"I thought the whole point of this exercise was for me to not kill you!" Claire looked aghast at the vials The Doctor handed her. "Potassium chloride? No. Absolutely not!"
"You'll be using an extremely small amount, diluted by sterile water to temporarily stop one of my hearts." The Doctor explained. "I've survived for a while on one heart before. It's not pleasant, but it will get me past your sensors and back to my ship. And then I'll be out of your hair for good." He took the syringe out of its sterile packaging and broke the seal on the potassium chloride with the needle. He carefully drew a small amount from the vial and then topped it up by drawing a few more millilitres of the distilled, sterile water into it.
Claire went back to the cabinet and took some more supplies. She filled two further syringes. "One is adrenalin, the other is a sedative. If I think for one minute that this is going pear shaped, then I'm taking control." She looked at him, trying to fathom some sort of reaction, hoping he'd back down from such drastic action. "Are you sure about this?" She asked, looking at the long needle.
"Well… no, really, but it's the only way I'm going to get out of here." He lay down on the bed, his shirt and jacket falling open revealing his bare chest. Claire tried to hide a smile. "What?"
"Only for the fact that I've seen the scans, I'd have never believed there's two hearts in there. I've seen 12 year old girls with a bigger frame than you." The Doctor merely sighed, unamused. Claire couldn't believe she was trembling. Six months ago, an opportunity like this would have been like all her Christmases come together, now she was so afraid of hurting him… of killing him that she was beginning to doubt that she could bring herself to do it. "So, which heart do you want me to stop?"
"For no reason other than you're standing there, we'll do the left one." He put his left arm behind his head and tried to avoid thinking about what was to come.
Claire put on her stethoscope and listened to both heartbeats. Strong, and very fast. "Okay, I know your heartbeats and blood pressure are higher than mine would be, even so, your pulse is racing. Let me give you something to take the edge off, calm you down a bit."
He shook his head. "We don't have time for that. Both your colleagues have been gone way too long and we need to have this done before they come back." She nodded and sat down. This was the Doctor's gig – his heart – only fair that he be the one to give the orders. "I'll guide you through it… Right. Start over towards the side of my bottom rib and count up 5. Try not to tickle me as I'm quite sensitive!" He could feel Claire's fingers nervously dance up his ribcage. "Now take the big scary needle and jam it right in between the gap between my 5th and 6th ribs. Depress the plunger and be still my beating heart… Simple!"
Claire kept her finger on the point where she wanted to inject the potassium chloride into the Doctor's heart. She swabbed the area clean and then picked up the needle. "Fast or slow?"
He felt the fine point of the needle prick his skin. Bracing himself, the Doctor just said "Fast." And Claire obliged. The effect was immediate. His heart stalled, causing an incredible pain in his chest. Despite himself, he cried out. In the midst of the paralysing agony, he could hear Claire's voice calmly telling him he was hyperventilating and to breathe. Had he been able to, he would have screamed "I am breathing, you stupid bint!" Somewhere along the way, The Doctor decided this was all too much for him and he passed out.
o0o
Judging from the pain levels in his head and chest, he hadn't been unconscious for too long. Long enough, though, for Claire to place an oxygen mask over his face to help regulate his breathing. She didn't attempt to stop him when he took the mask off and sat himself up. On the contrary, she adjusted the bed to keep him upright and then placed the stethoscope on The Doctor's chest. "One heartbeat, strong and steady."
"Oh that is not right." He grimaced. The sensation of just one heart felt odd in his chest.
"Do you want to try that standing up lark again?" Claire asked.
Before the Doctor could answer, Captain Fisher entered. "I see the prisoner is finally up and about. I want him transferred downstairs immediately."
"You'll need to put him back in cuffs." Claire said without missing a beat. "Since he's come around he's been nothing but trouble. " She stepped aside to allow Fisher get near The Doctor.
"Good work, Dr Bailey." Fisher said taking out his handcuffs. With his back to her, Fisher didn't see Claire pick up the syringe containing the sedative. She stabbed the needle through his fatigues and into his arm. It worked fast, causing Fisher to slump forward onto the bed. The Doctor moved his legs to avoid being caught underneath him.
