Abby was sitting in the corner, unwrapping another piece of candy when the door to the room opened.

"You want a candy?" Abby asked.

"No, thank you," the Doctor said, as he walked in.

Abby turned. She had expected Owen to walk in. She tried to look past the Doctor.

"Where's Owen?" she asked.

"He's outside," the Doctor answered.

"Can I talk to him?" Abby asked.

"Talk to me a little first," the Doctor said, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel kind of funny," Abby said.

"Let me take a look at you," the Doctor said, stepping towards her.

Abby stepped back, pressing her back to the wall. The Doctor stopped.

"It's alright," he said, calmly, "I really am a doctor. I'm just going to examine you."

He pulled a stethoscope out from his pockets, put the earpieces in and held out the chest piece out towards her. She cautiously stepped towards him, allowing him to check her vital signs.

The Doctor listened intently. He seemed satisfied.

"Only one heart, but a mighty strong beat," the Doctor said.

He put the stethoscope away, laid his hand either side of her head and looked into her eyes.

"Strange shade of green, but not uncommon," the Doctor said, more to himself than Abby, "What about those headaches after you regenerated?"

"Um, there gone. But my head feels bigger, like there's more space." Abby said, feeling a little unsure. In 300 years she'd never regenerated before so everything seemed so new.

"Bigger on the inside, eh?" the Doctor asked, "tell me, what's 451 divided by 17?"

"26.5294117647058823…" Abby began rattling off decimal points, fast as lightning.

The Doctor raised his hand to stop her. "Alright," he said, "you may have inherited more than just my hair colour. Anything else?"

"There is one more thing," Abby said, "It's just that, well, I'm a girl."

"Yes," the Doctor said patiently, "and a perfectly healthy one, at that."

"It's just that before," Abby said, embarrassed, "I wasn't."

The Doctor was slightly shocked. "Are you sure?" he asked, incredulously.

"Well, yes! Of course I'm sure!" Abby said, "That's not the kind of thing you forget, Doctor!"

"But you looked…" the Doctor stopped. "What happened when you became a vampire?"

At that point, Abby turned away. She'd already shared that experience with Owen, but that was telepathically. To share it with the Doctor, she would have to put it into words and that was worse.

"I don't think I can tell you," she started to cry.

The Doctor rested his hand on her shoulder and gently turned her to face him. He put his hands on her head again and looked deep into her eyes

"I'm not a fully practised psychic, but I have my moments," the Doctor said, "Show me. Contact."

Abby closed her eyes and thought back through the last three hundred years. Only this time the Doctor was there, watching her memories as they happened, walking around in her mind. He saw all the family and friends that became her first victims. All the friends she'd had who were her age that eventually grew up and tried to rape her. The people she was forced to kill to survive. The horrifying events of Wellsville, Arizona that led her and Thomas to Los Alamos. Then, finally, the moment she was turned.

The Doctor saw the old man who attacked Abby. The face had faded with memory, but the eyes were as clear as day. They were dark eyes, evil eyes that closed in on Abby as she slept.

The Doctor felt himself slowly drift into Abby's place. The Doctor was the one in bed, who woke up to the sight of those dark eyes. The Doctor was the one who screamed in horror and ran, desperate to get away. The Doctor was the one who was over-powered by the dark man as his teeth sank into Abby's neck. The Doctor felt the man's hand running up Abby's nightdress, holding the knife that would…

"NO!" the Doctor screamed in anger, breaking contact with Abby's mind.

Not even the tranquillity of the zero room could quell his fury. He screamed at the top of his lungs as he rallied over to the wall on other side of the room. In a blind rage, he began pummelling his fists into the wall of the zero room. With every strike he cried for Abby's past. In an ideal universe, Abby would have lived a quiet life, maybe even a happy one, but that was snatched away by a monster. The Doctor kept punching wall until his knuckles bled.

Abby walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. The Doctor turned back to Abby, his eyes red raw. When he saw the sad look in her eyes, he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm so sorry," the Doctor whispered, "No one should ever have to experience that."

"Can you save me?" Abby asked, "You're a wizard, right? You can you go back and stop it?"

The Doctor stopped hugging her and stared into her eyes again.

"I can't do that, I'm sorry. So many people have died, the effect on the Web of Time would be catastrophic," the Doctor explained. "But I swear on my lives, I will find the dark man, I promise. And when I do, that beast will pay for what he did."

Abby and the Doctor embraced again.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Their moment was interrupted by a gurgling noise from Abby's stomach. The Doctor stepped back from Abby and looked at her.

"Hungry?" he asked, smiling.

"Starving," Abby said, "and I'm almost out of candy."

"Candy? No, you need some decent food," the Doctor said.

He put his arm around her shoulder and together they stepped out of the zero room.

The Doctor, Peri, Abby and Owen stood in the TARDIS console room, dressed in warm clothes for the cold Albuquerque morning. Peri had helped Abby choose hers since Abby wasn't used to dressing warmly.

The Doctor pulled a lever on the console and the doors to the TARDIS opened. The Doctor immediately stepped out, followed by Peri and Owen. It was a beautiful day and the sun had already started to melt the snow around the TARDIS.

They all turned back to see Abby still standing inside the TARDIS. Owen went back to get her.

"Come on," Owen beckoned her, "You'll be fine."

Abby walked with Owen to the doorway but stopped short of stepping out. Slowly she put her hand out into the sun and quickly drew it back, like someone testing a shower's temperature before stepping under the water.

When she looked at her hand and saw no damage, she held her hand out in the sun and kept it there. Goosebumps formed on the back of her hand. It felt so good, so warm. She looked at Owen and smiled.

Owen smiled back, realising what an incredible moment it was for her just to feel the sun on her skin. He stepped out of the TARDIS and turned back holding his hand out to her. Abby took it, closed her eyes and stepped out into the sun for the first time in centuries.

The warmth of the sun enveloped her, bringing back memories of playing in the sun with her sisters. She opened her eyes and smiled at the group.

But the smile disappeared. Her eyes hurt, the brightness of everything around her was too much for her. She ran back into the TARDIS and slammed the door.

"Abby?" Owen ran in after her, followed by the Doctor and Peri.

They found her in the corner, curled up in a ball, arms wrapped around her legs.

Owen knelt down beside her.

"Abby, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I can't go out there," she sobbed, "My eyes…"

"Are adjusting to the light," the Doctor interrupted.

Owen and Abby looked up at the Doctor.

"You've been a vampire for so long, your eyes have gotten used to nothing more than the dull glow of a light bulb," the Doctor said, "but you mustn't worry, you'll get used to sunlight."

"Come on, kids," Peri said, "let's get some breakfast."