Author's Note: No matter what I try, I can't get the breaks between different scenes to show up. Anyone have any suggestions? I promise it's not supposed to all run together like it's showing on here.
CHAPTER FOUR
When the Doctor awoke the next morning, he found himself alone in his bed, to his mild disappointment, but a quick look at the clock on the bedside table told him that it was nearly noon. Never in his life had he slept so long, but—then again—he'd never been part human before. His head still ached from the previous night and he winced against the annoying throb as he sat up and stretched.
He knew he shouldn't have been surprised that Rose had let him sleep late, but he was surprised that Jackie hadn't come poking around checking to see if he was still alive. It felt strange to prepare for the day when he had nowhere to go and nothing to do. He had no idea what life entailed for the Tyler's on this Earth. He knew they were involved with Torchwood, and was curious about what this Earth had seen as far as aliens and unexplained phenomenon. They'd seen the Cybermen, or course, but what else had transferred over to this universe? The Doctor was eager to find out, but leery at the same time. Scientists had wanted to study him before, dissect him, run him through tests to learn about his alien physiology. Would they be so interested now that he was only part Time Lord? He somehow didn't doubt it. Part Time Lord was better than no Time Lord to their lot, he supposed. He'd always been able to run to the TARDIS for protection or a quick escape. He didn't have that luxury here. He'd be completely at their mercy. That bothered him…more than he cared to admit.
Suits still not ready for a few more days, the Doctor donned a pair of his new jeans, belt and white button up shirt. His hair was sticking up in places, as it normally tended to do, and he gave his teeth a quick brush before he finally shoved his feet into his black Converse and went off to find Rose.
Instead of Rose, however, he found Jackie sitting at the kitchen table with a snacking Tony. She looked up at him as he came in and she took a double take at his appearance. "Look at you, then. Never seen you without a suit before…except the time we put you in Howard's nightclothes. You look quite handsome like that."
He smiled, "Thank you," then asked, "…Where's Rose?"
"She's gone off with Pete to Torchwood," Jackie replied. "Pete thought it best they go without you…just until everything's sorted."
That didn't sit well with him. His mind again turned to thoughts of experimentation and testing. He knew Rose would never allow them to hurt him, but one brave girl against millions wasn't likely to stop them. Not if their society was still the way it had been the last time he'd been here with her. The legacy of John Lumic was nothing to be proud of.
"Oh! I nearly forgot." Jackie's shrill voice broke into his thoughts. "A package came for you."
His eyes cut to hers sharply. "For me?"
"Well, there's no one else here calling himself 'Dr. John Smith,' now is there?" She got up and disappeared from the room for a minute before coming back with a small, brown box. He took it from her hands and examined it, carefully. The label was written in his handwriting.
"Who delivered it?"
"I don't know," Jackie sounded defensive, as if she was being interrogated. "I found it lying about when I woke up this morning. None of the servants could recall it getting delivered. D'you know who it's from?"
"Yeah…" he said softly. "It's from The Doctor."
Jackie's eyes snapped to his, fear written in her face. "How's it from him? I thought he couldn't come back to our world or we'd be ripped apart!"
"He must have known this was going to happen…" The Doctor pondered the question himself. "Time, for me—him—is not linear. Things don't occur in order. That's one of the drawbacks…or benefits, however you see it…of being a time traveler. He must have known this was coming. You're right that he couldn't have come back here. He can never come back here, but he could have given it to someone who came here with you and Rose four years ago."
"Mickey?" She wondered aloud.
He nodded softly. "It's the only option that makes sense."
"But...he went back home, to our Earth. How could it just have gotten here?"
The Doctor thought for a moment. "Are you certain it wasn't here before you and Mickey used the teleporters to get to the other Earth?"
Jackie was thinking, but it was obvious by the expression on her face she couldn't be sure. "I suppose he coulda left it before he and I went off, but..." she couldn't explain the package.
"It had to be Mickey," the Doctor said, convinced. Jackie blinked at him.
"Well, go on; open it!" Jackie was practically on the edge of her seat now, curious as to what the Doctor would have sent to himself, and would have gone through so much trouble to do so.
