Rose watched The Vigilante from where she was sitting on the couch. "Are you always like this?"
"Peanut flavoured? I think so."
"No, I meant so... random."
"Yep. It helps me think." Rose raised an eyebrow."Okay then." She watched him twiddle seemingly random controls. She had watched The Doctor do the same thing many times. Despite their differences, the two Time Lords controlled their TARDISs in the same way, hurrying around the console, moving the most unrelated things with exact precision. Rose watched as The Vigilante jumped onto the console, and hugged the central pillar. "What are you doing?"
"Checking the temperature of the atoms inside. I've toasting some bread in there, and I don't want it to burn." Rose's eyebrow went even higher. Maybe The Doctor was right, this guy did seem insane. Rose leant back and traced the patterns on the ceiling with her eyes. "So, The Doctor was telling me this story, about a guy in the Time War."
"It was probably him. Bastard likes to boast."
"No, he said that everyone who knew him feared him, and that he was insane." The Vigilante didn't answer, and Rose looked back at him. He was standing with his back to her, his head hung. "Yeah. That was me."
"But... why?" The Vigilante seemed to shrink into himself, and sighed. "Before the war, I had a daughter. Her mother, my wife, died during childbirth. My daughter was my life, I loved her with all of my heart. Then the war started. We managed to hide for a few months. I didn't want to be a part of it, I was scared I would die, and my daughter would be left alone." He paused, and rose saw that his face was wet with tears. "The Daleks eventually found us. They...they forced me to watch, as they killed my daughter. One shot, straight to the chest. They were too cold to do it from behind, so she couldn't see it coming. They shot her again, when she started to regenerate. She died looking at me." The tears were openly flowing from his eyes now, his voice ragged. "I still don't know why, but they didn't kill me. They just left. I spent the next two days holding my daughter's body and crying. I was so angry, and so sad. I joined the military soon after. I went into every battle wanting two things. I wanted to kill as many Daleks as I could, hoping they could feel the pain in me. And I wanted to die. Everything I had ever loved was gone. I just didn't care anymore. Every battle, I wished for the shot that would kill me, so I could see my wife and daughter again. But the shot never came. The war ended, and I felt so alone. Everywhere I went, I kept thinking I would see them, in a reflection, or a painting. But they were gone." Rose got up from the couch, and wrapped an arm around The Vigilante's shoulders. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea. You always seem like such a happy person."
"It's easier to ignore the pain, than deal with it. …... I miss them so much." Rose stared at his face. Moments of anger and sadness flashed across it. "Meranda. My daughter's name was Meranda." The two of them stayed standing like that, The Vigilante's tears still dripping onto the console.