Romana's room she was sat on the bed, her dinner hardly touched. She was growing thinner by the day. He came and sat by her, taking his hand in hers. She didn't move or acknowledge him at all.

"Romana, please, you have to eat ." He picked up the fork and started to attempt to feed her but she would not cooperate. In defeat he put the fork down.

"Romana, please say something," he sighed, taking a deep breath, "tell me how you are feeling."

She looked up for the first time in weeks, a glassy, empty expression in her haunting eyes,

"I am perfectly fine, Brax."

He did not know what had happened. It was like she could no longer feel, or know how to feel. Something had triggered this because, just days ago, she had been better than this. If only he could work it out and break down this barrier she had placed around herself.

He took her hand placing it on his face.

"Please Romana, you need to remember," she seemed to trace her fingers against his face, as if she was trying to identify something, but then she closed her eyes tightly as if the memories were too painful.

He took his hands placing them on either side of her head. She didn't even struggle or try to stop him. She let him. There was nothing out of the ordinary but, as he probed further, there was something implanted inside her head. Something Romana could not have done, and he needed to remove it. It was like a cast iron metal barrier rendering her incapable of feeling anything, but clearly it was something someone had remote control over because she had never been alone for anyone to inflict this on her.

"Help me," whispered Romana, "please, help me Brax," he could hear her through their psychic bond, pleading desperately for him to help her, feeling her getting weaker inside and, as he broke the connection, she fell against him, unconscious.

"Oh, Romana what did they do to you?" he held her in his arms, stroking her soft ginger hair. After a few moments she started to wake, but felt too weak to do anything but let Brax take care of her. She started to softly cry against him and then there was his soothing, calming voice making her feel safe. She felt his strong arms wrap tightly around her.

"It's all right," he said, softly. Her eyes shut once more, and he knew he had to do this. He rested his hands gently against her head and pushed with all his strength, removing the deep barriers they had placed in her until they crumbled and fell away. Then he pulled out of her mind. He gently laid her down on her bed, tucking her in and kissing her cheek.

He left the room quietly, so as to not wake her. Perhaps tomorrow he could take both Romana and Kaatje somewhere nice, where they could start to heal.

Braxiatel departed to his room and for hours attempted to sleep, but sleep would not come.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes, taking in the dim lit room of the collection which was his ship.

Pulling on his clothes, reasoning that there was little else to do but pace up and down as a million thoughts spun around his head.

All he could think of was Romana. He decided to check on her and walked the short distance to her room. The door was slightly ajar.

He quietly slipped into her room, but it was empty. He wandered down the hallways in search of her, finally reaching the swimming pool and his breath caught in his throat. She was under the water, her ginger hair floating on top of the water.

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