David Vaughan drove off, leaving The Doctor and Rose Tyler standing at the entrance to the Powell Estate. They strolled across the main square.
"Does it bother you?" The Doctor asked.
"Does what bother me?" Rose answered.
"That there's a lot about me that you don't know."
She shrugged. "Sometimes. But you've told me that you're the only one left. I'm sure the last thing you need is to have to give me a family history… It was nice to hear the stories, though."
"Yeah?" The Doctor brightened. "It was fun, wasn't it. I don't get to tell many people what I do. Either I'll get locked up as a nutjob, or they'll tell the wrong person and they'll get locked up as a nutjob."
"I better watch myself, then!" Rose laughed.
He smiled wistfully. "It was nice, you know. Just to be able to talk."
…
"Dave, I left my iPod in work can I use your minidisk instead?" Claire called through the bathroom door. "Dave? David?" She sighed and gave up. It was her boyfriend's regular ritual! David was under a warm stream of water, behind a glass panel with the radio playing loudly and her sopping wet boyfriend was singing along... badly! Claire could have been beating the door down with a hammer and he might have heard something... Maybe! "Fine. Keep singing to Kylie, Dave. I won't tell anyone your dirty little secret if you let me borrow your minidisk."
"Huh?" He yelled back, turning down the music.
"Minidisk." she enunciated each word clearly. "Can I borrow it?"
"Fine. Just change the disk first." He replied. "Now begone! Kylie needs me."
David's minidisk player was on his locker beside the bed. He had resisted Claire's attempts to lure him to the "dark side" and get an iPod because it was easier to record interviews on the older technology. New didn't always mean better! David had stockpiled disks of interviews and albums over the last few years and being the anally retentive completist that he was, they were all labelled accordingly. She put one of the earphones in her ear expecting to hear a bootleg of the gig he was at the night before "What hideous little up and coming noisemeisters did you record last night then?" It took moments to realise that it wasn't a gig, but an interview with the couple who were in the apartment earlier... Claire knew she shouldn't be prying , but she couldn't help but be curious. David never interviewed people in the apartment… What made them so special? She listened for a few minutes to the Doctor recount one of his adventures that lead to his death…
"I had to climb the tower to disconnect the radio telescope – Which, of course, I managed to do! – But I lost my grip and fell… I don't think anything prepares you for that kind of impact... There was no way I would have recovered from the injuries, I knew I was dying." The voice trailed off for a moment. "So I regenerated."
"Regenerated?" David's voice cut in.
"My people have a way of /i bypassing i death. It's called regeneration. When a body fails, either through old age or injury, it can change at the basic cellular level and I become a different person. I retain all my memories, but I look like another person."
A woman's voice entered the conversation. "Takes a bit of getting used to."
"You're telling me! Try being the person who goes through that!"
Claire quickly switched it off when she realised David was out of the bathroom.
"Oh Claire. I asked you change the disk." David sighed, taking the player from her.
"Was that the guy you had here earlier?" Claire asked. "What the hell is he going on about? You surely can't be taking him seriously!" David looked like he was on the verge of telling her. "Dave, you've never kept secrets from me before. Please don't start now."
"Christmas day. The bits that aren't a total blank…" David started . "Do you remember when we were watching back what the DVD recorded all day?" she nodded. "Remember the speech where Mum was looking for someone called The Doctor? Well that was him."
"What?" Claire laughed. "That's ridiculous!"
"Any more ridiculous than a giant spaceship looming over London? Millions of people – myself included – in a trance on the verge of jumping to our deaths?"
"Dave, I don't need the action replay." Claire snapped. "I was there on the roof too."
"Claire, don't be like that." David hugged her. "I got the answers I was looking for. I got a hell of a lot more besides… He's an alien. An honest to God Extraterrestrial!" He was giddy with excitement. "He's got 2 hearts… Imagine that? Two hearts and an ability to regenerate! But you can't tell anyone."
"This regeneration thing? The bit where he tells you he dies and comes back to life?" The scientist in Claire took over. "Did he tell you how he does it? Would he take a few tests? If I could get a blood sample and… "
"No." He said firmly. "That's not why I wanted to find out about him."
"Okay." Claire nodded. "I'll let you get dried off. I'm going online for a while." She kissed him and left the bedroom. On entering the living room, she took David's phone and searched through his address book. Sure enough The Doctor's mobile phone number had been programmed in. Claire sent a text message. 'Need 2 talk more. Pls call to apt 2moro' and quickly deleted it from the phone's outbox.
Across the city, the Doctor jumped as his phone vibrated. He had been leaning against the counter in Jackie's kitchen. Nobody called him or sent him texts! He checked the message and deduced that it was David contacting him. "That didn't take long." He smiled.
"What?" Rose asked, making a sandwich.
"David Vaughan wants to talk some more tomorrow."
"Oh. Well you'll have to go by yourself." Rose rolled her eyes. "I promised Mum that we'd go visit Gran."
"Yikes! Three generations of Prentiss women." The Doctor pulled a face. "I think I'd rather face a global crisis!"
…
The Doctor arrived at David and Claire's apartment around 11. He was surprised when she answered.
"Hello. I'm here to see David."
"Oh, he had to pop out." Claire feigned innocence. "But you're welcome to wait until he comes back." Claire smiled ushering the Doctor into the living room. "Can I get you something to drink? I'm just brewing a pot of coffee, but if you want tea, or something else…"
"Oooh, a coffee would be great." The Doctor replied.
"Well take a seat." Claire tapped the back of the leather sofa that divided the room. He did as bidden, meaning his back was to the kitchen area. The coffee machine spluttered away, brewing a pot and sending the smell wafting through the room. The Doctor felt the room was particularly warm and after a minute or two, had removed his jacket. Claire returned from the kitchen with a jug and sugar bowl. She moved a book about Salvador Dali out of the way.
"May I?" the Doctor asked, picking up the large hardback book.
"Of course." Claire smiled. " I really love Dali. Some of his stuff is completely bonkers, but then a lot of it is quite accessible too."
"I like his melting clocks." The Doctor grinned, thumbing through the artwork.
"You should visit the Dali Museum in Paris… Actually, the whole area around Montemartre and the Sacre Couer is just gorgeous." Claire said returning to the kitchen for the coffee. The Doctor was too engrossed in the art book to notice her return, not with mugs and coffee, but with a syringe. She stabbed the high pressure injector into the Doctor's neck and depressed it before he could react and stop her.
He scrambled from the couch, clutching his neck where Claire had injected him. "What the hell are you doing?"
"There's enough sedative in that to knock out a man twice your size."
"No… you…" He was losing control of his senses. It was the oddest sensation. In his mind he was panicking rather badly, but physically, he could feel his hearts slow and his muscles relax. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't fight the invading drug. Claire watched impassively as The Doctor tried to make his way to the door. He barely made two steps before his legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor.
She stood over him holding the empty syringe. "Now Doctor, let's see exactly what you are…"
