A/N: So this is where the Doctor gets his revenge for Talia getting him tipsy at the ball. I know this seems over done, really over done, but this is the Doctor. Even in his Tenth life, he still didn't fully understand human emotions. Besides, I couldn't come up with a more dramatic way for me to tell him...well...just wait and see ^_^

Chapter 10: The Doctor Goes Too Far

"So, the next spot is Paris, Earth in…1953 He seemed trying to act very normal. I was going to make a comment about the amount of cracks in the universe we had come across (or tried to come across) when even one is meant to be impossible, but then I decided against saying anything.

I smiled. "Earth! Nice, I've had enough alien worlds. But, knowing our luck, we'll probably run into something."

He shot me a worried look. "If you want, you can stay in the TARDIS this time. Relax."

I shook my head. "Nah, wouldn't miss it! So, has the TARDIS given us any idea on where to find the crack?"

"What?" he looked blank.

I stared, sure he was joking. "The rip in the universe? The hole leading to Pete's world? That's what we're doing, isn't it? Looking for Rose?" I had to admit that I felt a slight pang of jealousy. I knew how much the Doctor loved Rose…but each day it became harder and harder to hide my own feelings for him that had become so much stronger than the crush I used to have on David Tennant.

"Y-yeah. Of course. Well, there's not one here exactly but I just wanted to do a quick stop off. There's something I wanted to show you."

He spoke hesitantly at first but more natural towards the end, so I passed off his brief memory lapse as a side-effect of his hangover. "Okay. Let's go!"

Grinning, he landed us and I went to open the door, coming face to face with the Eiffel Tower itself. "Wow. Paris is…not as amazing as I was expecting."

The streets were filthy. Rubbish and who knows what else littered the cobbled ground…and the many people dressed all fancy with their noses in the air just walked past!

The Doctor grimaced. "Yeah, not the best time for Paris, the 50s. Anyway, I hope you're not afraid of heights; we're going right to the top."

"Of the Eiffel Tower?"

"Yup."

I chuckled at the way he popped the 'p'. "You won't find me scared of heights. Except I am scared of spiders…"

We looked at each other and chorused, "Racnoss."

I shivered, then followed him towards the elevator. He held up the psychic paper, which I assumed was some pass or something to get to the top free of charge, for the man in the booth nodded and opened the elevator.

We stepped in and it started going up. I looked over at the Doctor, surprised at his silence. Usually, he would be giving me a history lesson on how the tower was built, or what alien influence had impacted on Paris. But he was frowning.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "I just feel like something's waiting for us up there."

"Oh, no! Don't say that!" I gasped. "It's probably true!"

He gave me a look that told me he wasn't joking.

The elevator clanged to a stop. The doors opened…

And I almost passed out in fright. Standing in front of us were three Daleks, weapons pointed right at us.

"It is the Doctor and his companion! Exterminate! Exterminate!" they screamed.

The Doctor's screwdriver was in his hand in a heartbeat, buzzing at the elevator's control panel. The doors shut again just as the lasers were fired. I felt light-headed at how close we had just come to death.

"Daleks!" I gasped. "They bloody follow you everywhere!"

"Don't swear." He admonished vacantly, staring at the doors in shock. He was listening for something. "They're following us down, gliding down after us."

"What do we do?" I asked.

He bit his lip in thought. "As soon as those doors open, run for the TARDIS." He told me.

"You'll follow, right?"

"Of course. I just want you to go first." He stressed. "I'm not going to stop. I'll be right behind you."

"Okay."

Ding!

I sprinted for the blue wooden door, keeping my ears open for the sound of the Doctor's converse behind me. The screams of the Daleks seemed to burn into my brain.

"Exterminate the Doctor! Exterminate his companion!"

I threw myself into the TARDIS. The Doctor was a few steps behind, having to avoid lasers left, right and centre. As he, too, leapt through the doorway, a laser struck him, briefly outlining his skeleton.

"Doctor!" I yelled.

He was shivering and shaking with pain, but he dragged himself up to slam the door shut. Then he pointed the screwdriver at the console to get us in flight again.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I knelt next to him. He lay down fully, panting, his face screwed up with the intensity of the pain.

"No." I whispered, cradling his face with my hands. "No, no, no. You can't go. You can't regenerate. Not now."

He lifted a hand to show me. "It's too late." He gasped.

