XXXVII
One less heart

Antarctica

The Doctor finds himself walking around the desert of Antarctica a mile or so away from the UNIT base. With his sonic screwdriver held tightly in his hand, he shines it against the snow below his feet in hope to find some readings that may be of use to him. The howling wind and the snow has stopped yet the air around him is still bitterly cold.

Trying to ignore the rumbles in the distance, all the Doctor can think of is how to destroy everything. Although he knows that there is not a great deal of hope of them surviving the battle, let alone destroying the Nobody's, he still has a little hope that something can at least be done.

The Doctor halts for a moment when his sonic screwdriver starts flashing at a peculiar spot on the snow. He then quickly raises the screwdriver to his head and instantly he can read April's mind. She is directly beneath him under the ice, and despite her mind being slightly muffled from the ice that separates them, all he can just about make out is that she is currently devising a plan to destroy certain machines using Will's lighter.

The Doctor freezes on the spot feeling rather stumped but hopes April knows what she is thinking about.

He then suddenly snaps out of his trance when he hears a voice echoing his name across the desert. The Doctor spins around only to see both Rose and Terry running to his direction.

"Oh no, no, no no, no!" The Doctor cries as he starts running back to them. "What are you both doing here?!"

But the moment he reaches them, Rose slaps the Doctor across the face.

There is a moment of shocked silence between the three of them before the Doctor turns to look back at Rose in shock as he holds onto his face with his hand.

"Ouch that really hurt!" He complains like a child.

"Well I bloody well hope it did! You're such an idiot, Doctor!" Rose shouts.

"There's not much we can do." The Doctor mumbles as he rubs at his flaming red cheek.

"Rose and I are helping in the fight," Terry says as she shows him the weapons they have taken from the UNIT base. "And don't even think about trying to talk us out of this because it's not going to work. Whether we sit down in London doing nothing or being here helping out in the battle, we're going to die either way. I'd rather know that I tried to help fight this than die doing nothing."

The Doctor looks from Rose to Terry for a long while before nodding.

"Go then. I'll catch up." He says.

Rose bites her bottom lip as she tries to hold back her tears as she flings her arms around the Doctor's neck and holds onto to him tightly. The Doctor buries his face into Rose's shoulder as he holds her close to him, silently forgiving her for slapping him.

"Please be careful." She pleads in his ear before slowly pulling away.

With that Rose takes a few hesitant steps back and then starts walking away with Terry towards the general direction of where the army is. The Doctor sighs and takes a step forward as if to follow them but is stopped short as he hears someone else call behind him in a panicked voice.

"Please, no, Doctor wait!"

The Doctor turns to see Monroe running over to him, his eyes filled with tears.

For a split second the Doctor is shocked to see that Monroe is still alive, but the shock vanishes as quickly as it comes. He knows that April has been certain that he is still alive, and if Peter Bursnell is still partly alive after being murdered, it comes as no surprise to see Monroe alive.

Terry and Rose stop to see a breathless and fearful Monroe running to the Doctor. They both exchanges worried looks before going back to join the Doctor.

"Please don't go!" Monroe breathes heavily as he clutches onto his sides. "I beg you!"

"And what makes you think I'm stupid enough to trust you, Monroe?" Asks the Doctor with a hint of laughter to his voice.

"I don't expect you to trust me after everything you know about my past with Peter Bursnell, but I want to help you. I know that we can't lose our last Time Lord."

"There is nothing you can do to help us!" Terry hisses through gritted teeth, however she finds herself taking a step back and agreeing to let Monroe explain himself after he gives her a fleeting glance. It is almost as if she allowed her mind to change its thoughts immediately.

"Doctor you know that this army wants nothing but your death and instead of just hunting you down and killing you, they played with April's prophecy in hope that you would become weak. They played a game with Peter Bursnell's nursery rhyme. But the one thing that is really putting you in danger from the Nobody's right now is the fact that they can smell you."

The Doctor narrows his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm telling you that they can sense your Time Lord sense. Once you are near their radius they will go straight to you and kill you."

The Doctor shifts awkwardly on the spot, understanding the ring of truth to Monroe's voice.

"And I want to help you."

"How?"

Monroe takes in a deep breath as if he is nervous about what he is saying. "You want to save all your friends from this battle right?"

The Doctor nods.

"Well you need to disguise yourself," Monroe hesitates as he wrings his hands nervously. "And by disguise I mean you giving up being a Time Lord until this is over."

The Doctor pauses for a long while as he is stuck for words.

Rose opens her mouth, ready to shout at Monroe, knowing that he is not trustworthy but the moment she goes to speak, Monroe also gives her a fleeting glance and Rose suddenly believes that Monroe is telling the truth.

"It is a little trick I made up myself," Monroe says timidly. "It will take out your Time Lord powers meaning that you won't be able to fly the Tardis or have any control of your sonic screwdriver for a short while. But it means that you will be human for a short while and the Nobody's won't be able to tell. It will save you from them."

