As the Doctor wiped the blood off the face of the now-unconscious Marlowe, Rose looked on in concern. "How…how did he do that?" she asked, taking a step back from Marlowe.
The Doctor had concerns of his own, and he muttered to himself as though he had forgotten Rose was standing right next to him. "'They promised.' That's what he said. 'They promised.' Who are they?" He was wiping off a patch of blood from Marlowe's chin when he noticed the chain around Marlowe's neck. "Hello, what's this?" The chain held a large metal disc with strange markings. The Doctor promptly ripped it off of Marlowe's neck and ran over it with the sonic screwdriver. "Thagesian, I think." He furrowed his brow. "What would Thagesians be doing all the way out here?" He bit down on the medallion. "Yep, definitely Thagesian." Rose gave the Doctor a Look. "What?" He asked, the medallion still hanging out of his mouth.
At that point, Marlowe awoke with a jolt. He was now completely lucid. "Who are you?" he asked, eying the Doctor suspiciously.
"Where did you get this?" The Doctor demanded, gesturing to the medallion. His expression was stern.
"That's mine! Give that back!" Marlowe jumped to his feet and snatched it out of the Doctor's hand. He seemed to be in a state of panic. "What do you think you're doing, stealing off an injured man?"
"He was trying to help you!" Rose exclaimed, moving to stand protectively in front of the Doctor. The Doctor didn't respond, just staring at Marlowe thoughtfully.
"I don't need help!" Marlowe snarled.
"Clearly." The Doctor said, his voice eerily soft. "Someone's already protecting you."
A look of pure fear passed briefly across Marlowe's face, but he quickly hid it behind anger and hostility. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"You're supposed to be dead, Marlowe," the Doctor answered bluntly. "And I think you know it."
"You healed yourself," Rose said. "A normal person would have died from those wounds, and you're up walking around without a scratch."
Marlowe shrugged, trying to appear much more casual than he truly was. "I was just lucky, I guess."
The Doctor shook his head. "That wasn't luck. What's going on, Marlowe?"
"Nothing!" Marlowe snapped. "I don't even know you people. Just leave me alone!" And with that, he stormed out. The Doctor sighed and let him go.
"It's not nothing, is it?" Rose asked.
"It's not nothing." The Doctor agreed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the medallion. "This represents a transaction made with the Thagesians. It's like a sales receipt."
Rose looked at the medallion with confusion, pointing at it, and then at the door Marlowe had just stormed out of, and then back at the medallion. "Wait…Marlowe took that from you…and now…but…how did you…get that?"
"Marlowe bought an extension on his life…but that's impossible! He couldn't have known he was going to die, could he?" The Doctor began pacing frantically back and forth across the length of the sitting room.
"You're not listening to me at all, are you?" Rose asked.
"And more importantly, what did he sell them in return?"
Rose sighed. "Yeah. Definitely not listening to me."