Sorry about the lack of update. Busy season at work. However, I do hope that I can update more often, especially since I am doing so well with the story. As always, I love reviews! Please review. Please?

Chapter 12

For the next four days, Alex focused his attentions on integrating himself into his new human life while staying in the Tyler Mansion, since the surprise Rose had for him in her flat was not yet ready to be revealed. He still didn't have a clue what she had in mind for him that would require his and her absence from the condominium but he had a feeling that, whatever it was, it was very important for their continued life together.

During his stay with the Tylers, he'd taken time to do some reading, learning as much as he could about the universe that was now his home. He found Earth's history similar to the original universe's Earth when it came to big historical fixed point events like Mount Vesuvius erupting and the American Revolutionary War. But other events like the United States' expansion west and the Hindenburg accident not happening certainly made a huge impact on the shape of political and scientific history.

Also during that time, Pete introduced him to the Research and Development division of Torchwood which, after an entire day of investigating and observation of their methods and purposes, the Doctor decided was a suitable job for him, most of the requirements of the job being similar to what he had done while working for UNIT. The news of his accepting Pete's offer brought on an impromptu celebration at the mansion, making Alex feel as if he were really being accepted as part of the Tyler clan. It was an odd feeling, he decided, especially since he never really considered himself to have any sort of family for several centuries, even when he celebrated Christmas with Rose, Jackie, and Mickey back in the Powell Estates years before. As his and Rose's stay at the mansion came to an end, he once again was grateful to his Time Lord brother for the amazing gift he'd given him by leaving both him and Rose behind. Time and space was an adventure, to be sure, but living the slow path definitely had its benefits.

As Rose and Alex finally returned to their abode, she stopped him from going in immediately.

"Close your eyes," she instructed.

He gave her a frown of confusion. "Sorry?"

"Close your eyes," she repeated with a little more emphasis.

His eyes widened at her words. "Oh, the surprise!" He grinned broadly. "I like surprises. What's my surprise?"

"It's not a surprise if I tell you what it is. Close your eyes."

The third repeat of the order had a hint of irritation that told the hybrid not to press the issue or the surprise would turn sour due to a sore Rose. He obeyed this time, a little laugh of anticipation escaping from his lips as Rose took his hands and slowly guided him through the condominium.

"Okay… you're taking me through the living room… towards the bedrooms…?"

"No cheating," she berated him. "No trying to figure out where we're going."

Another gentle laugh came from him as he resolutely stopped his recitation of what was running through his mind. The only thing that he could think of as to why Rose wanted to go towards the bedrooms was… well… reproductive biology. He really hoped that wasn't what his surprise was. Not that he didn't want to make love to Rose; he thought about it practically all the time. He just wasn't quite ready to get into the delicacies of a relationship as associated with him also being half-Time Lord, especially with what had happened the night before. He also knew that she had similar misgivings, which was quite a relief despite the fact that their hormones were driving each of them to mate. It was looking more and more like self-control was going to be the key to their relationship at this stage.

After about half a minute of blindly following Rose, the couple halted their advance.

"May I open my eyes now?" he questioned with humor in his voice.

"Not yet," she told him. He heard her moving around, shifting things before stopping. "Okay. Open them."

Slowly, he obeyed and stared at what he saw. The spare bedroom had been completely redecorated. The furniture was milk chocolate brown in color and simple in design. The bedding on the full size, extra long bed was dark blue and brown as were the drapes that covered the large window that overlooked the neighborhood park. The walls had been painted golden yellow with gentle but not too distracting swirls of orange and red, making the walls almost feel alive. The carpet was now dark red, making the room both familiar and very homey.

"So?" Rose pressed gently after a minute of watching the Doctor regarding the room with an unreadable expression. "What do you think?"

"You decorated this for me?" he questioned, turning his head towards her, his eyes glistening with emotion. Slowly, he walked over to her before enveloping her in a warm embrace. He didn't speak, worrying Rose with his silence and the slight shake of his body.

She furrowed her eyebrows, worried about his reaction. "What's the matter?"

"I… I don't know how you did it but… it… it looks like Gallifrey."