The Doctor carefully tore open the plain brown wrapping on the package, and lifted off the square-shaped topper of the box. His heart leapt at what he saw inside and he very carefully drew out a piece of white coral.
"What's that?" Jackie asked, peering at the piece with interest.
"A living part of the TARDIS," his voice was soft as he gazed at it, awe struck.
"But… the TARDIS is a machine…isn't it?"
"Oh, no, Jackie. The TARDIS is alive. The computers are hardwired into the heart of the TARDIS so that I can control it, but she is very much a living creature."
"But…if you've got a piece of it, what does that mean?"
"It means that…with a bit of luck…I can grow a new TARDIS."
Jackie gawked at him for a moment. "Oh no don't! Rose has crossed galaxies to find you! And you're just going to gallivanting off again? Leaving her again? Breaking her heart, again!"
"Don't you see, Jackie?" The doctor ignored her angry outburst. "With this I can give Rose everything she wants. I may not be her Doctor, but I can continue to show her things, travel with her. For the rest of our lives."
Jackie's eyes were watering as she stared at him across the table. "And what about me, then? You're going to take my Rose away from me again? Sometimes I hate you so much, Doctor. You've no idea what it's like for the people who get left behind."
He looked at her sadly, knowing now all too well how it felt. "I'm so sorry, Jackie. Really, I am. But wouldn't you want Rose to be happy?"
"She is happy, you plum! She's got you. That's all she ever wanted. Not the TARDIS, not traveling, just you."
The doctor brought his hand up to his temple as the ache in his head began to roar, wincing again with a slight hiss. Slight fear gripped his only heart as he wondered what was happening to him.
Jackie reached across the table and touched his hand. "Are you okay?"
The pain slowly ebbed away and he took a deep breath before looking at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
She gave him an odd look, but before she could say anything, he was standing up, gathering up the packaging. "Right then, well…I'm off!"
"Off? Where are you going?" She called after him, but received no reply.
When Rose arrived later that afternoon she found the Doctor lying in the grass back behind the house, hands under his head and he stared up at the sky.
"One thing Earth has that Gallifrey doesn't," he said as he heard her approaching. "Blue skies. I love the colour blue, did you know?"
She sat beside him and plucked a blade of grass, picking it apart. He could discern from her quietness the meeting at Torchwood did not go well.
"What did they say?"
She didn't look at him, but he could see her trying to fight back tears. His earlier fears felt almost tangible. "Rose? What did they say?"
She swallowed hard. "Dad and I…we tried to tell them that you were just human now, but they threw around words like 'national security' and Dad couldn't argue with them. I'm so sorry; I couldn't do anything. They've told Dad to bring you in, or they would come 'collect you' themselves. It's not right…after all you've done…"
Rose dissolved into tears and he wrapped his arms around her fiercely. "Shhh…" he whispered to her. "It's alright, Rose; I knew they would want me sooner or later. I hoped they wouldn't, but…I am alien, regardless of my biology. It'll be alright. Here, I've got something to show you."
He needed to distract himself as much as her, and he pulled out the coral piece from inside his pocket, holding it up for her. "It's a living piece of the TARDIS." He told her before she could ask. "It'll take a bit of time, and the right conditions, but…I think I can make us a new TARDIS."
The Doctor grinned, quite pleased with himself, watching Rose as she stared at him in disbelief.
"Where did you get that?"
He told her about the package and the theory about Mickey having been the messenger and she practically gaped at him before taking the small piece from his hand and looking at it carefully.
"How are you going to make a TARDIS from this? It would take decades to grow something as big as—"
"Time Lord technology, remember?" He told her. "I may be human, but I still have all the Doctor's knowledge. We proved last night I still have some of his abilities. He wouldn't have given this to me if he didn't think it was possible."
She smiled at him in true Rose fashion—her tongue poking through her teeth as she handed it back to him. "Best not show it to the people at Torchwood, or we'll never get it back."
He put it back in her palm. "Keep it safe for me until I get back."
"Does it need to be in water or somethin'?"
"Nah, just some place with a bit of sunlight." He looked back up at the sky. The Doctor would never admit to defeat, but he wasn't looking forward to the days ahead. Maybe, at least, they'd be able to figure out the headaches, he thought to himself before finding the courage to ask her, "How long before they come after me?"