The Doctor narrows his eyes. "How would the Nobody's not be able to find me if I'm human?"

Monroe lets out a shaky breath. "They will be able to smell you easily and detect your two hearts." Monroe starts to tremble as his paranoia starts to kick in. He takes a step closer to the Doctor. "We really don't have much time at all, Doctor, and if you want to help in the battle and save your friends, you need to disguise yourself. Remember that this is UNIT's fight, not yours."

"How long will I be temporarily human for?"

Monroe hesitates for a moment. "No more than twenty four hours I should think. As long as you're safe, your girlfriend will be too," He lazily waves his hand over in Rose's direction. "I can promise you that," Monroe then offers his hand to the Doctor. "Please we're running out of time. I need you to trust me on this! I need an answer now." Monroe's voice is pleading and his bottom lip trembles.

The Doctor looks at Monroe's hand pensively. What is making the Doctor feel like he can trust this man who is playing a huge role in this battle? Is it because Will and Morgarn put the blame on Monroe killing Peter Bursnell when Will did it himself? What point is the Doctor trying to prove by agreeing to this unstable man? However Monroe does have a point. The Doctor is asking for his death by being here in Antarctica. If the Nobody's can't detect his Time Lord essence, they won't be able to get to him.

The moment there is another rumble in the distance, the Doctor chooses to trust him.

"It's a deal!"

With that the Doctor clasps Monroe's hand to shake and to seal the deal. However as soon as their hands touch, there is an instant unbearable burning pain that flies through his whole body.

Rose screams as the Doctor starts to fall to his knees weakly, but she finds herself unable to move after Monroe gives her another glance.

The Doctor's vision blurs and he grits his teeth, stopping himself from screaming out loud at the excruciating pain that runs through his body, making him feel weak. Even the cold snow seeping through his trousers as he kneels cannot compare to the pain of turning human. His heart rate increases and he is aware of now having one heart rather than two. It is almost as if his second hearts dies and disintegrates into nothing.

Once the deal is sealed and the Doctor is in the snow, lying in a crumbled heap, Monroe releases his grip from the Doctor's hand and takes a few stumbling steps backwards, momentarily looking shocked at what he has just done. He looks at the Doctor in the snow, breathing heavily as the pain slowly starts to subside, however Monroe knows that he has just successfully tricked the Doctor.

"I'm so sorry." Monroe mutters as he continues to step backwards, looking down at his hands in disgust. Tears start to fill in his eyes but the tears vanish as soon as they arrive. A smirk appears on his face.

"What have you done to him?" Rose shouts to Monroe as she kneels down beside the Doctor, holding his shaking body tightly in her arms.

Monroe replies by throwing his head back and cackling loudly. "I don't think I have ever known a Time Lord to be so gullible!"

"What have you done?" Rose shouts again, more urgently.

Monroe shakes his head and cackles in amusement. "The Doctor isn't going to last much longer without the power to regenerate. His body won't even cope with having one heart," Monroe laughs loudly again. "Sorry, Doctor, but I haven't helped you at all in surviving this battle; I have just brought you closer to your death! You might feel a little sick and queasy, but that should subside soon. Maybe you should sit down!" Monroe pushes his hands forward and a strong force pushes Rose away and then pushes the Doctor backwards until he is lying in the snow flat on his back. Monroe stands next to the Doctor and puts his foot down on the Doctor's chest, restricting his movements and heavy breathing. "So now you can finally understand what it is to feel like everyone else in the world," He then bends down to look at the Doctor closely. "And doesn't it just feel great?" Monroe sniggers to himself before removing his foot and walking slowly away from the Doctor.

Weakly the Doctor gets back onto his feet. Terry and Rose rush to his side help him and his legs shake underneath his weight. He leans heavily against Rose's side and there are moments when he feels like he cannot even hold his head upright. Rose and Terry only hold onto him tightly.

Monroe could not have felt happier as he does now, however he tries to ignore his slight guilty conscious at the back of his mind.

"Well I've got to move on," Monroe announces proudly and as he clicks his fingers, a Wingerdette suddenly appears, however its eyes are bloodshot red and not the same creature they first met on planet Zorlon. "I have a whole army to support. And hey, you guys have no chance of winning," He mounts the Wingerdette. "Enjoy the party, Doctor!" He shouts at the Wingerdette starts to fly away.

Terry lets go of the Doctor and runs forward in an attempt to stop Monroe, but the Wingerdette is already up in the air flying away. Instead Terry throws many curse words in their direction.

The Doctor falls to his knees again and slams his fist as hard as he can in the snow. Rose remains standing on the spot for a moment before she starts crying in shock. Quickly she falls into the snow and buries her face into her hands.

For all the Doctor, Terry and Rose know, there isn't much hope for them any longer.

The Doctor is going to die.