"Really good work, Dr Bailey." The Doctor frowned, looking at her. That woman is far too trigger happy with a syringe!
Claire scrunched her eyes closed. "And there goes my stellar career at Torchwood. We need to strip him and you put on his uniform. That way, It will be easier to smuggle you out."
Claire did the bulk of the work, due to the Doctor's incapacitation. They managed to get the jacket and trousers on over his suit as Fisher was a considerably bigger build than the Doctor and he wasn't leaving his suit behind for anyone! The trousers had a holstered gun clipped into it. He removed it, dangling it between his fingers, a look of disdain on his face. "I hate these things."
"Keep it. You may need it yet." Claire was dragging Fisher fully onto the bed, placing him in the same position the Doctor had been in – on his side with his hands cuffed around the railing. She covered him up to his chin with a sheet in an attempt to disguise who it was.
"Never in a million years!" The Doctor left the gun on Claire's stool, well out of Fisher's reach.
Claire peered out the door, checking that the coast was clear. They were at the bottom of a long straight corridor with several doors evenly spaced along the way down one side. "The lift is down the end and around the corner. " She explained as they both walked calmly out the door with Claire locking it behind her. The Doctor kept in by the wall, still feeling shaky from both the heart attack and the concussion (It hasn't gone away, you know - pounding rhythmically in time with his one beating heart.). She kept a couple of paces behind him, regularly glancing back for any sign of trouble.
"We've passed one of the sensors already." She sighed, releasing the breath she didn't realise she was holding.
"See, " The Doctor said, his breathing a little more laboured than Claire would have liked. "My crazy little plan worked!"
"You're not out yet. There's still plenty that could go wrong."
In a classic case of ask and ye shall receive, they both froze when they heard Claire's name being called from behind them. Claire turned around. The Doctor didn't. It was Corporal Daniels.
"Claire, what's going on? You're not supposed to be out here."
"Danno, where have you been? Fisher's been looking for you." Claire bluffed. "I have to go down to Supplies, but if you head back to the canteen, he should be there by now."
"Nice to see they gave you an escort." Daniels pointed at the Doctor who was trying to obscure his face. "Contrary to popular belief, Claire, not all us grunts are as stupid as you think we are." He removed his hand gun and aimed at the Doctor.
Claire stepped between them, much to the loud protestations of both men. "I'm getting him out of here. If you want to stop him, then you shoot me first."
Daniels scoffed. "Claire, don't be so…"
"Ridiculous?" She cut him off. "Look around you, Danno. Where are the Cybermen? Where are those Dalek things that were cutting down everyone in their path? They're gone because of him." Claire pointed back to The Doctor who by now was leaning against the wall trying to keep his one remaining heartbeat steady. "You told me yourself when you brought him in. Got right up in my face, cocky as you like, and told me he stopped them. "
"I have my orders."
"Danno… Gary, he didn't cause what happened today. That was us. Torchwood and the ghost shifts." Claire went on. "Raj, Ben, Adi, George, Mel, Chris, Big Ollie, Paula… Our friends all dead and not because of The Doctor. If you turn him over to the likes of Fisher, they'll cut him up. They'll hurt him without a second thought and he doesn't deserve it. Not after what he's just done. And even if he hadn't just saved the entire bloody planet, he still wouldn't deserve what goes on down in Research."
Daniels lowered his gun. "So what am I supposed to do?"
"Walk away." Claire shrugged. She took a couple of steps backwards, still keeping herself between Daniels and the Doctor . "There's no sensors or alarms going off. You didn't see us. Get back to the canteen and make sure everyone's okay."
"What about you? You're taking a huge risk."
"Yeah… I am." Claire laughed at the incredulity of it all. "But I owe him." She took the Doctor's arm and began ushering him back with her, further away from Daniels. "And I'm going to make sure he's safe."
Daniels watched the two walk briskly away, but made no attempt to stop them. There'd probably be hell to pay all around when the dust settled, but he knew Claire was right.
The Doctor and Claire made it around the corner, out of Daniels' sight to the lift. Both glanced around nervously as they waited for it to come up to their floor.
"Are you sure he won't try to head you off at the pass?" The Doctor asked.