"An hour," she said quietly, tears still shimmering in her eyes.
"Can you come with me?"
"I'd like to see them try to stop me," she said, eyes burning with fierce determination.
He smiled; his warrior Rose, always ready to fight for him. How he loved her.
He could hear someone else cutting a path across the grass and he and Rose both looked around to find Pete, shuffling toward them, hands in his pockets and face set with a frown. It was time, then. The Doctor climbed to his feet and squared his shoulders. He took a calming breath and met Pete's eyes.
"Alright," he said, his voice stronger than he felt. "I'm ready to go."
Torchwood, the Doctor noted upon arriving, was cold. As a Time Lord, his body temperature had always been about 60 degrees Fahrenheit; but now he was regulating a human body, which functioned optimally at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot and cold would be very different to him now. The Doctor knew it was just one of the many things he was going to have to get used to.
"Ah, Doctor," a man in a grey suit was smiling at him, a look that made the doctor feel the man had just won the proverbial lottery. "So glad you could come."
"I wasn't aware I had a choice in the matter." The Doctor replied curtly, eyeing the men in white coats flanking the man in charge. Rose was by his side, gripping his hand so tightly he felt the circulation being cut off.
The man looked from the Doctor, to Rose, to Pete, who was stationed on the Doctor's other side and tried to ignore the slight.
"Thank you, Mr. Tyler, we'll take it from here."
"I'd like to stay," Pete said tersely before Rose could say anything. "To make sure no harm comes to him."
"I can assure you, Peter, that we will take excellent care of him."
"That's what I'm worried about," Pete replied with a look of loathing.
"Very well," the man said irritably. "Take them down to 4B, let's order a full bioscan."
The Doctor, Rose and Pete were lead to an elevator and he looked to Rose's father curiously. "What's a 'full bioscan' consist of?"
"Blood tests, physical, brain scans, body scans…Everything." Pete replied, unhappily. "They want to find every evidence that you're not completely Human."
"Ah," the Doctor responded. "Right. Prod now, ask questions later. Always seems to be that way…"
4B turned out to be little more than a glass cage with a cot, a toilet and a sink; a solid Plexiglas barrier with a few holes for air and communication and a slot for a food tray separated him from his freedom…and from Rose. The Doctor looked around the cell mournfully before looking out at Rose who was staring at him helplessly. He reconsidered her being here, not wishing for her to see what they might do to him.
"You should go," he told her softly, stepping up to the sheet of plastic glass and laying his palm flat against it. She moved closer and did the same, searching his eyes.
"I'm not leaving here without you." She told him, her voice strong and leaving no room for argument. He took a deep breath, releasing it in a very long, weary sigh.
He looked to Pete. "And you, what's your excuse then?"
"Well, I can't let you two have all the fun, now can I?"
The Doctor offered a weary laugh, then looked back at Rose, debating if he should mention his continued headache. She could sense his internal conflict and her eyes searched his.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm always fine," he lied finally, not wanting to worry her more than necessary. "Just longing for my sonic screwdriver right about now."
"Think you could make a new one?" Rose asked curiously.
"Careful," Pete warned softly, and nodded to the security camera mounted in the corner.
"Ah…right…" The Doctor said softly. So they were being watched, and probably listened to as well. He looked pointedly at the camera. "Is this how you treat all visitors to Earth? It's no wonder other life forms are so hostile to you. Maybe if you tried greeting them with a cup of tea and a biscuit instead of a prison cell, you'd get a better reception."
The Doctor turned away from the glass as the throbbing amplified once again at his temple. Maybe, he found himself thinking yet again, it really was a good thing he was here. He really didn't know anything about his new body, or what the limits were. He knew that human minds—normal human minds—were incapable of telepathy. His thoughts turned to Donna just then and he felt suddenly very, very sad. He hadn't considered what might have happened to her after she and the Doctor had left…but he could guess. If he knew himself…
"Thete?" He'd been quiet too long, apparently. Rose knew something was wrong.
