Sorry this chapter isn't very long, but I hope it sheds some light on the subject... ;)

It's come to my attention that a few readers may not know about the significance of the pocket watch, so I have included the best explanation that I can. Also, "Human Nature" with the 10th Doctor has another example of Time-Lord-to-human changes. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Do I really need this silly thing still? Very well... Not mine! hehehe

I was not entirely alone.

Past the doorway was a small room, completely square up and down, and on the far wall was a huge television screen which covered every inch of the cold stone. On the screen, seated in a large restraining chair, was the Doctor.

I stopped cold, my hearts thudding one right after another like a horse at a full gallop. My breath came out in a whoosh, making me a bit dizzy for a moment.

"Hello," the Doctor said simply, smiling kindly at me. His voice crackled slightly from a smal speaker I hadn't seen before which was perched on the floor nearby. Realizing at once that he was looking directly at me, I stumbled forward a bit.

"You... Doctor, are you... are you alright?" My voice sounded strangely loud in this small stone room, rattling around me.

"I will be," he replied, looking seriously at me, his deep hazel eyes fixed on mine, "I... Hero, I want to apologize... for dragging you into this mess with me. This was supposed to be my battle, and you've been thrown into a lion's den." His eyes looked so old as he gazed at me, so old and so troubled. He looked even more tired than when I'd seen him before on the smaller screen, before the watch... Before...

"Doctor, what's happened to me?" I cried in spite of myself, resting a hand against my new heart – the one on the right side, "I'm... I have..."

"This will be very difficult for you to take in, Hero, but you see... we've met before. Your mother was my friend and, well, she needed a favor. I had a different face then, I was younger and Time Lords need to regenerate every so often, but I was still me... though much younger. Your mother needed to protect you from the coming Time War and... I offered her the best option. And you were the only Time Lord, that I know of, who was saved in this way."

My mouth hung open slightly as I tried to take in what he was saying. So, what I had dreamed had been the truth. Or something like the truth. Realizing that my mouth was still open I shut it promptly, embarrassed.

"I used a part of the TARDIS called the Chameleon Arch, which changed you into from a baby Time Lord into a baby human. The TARDIS hid you in a time, in a place, where you would be safe." The Doctor looked away from me for a moment, regret written on his features, "The pocket watch... You grew up with it by your side, it held the key to changing you back, all your memories, your physical form as a Time Lord..."

"I have two hearts..." I choked, feeling the two of them clash together.

The Doctor nodded, meeting my eyes once more, "I used the Chameleon Arch once, to hide, and it was not easy to change back. Not at all. Hero..." He leaned forward in his chair, and I saw that his wrists were bound tightly to it with thin strips of wire. The skin was chafed.

"Hero Smith the Hero, what you are feeling right now is perfectly normal and right, just like you are." He said this so earnestly that I blushed... and then I nodded. "I can't possibly guess what will happen next, but believe me..." His eyes seemed to twinkle slightly, and his lips curved into a small smile, "I trust you, and I know you'll be... brilliant."

I opened my mouth to answer him but found that my throat had gone completely dry. I swallowed hastily and was about to speak when a loud crash came from the speaker. I jumped, and the Doctor looked beyond the camera once more, just as he had before. Someone had opened a heavy metal door near his chair.

"You'll be brilliant, Hero," the Doctor muttered, speaking very quickly, "and you must promise to do whatever it takes, you understand me? Whatever it takes, to save yourself." There was a glow in the room with him, and I stepped back involuntarily, wishing I could reach out to him, cut through his bindings, set him free. "Promise me!" the Doctor whispered frantically, and then a large glowing figure came into view, and the screen went black.

There was a second's pause, and then,

"I must ask, if you don't mind..." The Doctor's voice was still coming out of the speaker, and I practically threw myself on it. He spoke very calmly and with authority,"I fail to see how all this... is somehow making me feel 'alone.' I mean, all of this unnecessary pain is, of course, tiresome, but why, may I ask, are you also TOYING WITH MY COMPANIONS?" This last part was spoken in a thunderous tone from the Doctor, and was followed by an electrical zapping sound and his cry of pain. After the moment of pure silence I heard the Doctor groan and then murmur, very softly, "Hero... save yourself..."

"RUN, SLAVE, BEFORE I LOSE MY PATIENCE," came a metallic voice from the speaker, then there was a loud crackling and the speaker went dead.