Rose felt her heart tighten at his words. Based on the way he said the last word, she could guess exactly to what he was referring. The Doctor never talked about his home planet with her, only that it had been destroyed in the Time War. She hadn't even known the name of the planet until he mentioned it only seconds ago. His silence on the matter hadn't really bothered her before, knowing that the issue was a painful one for him. As for the bedroom, she didn't know herself why she chose the color scheme that she had. When she picked them out, it just seemed to fit her Doctor so well. Now, she was wondering if she'd made a big mistake, that perhaps her choice of decoration would overwhelm the man she was coming to love every day more and more. "Do you… like it?" she questioned tentatively.

"I love it," he told her in her ear, his joy showing more on his face by the second. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. "It's… wonderful. I can't believe you did this for me." He wiped away at tears of happiness that had fallen from his eyes. "Can I decorate the walls?" Seeing the surprise on her face, he quickly reassured her. "I don't mean redecorate the walls as in repainting them. Just put up some pictures, art, that sort of thing." He quickly went to the closet and opened it. "And you organized the closet! Got shelves and drawers and everything." He turned from the closet. "And a bookcase! Brilliant! I need to rebuild my library. And a desk! I can use this as a mini workshop. You know, for making my new sonic screwdriver and other little projects." Peeking into the attached bathroom, he gave a loud and enthusiastic "HA!" He turned to her again. "You even redid the bathroom! Well, painted the walls, anyway."

She glowed happily with his joy, glad that her actions were the cause. "I figured that since we're going to be here, we needed to make this our home, not just some place to sleep in and… well… it all sort of suited you." She paused. "Want to see the rest?"

"You redecorated the whole flat? Didn't that cost a lot of money?"

"Borrowed from Dad. Well, I call it a loan; he calls it a gift. We're still debating that one."

He chuckled at her words. "Trust me. You've already lost the argument."

Rose shrugged at his words. "I know. But that doesn't stop me from protesting." Reaching over, she grabbed his hand and then gently pulled him with her out of the room and into the living area.

When having been led into his new bedroom, the Doctor had wondered slightly as to Rose's odd direction, assuming that she was trying to lead him off the trail of discovering their destination. Now, as he looked at the main area of the condominium, he knew it was because something had blocked the pathway, namely furniture. A large brown leather sectional surrounding a glass coffee table now filled where there used to be a worn out couch. A large flat screen television hung on the wall a few feet in front of the sectional. Across the way from what could now be called a living room, the small table Rose had called a dining table had been replaced with a slightly larger glass and brass table with matching brass and burgundy chairs. It still sat only four but now there was plenty of room for a meal to be put between the place settings. The walls were now light denim blue as opposed to the eggshell it had been and the ceiling received a fresh coat of bright white. The carpet was now a darker shade of blue to complement the walls. The result was that the room now seemed to have a sense of depth while still being bright and cheerful.

He gave a joyful laugh. "You're brilliant, you know that? Absolutely brilliant! It's beautiful! Oh, I can't wait to see your room!" he exclaimed, releasing her hand and bounding over to the other bedroom, a broad grin on his features.

As he suspected, Rose's bedroom fit everything he knew about her. The walls were eggplant in color and the carpet was light brown. The same large bed he had used two weeks before for his meditation was still where it had been as was the rest of the furniture, though now the dresser was missing, replaced with a completely redone closet similar to the one in the Doctor's bedroom.

"It's perfect," he complimented, coming back to Rose's side in the living area. He looked over her shoulder. "You even redid the kitchen."

"Figured it was a good idea if we were going to use it on a regular basis," she replied. Seeing the querulous look on the hybrid's face, she clarified, "I ate at Mum's most of the time."

"Right," he commented with a slight nod of his head. "Well… good thing I can cook."

Rose gave a stunted bellow of a laugh.

"What?" Alex questioned with a frown.

"Doctor, your idea of cooking is take-out. You've never cooked for as long as I've known you."

"I never had any reason to," he countered defensively.

She tilted her head slightly. "I don't think you even know how to cook."

He raised an eyebrow. "Over a thousand years old and you think I don't know how to cook."

"Well… you never had any reason to…" she teased, smiling with her tongue peeking through her teeth.

He laughed slightly with determination suddenly showed in his eyes. "Oh, those are fighting words, Rose Tyler."

"What if they are? What are you going to do about it?" she taunted.

Stepping up closer so that he was toe-to-toe with her, he looked down into her bright brown eyes. "I am going to make a dinner you won't believe."