It was beginning to glow. With a choking sob, I interlocked my fingers with his. "Please. There must be something you can do. Channel the energy into the TARDIS, maybe. Surely she could handle it. Please!" I couldn't hold it back any longer. Through my tears, I told him. "I love you…in this form. I may not if you change. Your personality will be different. Your face will be different. Doctor, I love you, and I don't want you to go."

I brought his shining hand to my cheek, gripping it as though the very force of my emotion would keep him here.

"My next form…will love you, just as I do." He murmured.

I sucked in a gasp; he had just said it. Those words. The words that had never left his mouth before.

"B-but it won't be you." I insisted.

"I'll…do what…I can." He vowed. "Now, get back!"

I obeyed, knowing from experience how destructive a regeneration could be. He pulled himself slowly to his feet, struggling with every movement. Then it truly began, and he exploded with golden energy.

I watched from the other side of the room, eyes fixed on his face, anticipating the change. A few seconds passed and then my already aching heart seemed to twist and squeeze itself into a very painful knot; his features started to morph.

Then just as suddenly, the golden light disappeared and he was grinning at me, same as always.

"Doctor?" I felt shaken.

"And that, Miss Dincer, was my revenge for the other night." He announced smugly.

"W…what?"

"Everything you just saw, the Daleks, me getting hit, the regeneration…was all a holographic projection beamed straight into your mind from the TARDIS, with me acting it out of course."

My brain took two point four seconds to process what he'd just told me. Then I walked up to him and slapped him as hard as I could.

The tears that I had been barely holding back during his 'regeneration' now spilled down my cheeks.

"How could you?" I screamed at him. "How could you just play with my emotions like that? What I did last night was in no way comparable to this! I played a prank! You've made me think my entire world was falling apart!" I stopped to catch my breath, wiping my eyes angrily.

"Talia, I-I'm sorry. I didn't…r-realise…" he was trying to form an apology, trying to reach out. I smacked his hand away.

"No! You're not that thick, Doctor, you were surely aware of how I felt about you and you made me confess it without any shame because I thought you were dying!" I raised my hand to slap him again. He stood, ready to take it, but I closed my hand into a tight fist and lowered it. "You went way too far." I whispered.

Then I turned and ran down to my room, making sure he could hear me crying.

Slamming and locking the door shut – though I knew it would be pointless if he wanted to get in – I threw myself onto my bed and buried my face in the pillow, sobbing out all the emotions that had been tossed around. Sorrow. Anger. Fear. Love.

After ten minutes or so, I heard him knock. At least he wasn't rude enough to just sonic his way in.

"Talia, I know I don't deserve anything after what I just did, but could you ever forgive me?"

His muffled voice sounded as though he, too, was close to tears. I felt a strange sort of satisfaction, overshadowing the sympathy that also rose, as I realised he truly regretted what he'd done.

"No. Go away and take me home." I snapped, sitting up and wiping my eyes.

There was a pause. "I really messed up, didn't I?"

"More than I think even you realise." The bitterness I felt practically coated my words.

Another pause. "Please, Talia. I'll make it up to you. I'll do anything, go anywhere! Anything! I don't want you to leave!"

I groaned, flinging myself onto my back. Why did he have to sound so sad? "Two things that I think you should know, Doctor. First, unlock that door. I hate talking to people I can't see." I waited until he'd done so. "Second, you clearly don't know as much about humans as you think." He waited, staring at me almost anxiously. "If you were really that dumb that you couldn't see how…crazy I was about you…then you've a lot more to learn about us. All your companions, all human, and still…" I let it hang, glaring at him.

He looked down, ashamed. "I honestly didn't know. You shocked me when you confessed it. I noticed things, sure, but I thought it was just a light thing. What you would call a…a crush. If I had any inclination of how much that would hurt you, I would never have done it. It never entered my mind that you cared so much that it would affect you this badly if I were to regenerate."

My eyes prickled again at his words, but I was drained of tears. He approached slowly, reaching towards me again. "You said you'd do anything, right?"

I needed some consolation. I couldn't just accept his apology, no matter how sweet his face got.

"Anything." He agreed.

"Right, there are three things I want you to do for us to be even." I began. He nodded eagerly. "First off, eat a pear."

A/N: If you haven't seen it/aren't aware, go to YouTube and look for 'doctor who season 3 outtake'. Watch and laugh. You'll understand the pear thing.