Rainfall In The Silent Night (Doctor Who/Wings of Fire)

A Nuclear Catastrophe, Part 3

When the Doctor woke up, barely an hour later, he found Rain was up and reading through the emergency protocols Harriet had abandoned. The other two women were still asleep, but their breathing patterns told the Doctor that they'd wake soon enough. Standing to his feet, the Doctor stretched out the slight soreness in his back from sleeping in a chair before wandering over to where Rain was now sitting calmly at the large conference table. 

"Feeling better?" The Doctor murmured as he took a seat next to the ravenette. Rain jumped slightly, but gave him a small smile anyway.

"Yes. I, I'm fine." Her voice barely drifted from her lips and the Doctor was thankful for his superior hearing.

"You sure? You had a rather nasty panic attack earlier, Sleeping Beauty." The Doctor pointed out. Rain lowered her head slightly and her fingers began playing with each other. He sighed.

"Rain, I'm not going to question you about it. You already told me you'd explain it at some point, when you're ready." The assurance seemed to help as Rain's nervousness faded and her shoulders sank to a looser position.

"Thank you." She breathed out weakly as the Doctor gave her an encouraging smile.

"Your mental set up has changed since I caught a glimpse on Platform One." The Doctor made the decision to steer the conversation to something else. Pulse he was curious as to what had brought about the change. Rain blinked in confusion for a second before the foggy memory of dropping the barrier in the midst of her panic rose to the surface.

"O-oh, well the um, the Gleth somehow got past my, my mental barriers and, and tore up a-anything they could. So, so I needed to sort of re-built my mental defenses..." She murmured hesitantly. Unsure if it was a good idea to tell him that her barrier wasn't as impenetrable as they both had first assumed.

The Doctor's eyes filled with worry as they widened just slightly. That must have been what had caused her to start screaming. Which made sense. Having something as malicious as the Gleth had turned out to be invading and ripping you mind apart from the inside would be excruciating. Though it did make the Doctor wonder how she hadn't been driven insane by that, or how she'd seemingly recovered from it as soon as she was out of the house. There was no way Rain was really Human. She had to be using something to mask her true self.

"Are you sure you're fine, Rain?" The Doctor asked carefully. "The mind is an extremely delicate thing. It would take a miracle for you to be fine after going through something like that. If there was enough damage that you had to completely re build it, which is remarkable in and of itself, you should have gone mad or be comatose." Rain's gaze sank to her lap, her fingers fiddling once again and the Doctor knew he was stepping into troubled waters again.

"There are things about myself I can't explain, not yet." She whispered, fear clear in her tone, and the Doctor sighed.

"Alright, but can I ask where your fear comes from? What's the root problem? I could help you Rain, help you fight this fear so you don't have to be afraid anymore." He offered her, gently resting his hand on her shoulder. Rain was silent for many seconds, but just when the Doctor assumed she wasn't going to answer, a trembling voice spoke up.

"I was always different. My family never noticed, but it was obvious to me. I was born with things inside me that were infinitely powerful. It terrified me, the thought that they'd see me as a monster if anyone ever knew." Rain slowly raised her eyes to the Doctor's, tears flooding them, and he took a sharp breath.

"When I was five I ripped it away from myself, separated it from my body. I hate it. I hate the things I hide away." She swallowed hard, her bottom lip trembling. "Does that make me the same as Cassandra?"