"Really. I doubt it."

"You want to bet?"

Rose's mischievous grin spread. "I bet that I can make a better dinner than you."

"You?" Alex questioned incredulously. "Rose, if you were able to make a decent peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I'd be shocked."

"Oh, those are fighting words, Doctor," she said, deliberately imitating him.

"What if they are? What are you going to do about it?" he countered just as she had.

"I'm going to win the bet, that's what. You cook my meal; I cook yours. Loser has to do the dishes for two weeks."

He extended his hand to her and waited for her to take it. Giving it a brief shake, he declared, "Done. You are so going down," he warned before turning and heading for the kitchen, taking off his jacket and tossing it over a barstool – one of the newest additions to the condominium – as he went.

"What are you doing?" she questioned.

"Starting on my dinner for you," he replied as he opened the refrigerator to see what was available to use.

"We've got a few hours before we even have to think about cooking. Besides, after that lunch Paula made, I couldn't think of eating a thing right now."

"That's all right because it doesn't look like you have anything to eat in this place anyway… still," he added, remembering the lack of edibles the last time he was in the condominium. "You do live on take out, don't you. Guess the lack of edibles in the house means we should go shopping."

"I told you, I can't even think about food right now."

"Which is precisely why now is the perfect time to go buy groceries," the hybrid countered. He put his jacket back on and pulled her towards the door. "Never go grocery shopping with an empty stomach, Rose. Anyone will tell you that."

"And why is that?"

He stopped and gazed at her as if she had just asked him what an apple was. "Because you'll get full on all those little samples they give away and spoil your dinner."

Her laughter at his response flitted on the air. "And here I thought it had to do with buying too much food," she commented as she closed the door and locked it behind them.

If the Doctor was particular in his selection of hygiene products, he was more so with produce, Rose learned as they shopped. The half-Time Lord picked up every item he was interested in and studied each carefully, his glasses perched on his nose. Only after examining, weighing, smelling and listening to each piece of produce did he finally carefully put them in a plastic bag, cautious in his actions. Rose was surprised that he didn't once actually taste or lick a single item but she supposed that he was knowledgeable enough not to do anything that unhygienic with foodstuff. And while she could understand wanting to be meticulous with fresh fruit and vegetables, when he started to do the same with pre-packaged items (the same product released by the same brand), her impatience came full force. After gently berating him for his slowness, she gathered the rest of the groceries without more than a quick glance at expiration dates, much to the Doctor's consternation.

"You should have let me pick out the rest," he protested on the way back to the condominium. "An expiration date isn't proof of quality."

"We're talking about packaged foods, Doctor," Rose countered. "When it comes to quality, an expiration date is good enough."

"Some of those were probably under weight."

She paused thoughtfully before questioning, "Seriously?"

"At least a good 1/16th of an ounce," he confirmed.

She gave a huff. "Only you would complain about a 1/16th of an ounce."

"I want you to get your money's worth."

She smiled gently at his concern. "You let me worry about getting my money's worth. After all, it is my money, right?"

The hybrid shrugged his concession as they pulled into the parking garage of the building. After helping Rose carry in the groceries and putting them away, the Doctor immediately went to work in preparing meals. While he was meticulous with grocery shopping, he seemed to be completely random with cooking. Rose watched with a confused frown as he dumped an entire bottle of Ranch salad dressing, an entire bottle of barbeque sauce, four pieces of chicken, a whole peeled orange and its peel, and at least six tablespoons of Italian seasoning into a pot before putting it in the refrigerator and then rummaging through cabinets.

"What are you looking for?" she questioned.

"Skillet," he replied bluntly.

"Why?"

"BLTs."

"You're going to make BLTs?" she commented with amusement. "What about that chicken you just manhandled?"

"There's nothing wrong with what I did to those chicken breasts."

"Tell that to the chicken."

He shook his head at her words. "The chicken is for tomorrow night. Tonight it's BLTs. I happen to make excellent BLTs," he stated as he came up with the skillet he'd been looking for. Putting it on the stove, he turned on the heat, adding a tablespoon of butter and a dash of chili powder into it before putting in the bacon.

"Not bacon sandwiches," she added, smiling.