He looked up at her and forced a smile, "So, what shall we do to pass the time, then? I know! Tell me about life here on this Earth. Any new species you've come across? Dazzle me, Rose Tyler."
Rose was looking at him strangely. "Doctor, are you alright? You've gone a bit...pale."
"I feel a bit…weird." The Doctor said, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. He looked at Rose but suddenly couldn't focus on her. He felt like a drum was beating inside his head. He raised his hand to his head and felt his body swaying slightly. He could hear Rose and Pete shouting something at him but couldn't make out what they were saying. Then everything went black.
The Doctor became aware of a constant beeping somewhere nearby. It was steady, almost rhythmic, and somewhat familiar. For a moment, he thought maybe this had all been a horrible nightmare and he was still his real self back on the TARDIS. Disoriented, he slowly began to wake up, feeling as though he was dragging his mind through thick mud back into awareness. He hadn't remembered falling asleep...
The Doctor opened his eyes to get his bearings and found himself in a very white room with institutional lighting and no windows. Still at Torchwood then.
There was movement a few feet away and he turned his head slightly to see Pete coming to stand next to him. "Feeling better?"
"What happened?"
"We're not really sure," Pete answered slowly. "What do remember?"
The Doctor thought carefully. "The last thing I remember was talking to Rose."
Pete nodded, "You blacked out. Told us you were feeling a bit strange."
"Yeah…" The Doctor said, remembering. "I've been having headaches…really terrible ones. Where's Rose?"
"I sent her home," Pete said gently. "She needed a rest."
"Right, probably best." The Doctor sighed softly, then looked back at Pete. "How long was I out?"
"Nearly two days."
"Two days?" The Doctor shouted, stunned. "You can't be serious…two days?"
"The good thing is that they were able to run all the necessary tests while you were unconscious. They've been reviewing the results very carefully, but we've no idea what Time Lord physiology is like, no way to compare our results with what is normal for your people, so it's been difficult sorting things out."
The Doctor tried to swallow, not comforted in the least by what Pete had just told him. The ache in his head was still there as he pushed himself into a sitting position. "Show me what they've found."
As Pete helped him out of the hospital bed, unhooking wires and monitors, the Doctor looked down at the flimsy gown he was wearing. "What happened to my clothes?"
Pete stifled a smirk as he handed the doctor his jeans and shirt, turning his back so the Doctor could properly change, then the two headed down the corridor to a lab-type area where two men were analyzing a print out of something.
"Burt?" Pete called out and the men turned to look at him.
"Doctor," one man, presumably Burt, came forward with an outstretched hand, taking up the Doctor's and shaking it vigorously. He was shorter than the Doctor, and older—in looks, at least—with graying hair and watery blue eyes behind large glasses. The Doctor liked him immediately and smiled as Burt continued pumping his arm. "It's such an honor to be properly meeting you. I presided over all the tests we ran on you and I've been going over the data we've found so far. How are you feeling? Peter said you took quite a tumble. You were out for some time."
The Doctor ignored his questions. "Pete said you've had a bit of trouble figuring me out?"
"I'm afraid so," Burt nodded, but then continued more cheerfully. "We've collected blood samples, done an MRI, x-rays, the whole lot. Want to see?"
The Doctor nodded and Burt led him over to where his younger associate was still standing near a lab table, looking at the Doctor awestruck. "Hello," the Doctor said with a smile. "I'm the Doctor."
"R-Roger." The man stuttered in response.
"Good to meet you, Roger, what've you got for me?"
Burt piped back up at that point. "The results from your blood test suggest that you are type O negative, which is the universal blood type on Earth, and very rare."
The Doctor smiled at that as he assimilated this new knowledge.
"There is, however, one difference. Type O blood types have both Anti-A and Anti-B antibodies present—it's the only blood type on Earth that does. One of the antibodies in your blood appears to be mutated."
Burt indicated to a microscope and the doctor squinted through the lens at the slide below. He was familiar with the different blood group systems of Earth and the antibodies present in the blood stream. As Burt had said, there were two antibodies floating in the sample of blood. One Y-shaped human antibody, and one X-shaped antibody. As a Time Lord, his extra-cellular matrix had been very different from that of humans. Time Lords didn't have antibodies, but their blood was highly adaptive. It was possible that in response to the meta-crisis, his blood adapted to something that would be compatible with that of a human, but with no place for the extra properties to go, they mutated.
