Joan tended to the back of the his head, while Kiam played on a blanket near by. He was whining, he couldn't help it. He felt as though he had done something wrong with how roughly she handled his head.
"Stop it. I get boys causing less fuss than this."
"Because it hurts."
The door flew open and Martha ran in, "Are they all right?"
"Excuse me, Martha. It's hardly good form to enter a master's study without knocking."
"Sorry. Right. Yeah." He watched as she went back to the door and knocked on it.
She leaned down and noticed Kiam was just as happy as ever and looked up concerned at him. "But is he all right? They said you fell down the stairs, Sir."
"No, it was just a tumble, that's all."
"Have you checked for concussion?" Martha asked not being able to stop herself.
"I have. And I daresay I know a lot more about it than you."
"Sorry. I'll just tidy your things."
"I was just telling Nurse Redfern, Matron, about my dreams. They are quite remarkable tales. I keep imagining that I'm someone else, and that I'm hiding."
"Hiding? In what way?" Joan asked.
"They're almost every night. This is going to sound silly."
"Tell me."
"I dream, quite often, that I have two hearts."
"Well, then. I can be the judge of that. Let's find out." She pulls out her stethoscope and puts it to his chest. Martha comes over and discretely picks up Kiam and carries him over to his cot. Knowing that if Joan decided to listen to his heart, too, she would find a double heart beat.
"I can confirm the diagnosis. Just one heart, singular."
He eyes Martha, slightly confused. "I have er, I have written down some of these dreams in the form of fiction. Not that it would be of any interest."
"I'd be very interested."
"Well, I've never actually shown it to anyone before." He hands Joan his Journal.
"A Journal of Impossible Things."
She opens it and spreads it out so he can see it too. He walks over to the cot and giving Martha a look again, picks up Kiam and snuggles him to his chest.
"Just look at these creatures. Such imagination."
"It's become quite a hobby of mine while he sleeps."
"It's wonderful. And quite an eye for the pretty girls."
"Oh no, no, she was Kiam's mother. Her name was Rose. I called her, Rose. She passed away." He said sadly. Then seeing a picture of the Tardis he smiled. "Ah, that's the box. The blue box. It's always there. Like a like a magic carpet. This funny little box that transports me to far away places.:
"Like a doorway?"
"I sometimes think how magical life would be if stories like this were true."
"If only."
"There just dreams"
-DW-
He was walking outside enjoying the cool night air of the village. He had taken Kiam out to the nearby pond for some fresh air and had lost tack of time. He had happily played with him in the grass, holding the little boy's hands as he tried to walk. He had been late to crawling and John worked tirelessly with him to stretch his legs, hoping that nothing was wrong. He frowned as a picture of his son, in a weird machine, hooked up to wires flashed across his mind. It was gone just as quickly. He shook his head and smiled at him.
"Soon you'll be walking all on your own," He said happily. "You're going to be a runner like your dad."
He now was heading back to the school. He had placed Kiam in his coat to keep him warm. And he was sound asleep with only his face poking out. His brown hair as messy as his father's.
He came across Martha and Jenny sitting outside of the local pub.
"Anything wrong, ladies? Far too cold to be standing around in the dark, don't you think."
"There, there. Look in the sky." Joan said.
He looks up to see a light crossing the sky.
"Oh, that's beautiful." Jenny said.
He watched it disappear before speaking up. "All gone. Commonly known as a meteorite. It's just rocks falling to the ground, that's all."
"It came down in the woods."
"No, no, no. No, they always look close, when actually they're miles off. Nothing left but a cinder. Now, I should escort you back to the school. Ladies?"
"No, we're fine, thanks," Martha Replied.
"Then I shall bid you goodnight." He holds out his free elbow to Joan and she wraps her hand around it. He adjust Kiam to hold him easier with his other arm and starts back to the school.
Once back at the school, he walks her to her room and bids her goodnight. He goes into his room and takes off his coat being careful not to wake the sleeping child. He changes him and lays him on the bed while he gets ready.
Laying down next to his son, he scoops him up and lays him on his chest. He covers up and puts his hand on his back. "As lovely as my dreams are, you wouldn't be safe." he says softly. "Being that adventurer is no way to raise a child. Though, I wish I could show you those stars."
-DW-
He was dreaming again
"Get down! They're following us. They can follow us wherever we go. Right across the universe. They're never going to stop. Martha, you trust me, don't you?"
"Of course I do," Martha replied.
"Because it all depends on you. Martha, this watch is me."
"Right, okay, gotcha. No, hold on. Completely lost."
"Those creatures are hunters. They can sniff out anyone, and me being a Time Lord, well, I'm unique. They can track me down across the whole of time and space."
"Huh. And the good news is?"
"They can smell me, they haven't seen me. And their life span'll be running out, so we hide. Wait for them to die."
"But they can track us down."
"That's why I've got to do it. I have to stop being a Time Lord. I'm going to become human." He hits a button and a headset is lowered from the ceiling.
"Never thought I'd use this. All the times I've wondered."
"What does it do?"
"Chameleon Arch. Rewrites my biology. Literally changes every single cell in my body. I've set it to human." He put the watch in the headset.
"What about Kiam? Won't they be able to smell him. He is Timelord after all."
"He is also half human and only a baby. his scent should be light enough that it throw them off. Now, the Tardis will take care of everything. Invent a life story for me, find me a setting and integrate me. It can't do the same for you or Kiam. You'll just have to improvise. I should have just enough residual awareness to let you in and remember that he is my son. But if I don't I need you to promise me, that you'll take care of him."
"I promise," Martha replied." But, hold on. If you're going to rewrite every single cell, isn't it going to hurt?"
"Oh, yeah. It hurts."
He tucked Kiam into bed safely away from the control room and kissed him on his head.
Sitting down in the machine, he put the helmet on and began to scream.
Jerking awake, in a cold sweat, it took a minute to remember where he was. He looked for his journal to write down the dream and than remembered he had lent it to Joan. He placed his arm over his sleeping son and closed his eyes.