The Doctor looked at her with surprise. "What's wrong with BLTs? The BLT is an American classic, which is very appropriate for me since I'm supposed to be from British America. Lovely sandwich. Mind you, it won't taste quite the same using back bacon rather than streaky bacon but still…"

As he spoke, he reached into the refrigerator and took out the remaining ingredients to make the sandwiches, including a bottle of Italian dressing. Washing the tomato quickly, he cut four slices off the fruit before putting them in a bowl and pouring a small amount of dressing on them. He then put four slices of bread in the large toaster and, after pausing to flip the bacon, pulled several leaves off the head of lettuce. Again, he returned to the bacon, removing it from the heat and letting it self-cook while he retrieved the now toasted bread, lathering each slice with mayonnaise before filling the sandwich with the required ingredients, finishing them with a sprinkling of pepper and basil. The entire time, Rose watched him with interest, noting how he seemed to fulfill every step of the process without missing a single beat, a sure indication that he knew his way around a kitchen despite how haphazard it all looked.

"If that's as good as it looks, I think I'm in trouble," she commented as he cut the two sandwiches in half.

"Why's that?" he questioned, turning around to pull out a bag of crisps and adorning each plate with a handful.

"Because it means I've already lost the bet. If this is your idea of a sandwich, I can't wait to see what you do with a proper meal."

The Doctor grinned at her words as he presented the filled plates to her. "Told you."

She accepted the plates with a grin. "Don't think this means I concede, though. I still could be wrong and you're just a sandwich master," she told him as she carried the plates to the table.

The Doctor followed shortly thereafter with a couple of glasses of water, giving Rose her glass before taking a seat. He nodded to her plate. "Go on. Eat."

Smiling at his insistence, she picked up half of the sandwich and took a bite, humming in delight of the taste and gaining a wide grin from her friend. Alex once satisfied that Rose was enjoying her meal, took his own bite and the two ate for a while in silence.

"So, what are you going to do tomorrow?" she finally questioned as she started into the second half of her sandwich. Seeing the questioning look on his face, she clarified, "You don't start at Torchwood until next week and I'll be at work all day which means that you'll be on your own until I get home. Of course, you can call if there's a problem."

He blinked at her words, realizing that, ever since Bad Wolf Bay, he'd never once been completely on his own. There has always been someone around, whether it was Rose, her family, or the staff at Torchwood's medical facility. There was the short time in the hotel room in Norway admittedly but, even then, he wasn't completely alone; Jackie was in the room right next to his and Rose was only down in the lobby. This time everyone he knew would be several miles away. There wouldn't be an immediate rescue if he felt he needed their presence. This would be a true test of the drug he knew he would have to take for the rest of his life and it was a bit frightening to face.

Seeing his uncomfortable expression, Rose reached over the table to touch his hand. "You okay?"

Hearing her question, he immediately refocused on her. "I'm fine," he assured. He seemed to think for a moment. "Yeah. Umm… I'm not sure what I'll do." He shrugged after a moment. "Make dinner, obviously, since I started the marinade. Maybe go to the library again, learn some more about this universe. If I'm going to integrate into this world, I should update myself as thoroughly as possible."

As he spoke, there was a knock on the door, prompting Rose to stand and answer. Receiving a large packet from the building attendant, and giving him a thank you and a tip, she returned to Alex with a smile. "Dad couriered your papers," she told him. Placing the packet in front of him, she dragged a chair around the table to sit next to him, obviously curious as to what was in the parcel other than those little things that she and the Doctor had come up with that night.

The half-alien stared at the package for a moment, his eyes wide. "Wow. It's… big."

"Well, what do you expect?" she returned with a laugh. "It's your life." Seeing the forlorn look on his face, she corrected herself immediately. "What I mean is… this is all the things you need to be integrated into this society. It doesn't change who you were or who you are now. It just gives your current life structure. And structure is good, yeah?"

He took a slow breath. "I'd never really had a structured life and for the last several weeks I've had nothing but. I'm just not sure that I'm ready for it to be an integral part of my life." He looked at her lovingly. "But as long as I'm with you, it'll be… fantastic."

Her face brightened with excitement. "Go on. Open it," she encouraged.

