The Doctor had been expecting an enemy. Certainly not a short girl with a bleeding shoulder stumbling through the desert towards him.
"Hello there!" The Doctor called to the girl, a little perplexed. "Having some trouble?"
"Yes," she said between breaths, "I... er... I'm bleeding."
Rose glanced suspiciously at the girl, then back at the Doctor, unspoken questions in her wide eyes. Who is she? Do you know why she's here? Why is she bleeding? Does she know who we are?
"Doctor..." Rose murmured, raising her eyebrows.
The Doctor shook his head. "Eh, she doesn't look too dangerous. And she's hurt."
Rose nodded, but still looked cautious- they'd run into a lot of trouble before they landed here. The Doctor's adrenaline was still pumping through his veins. He couldn't afford to make any rash decisions; if not for himself, then for Rose.
The girl pointed at the TARDIS. "Could I... could I use your TARDIS? For first aid."
She knows. Rose's expression turned from cautious to panicked. The Doctor gave the girl a strange look. "Come again?" He didn't want to believe that she could be dangerous- he didn't even know her name, for God's sake.
The girl caught her breath, seeming to realize her mistake. "Oh, um... I meant, your ship. Sorry, misspoke."
The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "No, I definitely heard you say TARDIS. T-A-R-D-I-S. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space, yes?"
"Just... just a guess. I've heard about the Time Lords before."
I never mentioned the Time Lords.
The girl wobbled on her feet, blood trickling down her hand that held her left shoulder. The Doctor made a quick decision- if she really was dangerous, they'd find out. He'd just have to relieve her of her weapons after they patched her up.
Rose didn't look as eager to let the girl inside the TARDIS, but she said nothing as the Doctor swung his ship's door open and stepped inside. The girl followed, with Rose bringing up the rear.
"I'm the Doctor, by the way," the Doctor told the girl as Rose started searching for the first aid kit.
"Doctor who?" The girl asked. The Doctor smiled to himself.
"Just the Doctor. And the girl beside you is Rose Tyler."
"Hello." Rose shook the girl's hand.
"I'm Liv," the girl explained, "and where's the first aid?"
"Oh! Sorry, sorry," Rose handed Liv the first aid supplies from the bag she'd grabbed. "Is this alright?"
"Perfect," Liv pulled her shirt down and dabbed at the wound there, wincing as she did so.
The Doctor leaned in and raised an eyebrow at the injury. "What did that?" He thought it was some kind of claw or grasping instrument, but he couldn't be sure.
"I tripped," Liv said, voice flat, sounding much calmer than normal. The Doctor knew she was lying, but didn't bring it to attention. There was no point- if that was the way Liv wanted to act, it was her business and he wouldn't pry. Especially when she was going out of her way to bend the truth.
There was a rolling sound then, and a small, pen-like object tumbled out of Liv's trenchcoat. She cursed and made a swipe for it, but Rose was faster. She picked it up, eyebrows furrowing, and tossed it to the Doctor. Liv cursed again.
The Doctor looked at the object his companion had given him. It was pretty much his sonic screwdriver- a couple centimetres shorter than his own and different type of metal, yes, but otherwise an exact replica.
Liv had gone red in the face. "I... I can explain-" she began, but the Doctor cut her off with a grin.
"You're a Time Lord. I'm not the only one."
Rose murmured, "I can't believe it."
There was a long, contemplative silence.
Liv looked more confused than happy. "What... what do you mean, 'the only one'? What happened to th..."
She trailed off, seeing the Doctor's expression. "But- but the Time Lords- I don't understand-"
"Dead," the Doctor said shortly, "along with the Daleks. The Time War is over, but I'm the only survivor. Well, you too, now."
"The Time War?" Liv asked, panic on the edge of her voice. She had finished bandaging her shoulder, and she took her sonic screwdriver from the Doctor.
"Were you living under a rock this whole time?" Rose asked pointedly. Liv snorted.
"I may well have been. God, I was under for a while, wasn't I? That means..."