"This place is a cesspit of backstabbers and glory hunters, despite Yvonne Hartman and her David Brent style of management, but Gary Daniels has always been one of the decent ones. He's a sound guy and that's why he's still only a corporal."
"You really don't like it here do you?" The Doctor asked.
"I'm adopting the Homer Simpson approach and slowly destroying this place from the inside." Claire said as the doors opened on the empty lift. "Finally!" She followed him in and slumped against the wall. "Hit L3. That will take us down to where your ship is."
"Thank you." The Doctor said quietly as the carriage descended. Claire simply nodded. The fact that he'd said it was more than enough for her. She hadn't expected it because after what she'd done to him, she didn't feel she deserved it.
The lift ground to a halt and the doors slid open. The Doctor's heart rate shot up as he had expected a heavily armed battalion to be waiting for them. But Claire had been right about Daniels and the large warehouse of alien artefacts was un manned. A broad smile appeared on the Doctor's face. He couldn't see the TARDIS, but instinctively knew where his beloved ship had been stored. Once again his heart began to race at the prospect of getting out of Torchwood. He should have known better and tried to remain calm, but his natural adrenalin levels soared causing the second heart to beat. The Doctor couldn't catch his breath. He dropped to his knees clutching his chest in as much pain as when Claire had stopped his heart earlier.
"What's wrong? " Claire hunkered down beside him. "What's happening?" When the Doctor couldn't speak, the high-pitched alarms answered for him. "Your other heart? It's beating again?" She grabbed him around the shoulders and helped him stand up. The Doctor had no option but to resist the urge to pass out again. He'd have to weather this with all senses painfully intact. Leaning heavily on Claire, he guided them to the TARDIS.
He rooted out his key from his breast pocket and put it in the door of the blue police box. As it opened, The Doctor looked at Claire with a pang of guilt. "You're going to be in a world of trouble now, aren't you?… And I can't believe I'm about to say this but, come with me. I can get you somewhere safe."
"No. I have to stay here and run damage limitation." Claire explained, glancing around to see if the cavalry were about to descend. "If we both disappear, I won't get to tell them whatreally happened."
The Doctor should have just raced into the TARDIS and got the hell out of there, but his curiosity got the better of him. "So, what really happened?"
"Mind control. He made me do it." She said with a mischievous smile. The warehouse doors burst open behind them with heavily armed soldiers running in from all sides. "Now go!"
Not needing to be told twice, The Doctor bolted in and shut the door. Leaning against it, he looked around the console room trying to gather his thoughts, debating with himself whether to go back and rescue Claire, but she had been adamant. He didn't think he'd actually make it up the ramp to the central console without collapsing, so he aimed his sonic screwdriver and sent the TARDIS into the vortex by remote, leaving Claire to her fate. But if he had learned one thing about her, Claire Bailey could look after herself. Clever, devious and resourceful… Except for the dodgy ethics and the whole torturing and trying to kill him thing, she'd have been a brilliant companion…
Bad thought.
The Doctor tried to put Rose out of his mind. He simply hadn't the capacity to deal with reality at the present time. Physically exhausted - and in a fair amount of pain, it had to be said – he slid down to the floor. His left heart was beating erratically, but the Doctor knew it would stabilise, given some time.
Who was he kidding? He'd have given anything for Rose to sit down beside him, and tell him to stop being such wuss. The emotions he'd been keeping such a tight lid on refused to be contained any more. He drew his knees up into his sore chest, put his head in his hands and wept.
o0o
He woke up, still in Fisher's borrowed fatigues and still on the floor by the entrance to the TARDIS. It hadn't been entirely uncomfortable, but given his present condition, he'd have happily rested on a bed of nails. Carefully staggering to his feet, The Doctor balanced himself. The central console was whirring and clicking, occasionally dinging in a flurry of activity. "What's up with you?" The Doctor asked, walking purposefully up the ramp. He checked over the readings. "No… No!" he exclaimed. "That can't be right… can it?" He checked over the data a further three times, scarcely allowing himself hope that they could be. "Oh yes it can!" He kissed the monitor. "You little beauty!". He threw off Fisher's bomber jacket. "Now where the hell am I going to find a power source that size?"
Fin