Chapter Three: The Doctor's Secret

Knowing full well that it would anger Regina, Henry snuck out of the house after dark to see the Doctor again. Ever since the Doctor arrived in Storybrooke, Henry had found someone to put more faith into for his mission to break the dreaded curse over the Storybrooke townspeople and restore them to their fairy tale personas. Even though he had plenty of faith in Emma, his own mother, there was only enough she could have done with Regina always looking over her shoulder. There was something more special about the Doctor, and Henry was tempted that night to find out more for the benefit of seeing the extent of the stranger's abilities.

As soon as Henry arrived in town, the first place he went was the police box that he saw the Doctor go into earlier that morning. It was still where it was the last time he saw it – on the street corner across from Granny's Diner. The light emitting from the inside and outside of the police box irradiated the street corner more than the streetlights and other areas on that part of town. It was almost welcoming to Henry to see the police box that way, which was why he had no trouble walking right up to it and knocking on the door.

The right door swung open at the instant Henry knocked, and the Doctor stuck his head out; he smiled as soon as he saw the boy. "Ah! Henry! What brings you here this fine evening?"

"I wanted to see how everything's going with the investigation."

"Ah, yes. The investigation." The Doctor seemed a little tentative with his answer. "Well, I did in fact make an interesting discovery at the site of this sinkhole Sheriff Swan and Miss Mary Margaret showed me today." He then removed his "discovery" from his coat pocket and showed it to Henry. "The funny thing is that I just cannot make a clue of what it is or used to be. My equipment just isn't picking up on its origin."

Henry closely gazed upon the item in the Doctor's hand; he had seen it before when his adoptive mother picked up another just like it at the sinkhole site. It was a piece of decorative glass; something that could have been part of some sort of ceremonial adornment. "I've seen that before," Henry told the Doctor. "My mom – my adopted mom – picked up another piece at the same place."

"Does she still have it?" The Doctor asked, sounding a bit anxious.

Henry shook his head disappointedly. "No. I think she got rid of it right before she closed off the sinkhole area."

Feeling dejected himself, the Doctor sighed while glancing over the piece of glass in his hands. "If only we could find more pieces like this, the TARDIS could figure out where it came from."

"The what?" Henry was stuck on that one strange word that came out of the Doctor's mouth: "TARDIS."

The Doctor, of course, acted as if he did not notice the boy's confusion and quickly changed the subject. "Shouldn't you be in bed right now?"

"It's seven o'clock."

The Doctor glanced at his wristwatch and realized that Henry was correct. "Dear me. Time seems to be getting past me by the second."

"You didn't answer my question."

Refocusing on Henry, the Doctor asked, "What question would that be?"

"What's a TARDIS?"

As much as he wanted to continue the charade of not knowing what Henry was talking about, the Doctor was forced into acknowledging his own blunder, uttering the true name of the so-called "police box" that he currently was standing in front of with Henry. "Alright! Come on in!"

At first, Henry was puzzled over what the Doctor had given him permission to do until he finally stepped into the police box with him. What Henry saw next astounded him: an interior room that was ten times bigger than the police box outside. It was totally alien in design with a variety of equipment that he would not have the slightest idea how to operate, even if he were told how. Upon seeing this bizarre room, Henry started to realize exactly what the Doctor really was.

"You're an alien?" He shouted in surprise.

The Doctor shushed him while closing the door to conceal the unusually large interior of the "police box" from anyone who passed it by outside. As soon as he and Henry got their privacy, the Doctor established Henry's suspicions. "Yes, Henry, I am an alien. A Time Lord, to be exact."

"Time Lord?" Henry grinned on the name. "That is such a cool alien name! Are there more like you out there?"

The Doctor scowled. "No…No, Henry, I'm the last one of my kind."

Seeing that expression on his face as he answered, Henry guessed that it was a sensitive subject for the Doctor to talk about; so, in the Doctor's fashion, he quickly changed the subject to something more uplifting. "So are you really a doctor or is that just a nickname?"

"I like to think of it as a title, honestly." The Doctor was more openhearted with this answer. "I've been known as 'The Doctor' for many years…hundreds of years."

Henry seemed more and more intrigued with each bit of information he received about his new friend. "How old are you?"

"Eleven hundred and three, the last time I checked. Maybe older. I can never really keep up these days." That scowled look returned as he added, "But it won't really matter now."

"Why's that?" Henry curiously queried.

The Doctor was quiet for a long moment, simply staring upon Henry with eyes that were clearly filled with overwhelming sorrow. He then moved over to the hexagonal console at the center of the room where he commenced in flipping and pressing various switches and buttons. As he had done so, he finally addressed Henry once more, except he did not answer the question the boy had asked. Instead, he uttered, "Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

"Huh?"

"It's what 'TARDIS' stands for, in case you're wondering, which many people I bring into the TARDIS do."

Henry nodded understandingly, but he still remained confused on what the Doctor meant by his previous statement. Rather than ask again, he decided to take a guess, using his skills in observation to try and figure the Doctor out. "You're running from something…aren't you?"

The Doctor looked up from his console and towards Henry; their eyes connected for a long, awkward time before he returned his focus back on the console. "Not running from, Henry…merely preparing," he told the boy.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure I can help."

The Doctor chuckled. "You couldn't possibly help me with this problem, Henry. It's one that even I can't figure out. It's a fixed point in time, which means that I can't do anything to stop it, even with this magnificent time machine of mine."

It was then that Henry finally figured out the Doctor's problem.

"You're going to die."

His impressive deduction led the Doctor's focus away from the console again and back on him, his scowl seeming to have become more intense than before.

"That's it. Isn't it?" Henry asked.

"Yes." The Doctor immediately confirmed. "By this date, I'm already well dead."

Henry felt down; he wished that he did not figure out the Doctor's secret now that he knew how bad it was. Despite this, Henry found himself curious enough to ask, "How does it happen?"

The Doctor managed to pull off an amused (albeit depressed) grin. "I'll show you."