"That means what?" The Doctor echoed, stepping closer to Liv and studying her face. She didn't look like anyone remarkable; blue eyes, dark hair, short. Humanoid.
"Nothing," Liv muttered, "but... what about my..."
"Gone. I'm sorry," The Doctor said, morose, patting the shoulder that wasn't damaged, "I'm so sorry."
Liv went quiet. She began to pace around the TARDIS console, lips stretched in a thin line. The Doctor could see that her hands were trembling.
"I left Gallifrey a long time ago," she whispered, more to herself than to the Doctor or Rose, "I never thought it'd be the last time... I should have told him. I should have told both of them..."
She sat down on the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees. Her calm expression had become blank, like she couldn't process what the Doctor had told her. He felt a little guilty- it was a lot of information to pile on someone.
Liv glanced up at the Doctor, who stood next to her, unsure of what to say.
"Doctor... you went to the Academy, right? Were you in the Prydonian Chapter?"
She was trying to the change the subject, the Doctor knew- so she didn't have to think about what he'd told her. He nodded. "Yes. How did you know?"
Liv smiled. "My class was two below yours. I was Zeta-Omega."
The Doctor could vaguely recall a blond-haired, quiet girl by that name. She'd had a brother in his class- oh. Oh no.
The Doctor grimaced at the memory of his long-time enemy, the Master. He remembered how his former friend had introduced his younger sister, into their circle of friends, the Deca. The girl had never graduated from the Academy, but had vanished into the night before their graduation day. The other students spread rumours that she'd stolen a TARDIS and ran.
The Master, called Koschei in those days, had never truly recovered from the ordeal. The Doctor thought that Zeta had just left because she'd had enough of Gallifrey and its rules. Now, he realized that she only wanted to explore the universe as he had, and be free of her brother.
So this was Zeta now. Though she didn't look any older than her late twenties, her eyes betrayed the things she'd seen, the worlds she'd been to, the deeds she'd done. It was unnerving; an old woman in a young woman's body.
"So, you got a degree in thermodynamics there, right?" Liv said quickly, looking to one side, trying to divert the subject away from her brother. The Doctor wondered why- he was gone, dead. What was she trying to hide?
He nodded despite himself. "Yes. A bit useless, really, since all I did with it was invent a screwdriver. Yours was in hopology, yes?"
"Yeah. Weapons, tech, blah blah blah. Never finished it, but I guess it was fun until the exams. You got me interested in the sonic screwdriver idea, you know. It took me a few decades, but I managed to sort of get something like yours. It doesn't do as much as your one, though."
The Doctor accepted Liv's screwdriver, turning it in his hand. It had a few buttons and was simple in design- like the ones he'd used in the past. Rose moved over to look as well.
"Interesting," he said, "the general structure is the same, but... it's different. What did you use to power it?" Liv shrugged. "An extract from a Metebelis crystal. You've no idea how long it took to find one. Had to do a lot of things I'm not proud of."
Rose cleared her throat. "Doctor? Are we ready to leave?"
"Ah, yes," the Doctor pulled down a lever on the TARDIS console and pressed a few bright buttons. As the ship hummed to life, he helped Liv up off the floor. "Where's your TARDIS?"
Liv considered this for a moment. "Ocrilia, Nix, last time I saw it. You know where that is, right?"
"Oh, of course. I'll just get on course, and we'll be there in two ticks."
The TARDIS shuddered, throwing Rose and Liv against the far wall. They stumbled back to the console, groaning.
"You know you have the emergency brake on," Liv stated, voice blunt, pointing to the console. The Doctor rolled his eyes.
"What's so wrong with the emergency brake? I like it."
Liv put her hands up in surrender. "Okay, I was just letting you know. George hates the emergency brake. He teleports to the other side of the universe whenever I use it."
"Alright, we're here." The Doctor grabbed his sonic screwdriver and strolled over to the doors, holding one open with his foot. "Ladies first."
Liv and Rose thanked him and stepped outside.
"Let's go find your TARDIS," Rose said as the Doctor locked the door to his ship. Liv grinned.