ELEVEN
The two friends each removed their visors. For a long moment, Jack stared at the Doctor in disbelief.
"The first trip out?" he asked, smiling.
"Yeah," the Doctor said, unamused. "I guess I was lonely. Lonely and... and that other thing."
"I'm not blaming or judging," Jack assured him. "I'm just surprised. Did it continue, this arrangement?"
"You mean did we continue to have a sexual relationship?"
"Yeah, that's what I mean."
"Yes, we did," the Doctor said, without any irony, boasting or joy whatsoever. Right now, he just seemed forlorn. "In the beginning, it was just about every day, but only on the TARDIS. As time went on... well..."
"Familiarity. I get it," Jack chimed in. "Well, no wonder she sees you as a predator now. If her mind is all twisted up and looking at everything through black-colored glasses, then of course your first sexual encounter with her would translate as rape."
But he was still way off. "It wasn't familiarity that stopped it, Jack."
That old familiar meaningful stare was back, and Jack knew then that the Doctor's lustful adventures with Martha was not the secret. Something else was still hanging in the air, causing the Doctor to appear in Martha's memories as a predator, and whatever it was, it appears to have stopped their sexual relationship in its tracks.
"Doctor," Jack asked, seriously. "There's a couple things I gotta know."
The Doctor sat back on the bed, leaning on his hands. "Shoot."
Jack wasn't sure how to breach this subject, so he just came out and said it. "Did you and Rose...?"
The Doctor was pensive, and barely moved his lips as he said, "No. We just never went there. Different life, different circumstances, I suppose. Hard to explain."
"And... do you love Martha?"
The Doctor leaned forward once again and seemed to study his shoes. He took a long time to think about this one, or so it seemed to Jack. Really, he knew the answer, he just wasn't sure if he was ready to divulge that information. Ultimately, he decided the secrets and lies as they lay at his disposal had to end. He was tired of it, and he knew Jack was too. So he said, "Yes. Yes I do."
Jack was on his feet. "God, I never would have guessed! I mean, I knew she was hopelessly in love with you, but I didn't think you'd even noticed her existence," Jack said, knocking back another drink.
The Doctor looked at Jack with an expression that seemed to say, please. "How could I not?" he asked.
"Well, that's kind of what I'd been thinking. I was wondering if you were blind or something."
The two of them experienced yet another long silence.
Then Jack said, "You really aren't going to tell me?"
The Doctor smiled lazily. "I've told you – it's for Martha to say. If she wants you to know, then so be it."
Hours later, back inside the blue box, the lonley Time Lord found himself circling, once again, slowly around the console. He had a problem at hand, that was good. He had someone to save, that was even better. This was when he did his best work! And he felt strangely liberated by having shown Jack what had happened between himself and Martha when they first met, and also by having seen Martha's nightmare version of it. It answered a lot of questions for him. It confirmed some of his worst fears, but at least now he knew.
He set his mind to the task at hand. "What do we know?" he asked the TARDIS. "We know that it was your Dark Side that's afflicted Martha, and that only your Outer Side will reverse the effects. But we also know that your Outer Side turned Rose into a telekinetic molecule-melter with God-like powers and a heart that was a ticking time-bomb. And then it killed me."
The TARDIS groaned a bit. "Oh, now, don't be that way," he told her. "Don't start feeling sorry for yourself. We both know it wasn't your fault and that I don't blame you in the least. Now, help me think."
The Doctor thought back to when he and Jack first parted ways, just before he'd regenerated for the tenth time. What were the details? What had happened? He wished he had seen what Rose had done to absorb the vortex as she had, so that he would know perhaps how to dose Martha just a little.
"We know that a kiss transfers the energy," he mumbled, thinking back. "We know that a healthy dose could potentially cause a human being to live for billions of years. Doubtless there's still some residual energy left in Rose. Too bad she's not here..." he thought. It was the first time in a long time he'd had that thought.
He guessed that that showed growth.
And then, as these things do, it hit him. With an "A-ha!" he raced around to the main controls, and disapparated from where he was parked in Chiswick and re-apparated in Prince's Square. He pulled Martha's mobile out of his coat pocket once again and dialed Jack's number. Apparently, the Captain had already gone to sleep, because his "Hello" was groggy and annoyed.
"I'm across the street. You've got to come down."
"What? Why?"
"Because! I've found the cure! And I'm going to need your help."
There was a long pause. Then, "Fine. I'll be there in a second."
Within a minute, Jack was kicking the TARDIS door open and striding in, wearing blue pajama bottoms and a white tee-shirt. His hair looked very unruly, but the Doctor thought it suited him. He stomped up the ramp and crossed his arms. Emphatically, he said "You're The Doctor, for crying out loud. You can't solve a 'negative energy stole my friend's mind' problem on your own?"
"Oh, that I can solve. What I need you for is way more delicate than that."
"You know, normally, I'd be intrigued," Jack said, rubbing his eyes. "But I've had a wicked hard day and I just want to go back to bed. What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to convince Francine to let me into the house so I can kiss Martha."
Jack held his breath for a moment, waiting for a punch line. Then he exhaled harshly and said, "Doctor, there's a time and a place."
"Oh, for God's sake!"
"Well, what do you want from me? That's completely insane! She's never going to let you near Martha again!"
"I know. That's where you come in. You're really good with people, Jack, as much as I hate to admit it. Just convince her somehow!"
Jack was awake now. "I assume that this is for some other reason than you're just lonely."
The Doctor didn't justify the comment with a response. Instead, he came toward Jack and stood uncomfortably close. "Do you remember when Rose looked into the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed its energy?"
"Uh, you're talking to the marathon man here. How could I forget?"
"Well, it nearly killed her. So I kissed her and absorbed the energy myself, so it killed me instead. That's why I look like this now," the Doctor explained.
"Okay. With you so far."
"That's the same kind of energy that's going to cure Martha, but if she absorbs it one hundred per cent, it will kill one of us."
"Wait, can't she just absorb it enough to cure her, and then I could take it on. It won't kill me," Jack suggested, his face gleaming with his good idea.
"Not a bad idea Jack," the Doctor told him. "But you're already destined to live for five billion years. Do you want to extend that warranty?"
"I'm destined to do what?"
The Doctor had slipped. He'd never meant for Jack to know about that. Well, not yet at least. He decided just to move on.
"But I was thinking, this kind of energy takes years to dissipate. Rose probably still has some residual in her system... and that means so would I! Residual energy wouldn't be enough to kill her, or even make her sick. It would be just enough to overpower the influence of the Dark Side of the TARDIS and bring her back to normal."
"You'd still have it in your system, even after a regeneration?" Jack asked.
"Oh yes," the Doctor said, totally sure of himself. "Especially since it's the same energy that fuels a regeneration. Come to think of it, it's probably in me all the time."
"Then why didn't it have any effect on Martha every time you guys kissed... which was a lot, right?"
"Yes, but she was always being dosed with bursts of good energy from the TARDIS back then. It's like when you build up a tolerance to alcohol," the Time Lord explained excitedly.
"Okay, I'll try to convince Francine, but don't expect miracles."
"I never do."
"Just one thing: why won't it make you live for five billion years?"
"It might. But probably not. Time Lord thing – totally different from humans, despite outside appearances. Besides, I can regenerate. No danger of me morphing into a giant face..."