The Doctor wiggled his eyebrows slightly at her before ripping the packet open like a child unwrapping a gift. "Here we go! Birth certificate. Born in Victoria, British America, 19 October 1971… good… Father's name, mother's name. Good, good. Brother, alive but estranged." He paused thoughtfully as he considered how the Time Lord was a part of his life, even separated. "Well, he does travel a lot," he conceded, turning back to the file. "Sister…" He took a slow breath before he read the next word. "Deceased." He let out the breath he took. "Donna…" Gaining strength from Rose's sympathetic hug, he continued his perusal of the information the packet contained, finding a small photo between the first sheet and the second. "A baby photo? He actually gave me a baby photo?"

"Computer software de-aged you as you are now to determine what you probably looked like through the years. That way you have some mementos. The lab techs even figured out what your parents probably looked like and created photos of your life with them, along with computer-generated pictures of your siblings. We figured we'd give you a chance to read through this before you decided on what changes you want made and what items you want as keepsakes."

"Keepsakes?" he asked with interest.

"You know… Mother's wedding ring, Father's gold watch, clay pot you made in primary school… that sort of thing."

He looked at her querulously. "I'm not the first person you've created a whole new life for, obviously."

She nodded in agreement. "Torchwood gets the occasional alien friendly who wants sanctuary on Earth for various reasons. Of course, we make sure about their intentions first. The last thing we need is to be harboring fugitives from the law or getting into an interstellar incident when we haven't even officially made first contact yet." She gestured to the packet. "Keep going," she instructed. "I don't know what's in there exactly. Just a general idea." She tilted her head to look at the photo representation of Alex as a baby. "By the way… you were adorable."

He gave a slightly knowing grin. "Well… look at me now. Of course, I was adorable." He moved the photo out of the way to find a newspaper article – obviously forged – of his birth announcement followed by a photo of the baby being held by a smiling couple. "Very close," he complimented. "Almost looks like my Gallifreyan parents." He turned another page. "Schooling: Queen's University in Victoria." He frowned slightly and turned to Rose with questioning. "Queen's University? No Cambridge? Wait, Cambridge is in the UK so it would have to be a university in North America. What about Harvard?"

"Harvard is harder to forge than Queen's University," she responded. Seeing the slightly hurt look on his face, she reassured him, "Queen's is a very good university. One of the highest rated schools in the world. Believe me, your going to Queen's is going to gain you a lot of respect."

"Never even heard of Queen's University," he commented. Suitably mollified however, he returned to his reading. "Doctorates in medicine, physics and history. Left British America two years ago, became a citizen of Great Britain. Nothing of major significance happened in my life other than my parents' and sister's deaths. But it looks like I have a glowing letter of recommendation from a Mr. Heywood Roland." He frowned slightly at the name. "Who's Heywood Roland?"

"He's CEO of Roland Technology, a former competitor of Cybus Industries. He's a friend of Torchwood, sometimes gives us reference recommendations if he likes what he hears. He also produces and distributes alien technology we've reverse engineered and determined to be safe and of public use. Apparently, Dad impressed him with his description of you. You can get any job you want in the world with that letter... if you change your mind about Torchwood, that is."

He flipped through the rest of the pages. "Looks like the rest are documents I need to keep. Tax papers for the last two years. Bank account papers along with £200 in cash. Credit cards… Seriously, three cards? For one person? Medical insurance paperwork. Dental insurance paperwork… Blimey, you humans have a lot of insurance policies."

Rose slapped his arm in protest. "Oi, you're human too."

"Half human," he corrected with feigned offense. He raised a collection of papers. "Life insurance? Why would I need life insurance?"

"It's required for all Torchwood employees and their families, as is medical and dental. It's for your benefit."

"How is life insurance for my benefit? I don't get to see the money if it's cashed in because I'd be dead. I suppose Torchwood does, eh? Cashing in on their alien investment, are they?" he demanded, his attitude shifting just as quickly as a light being turned on.

"It isn't like that," Rose replied vehemently.

"Making sure that they get their money back when I die?" he continued as if she hadn't said a word.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be so daft! Both Dad and I thought that you would want this."

"You want me dead?"