"Have you worked out how the X antibody will affect me?"
"Not yet, but it seems to be in perfect harmony with the normal antibodies. You're quite remarkable, Doctor," Burt was telling him. "Both as a Time Lord and as a human."
"What else have you got?" He asked, ignoring the compliment.
Burt waved him over to where a few x-rays were hung up against a backlight. "Skeletal structure, digestive system, musculature, endocrine, reproductive system, cardiovascular system all appear to be completely human and functioning very well."
The Doctor looked at his completely different, and now human, structure. Gone were his extra ribs along with his second heart, and his second liver. His cardiovascular and pulmonary systems were unrecognizable to him. He now had lungs—human lungs—instead of the pulmonary tubes his Gallifreyan ancestors had been born with. He felt overwhelmed by all the changes, not quite accepting this new form of being. He needed to sit down, to think…
Burt was moving on though, pointing to an x-ray of the Doctor's head. "This however…isn't."
The Doctor wasn't sure if Burt meant that it wasn't human or wasn't functioning well and his single heart raced as he waited for the little man to continue. "By all accounts it looks like a human brain—thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus—there all there… but so is this."
The Doctor looked at the area Burt pointed to at the anterior of the hypothalamus. A small, bulbous region that almost looked like a second Thalamus. Gallifreyan's had very large, complex brains that made what the Doctor did possible—telepathy, enhanced senses, the ability to perceive time itself. It was the single-most organ that made them Time Lord's. And now, all that was left of that brain, was squashed up into a tiny ball, locked away in this inferior brain.
No wonder he had headaches. And then, it suddenly made sense…the human thalamus regulated the sensory system. Humans only had five senses, but Time Lord's had seven—sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, telepathy and time. There was no way a human thalamus could regulate the extra two senses, it simply wasn't built for that. His thalamus was trying to compensate by shutting down—the headaches, the blackout—it was a built in defense mechanism…and it would probably kill him.
Now he really did sit down as he tried to wrap his mind around whatever options might be available to him. He thought back through the past several days. When he'd been created, they'd been in battle and he hadn't really stopped to think about what was different. He'd noticed small things—like having one heart, and how his senses seemed dulled—but now…he really considered it.
As a Time Lord, he could feel the Earth moving beneath his feet, hurdling around the sun at a thousand miles an hour…now he just felt dizzy from all the information he'd just been given about himself. He could no longer perceive time beyond the seconds and minutes ticking away at that moment. Was this what it was like to be human? To feel so utterly small, so lost, so insignificant? No wonder all his companions told him they weren't special...they truly weren't. Well, sure they were special to him and their timelines were important, but as creatures in the cosmos…they were very literally nothing. And now…so was he.
The Doctor stared at the images of his fate and thought, just for a second, that nothing could have frightened him more—not even staring into the time vortex itself and seeing at the rebirth of the Dalek Empire. He was forever lost and alone and he hated his fully-Time Lord counterpart more than he thought possible. Had he known? Had he realized how useless being human would be and thus had left him here, just as he, again, had left Rose? How could he do that?
The Doctor felt rage like he'd never felt before. He wanted the Doctor to pay for what he'd done. He wanted to find him...and kill him.
Burt was speaking again, breaking the Doctor out of his hate-filled thoughts. "Frankly, Doctor, I've never seen anything like this before."
For the first time since he'd taken the title of The Doctor, he felt revolted by it. "Please stop calling me the Doctor," he growled through gritted teeth. "John Smith, Theta Sigma, Hey You…anything but 'The Doctor' is fine."
The other men were taken aback for a moment and Burt blinked, "My apologizes, D—J-John."
Thete raked a hand through his hair and sighed, "No, I'm sorry…I'm just…I'm no longer the Doctor and I don't want to be called by that title ever again."
"Of course," Burt agreed softly. "Do you have any theories about the structure of your brain as it is now?"
"Oh yes…" he said ominously. "And I don't like it one bit."