"No!" she protested. "Doctor, we would've had you sign on all this insurance anyway because you can't keep your nose out of trouble. I know right now you're angry but just think about it. Eventually something's going to come up and you'll just dive right in regardless of the consequences and we'll be left trying to answer for your actions, namely why we let you get involved in the first place. Not to mention that you have to go to a Torchwood medical facility for all your medical needs anyway because you are half-alien. Without proper insurance, you'd be wiped out financially. Add in the ramifications of the public finding out that we have extraterrestrials actually living among us – if you went to a public hospital, that is. This way Torchwood covers all your medical expenses if you do get hurt during an incident and most of your expenses for regular medical needs, we don't get a massive public panic from idiots thinking you are trying to take over the world, and if God forbid you die at least the people you love are taken care of financially. Isn't that what you want?"

Alex ran his hand through his hair, clearly upset. While his emotions were telling him that Pete and Rose were conspiring against him, his intelligence confirmed that what he was feeling was paranoia brought on by his mental condition and that the precautions they wanted him to take were completely logical. He sniffed at her words. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I appreciate all that you're doing for me. I really do. It's just…"

"You're afraid," Rose concluded gently.

"No," he contradicted without conviction before shaking his head to negate his own words. "Yes," he admitted. "I've lived like this before… day in, day out, stuck in one time and place and… I don't think I can do it again. I…" He exhaled, rubbing his hands over his face before swallowing tightly. "I can't do this," he proclaimed one more time before abruptly standing from the table and marching into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Rose quickly stood to follow him, stopping at the shut door when she heard sobbing coming from the other side. Knocking softly, she entered the room without permission to find Alex curled on the bed, his face buried in a pillow he hugged.

"Doctor…" she started.

"Go away!"

She hesitated, her heart breaking as she watched him pouring his emotions out through tears. "Doctor, I can't pretend to understand how you're feeling with this situation. I've never been a biological metacrisis," she added jokingly, hoping to get a positive reaction and gaining nothing for the effort. "But you know I'm here for you, no matter what. And I know you can live your life this way. You can do anything."

"No, I can't," he murmured between sobs. "You don't understand. You'll never understand. How could you? You're human and you'll always be human. Me? The only time I was human, I was rubbish. Mr. John Smith, great history teacher, rubbish in every other way. Well, Alexander Smith isn't much better. I can't even be a proper human biologically. No, I have to be half-human, half-Time Lord with a mental disorder that rears its ugly head at the drop of a pin."

His comment about his mental state brought everything to light in Rose's mind. Going over to him, she gently put her hand on his shoulder. She remembered the consultations with Dr. Gentillini and Harry Sullivan. They told all of them - Alex and the Tylers - that Alex can't be talked out of his mood swings and that the best thing they could do for him, if he did have an episode, was to let him muddle through it while being there to support him and, if the situation called for it, to assist him in taking his medicine.

Given how drastic Alex's mood changed, Rose made a supposition. "You forgot to take your medicine today, didn't you." Not getting a response one way or the other, she pressed the issue gently. "Doctor, did you take your medicine today?"

"What if I didn't? What are you going to do about it?"

She sighed softly and bent over to kiss his temple. "I'll get it for you. Promise me you'll take it?"

Seeing him nod in agreement, she went back into the living room and, locating his suitcase, retrieved the prescription. For a moment, she thought about leaving the bottle on his nightstand. However, the fear that he might try to hurt himself by swallowing the entire contents made her decide against that idea. Instead, she pulled out one pill and left it and a glass of water. Then, leaving the door open so that she could keep track of his actions – she'd been warned by Dr. Gentillini that Alex shouldn't be left entirely on his own when he was in a depressive state – she unpacked their suitcases.

She was pleased to find the pill missing and the glass empty when she returned to the Doctor's room to put away his belongings. He hadn't moved much from his position, however, though he had stopped crying and had resorted to staring at a wall.

"Gallifrey burned, you know," he finally said upon her third entry into the room, her hands full of his toiletries. "I made it burn. So many dead and I killed them all." He paused. "I'm a horrible person."

"No, you're not," Rose responded, putting down the toiletries and going over to rub his back. "You're a good man who's had to do some terrible things for the right reasons. And I know right now you don't think I'm telling you the truth but I am." Seeing him bury his face into his pillow, she brushed his hair with her hand. "Get some rest. You'll feel better once the medicine kicks in."

Leaving him to do just that, she returned to putting his possessions away, hoping that she was correct in her statement. She ended her day sitting in front of the television, falling asleep on the couch with the assurance that, since he too was sleeping, no harm would come to the Doctor.