Lost in Forever
Author's Note: I borrow my playthings, but always return them (to the BBC). Based on what spoilers are available for the Season 5 episode 'Lost in Time'. Some of them may be right, some of them have already been proven wrong but I liked em, so reader beware.
Chapter 1
The Doctor sat perfectly still in his room on board the TARDIS. His hands were folded lightly in his lap, legs crossed. His eyes were closed as he searched for the quiet. It was quite a task, but he'd had some great teachers. Still, for the monkey that the Buddha had taught him existed in the mind of every human there must be a whole city of apes in his mind. He'd spent at least a month trying to outrun them, and he'd very nearly succeeded on Carbanii Prime. Who knew the low ranking bureaucrat he'd saved would start a revolution that would one day send their civilization to the stars? He was supposed to know, but in his overcrowded mind he'd forgotten. Again. And so he had decided to sit.
Quiet. Let it pass. The Doctor took another deep breath. For a moment he could touch it, the peace that came from no thoughts. In the moment he realized what he had, he remembered Donna. He took a breath, preparing to sit though those memories again. Maybe it's a good thing.
It wasn't though. It was the same image, of her crying and begging him to stop. She knew what he was going to do and he had plowed on through anyway. He could sit through the memory of the rain hiding his tears a thousand times and it didn't bring any closure. He wanted to fight to keep his hearts beating slowly and smoothly, but he knew it went against was he was trying to do. No fighting, no struggling. Sit, observe, and let it slide away. Play it out. He remembered the last time she said goodbye to him, the flippant 'Yeah, see ya' she'd shot him as she chatted with a friend. The memory played again. And again. Over and over, the same scene. Why, he thought. In his mind he paused the memory, giving him a still photograph to examine. He looked closely, and his eyes opened in shock.
"The ring!" He shouted, bounding out of his chair and out the door.
The time rotor of the TARDIS moved slowly, gently whooshing as the Doctor ran in barefoot, suit unbuttoned. He pulled the console screen over and began his search.
"Because it wasn't any ring," He began, all attention on the screen. "That gem was made of a Bezulian composite. That's Time Lord technology, in case you're -"
The Doctor stopped, looked up and sighed. No one to hear him, no one to impress or inspire. But in that moment he realized, he didn't really care.
"I am going to find who gave you that ring." He vowed, glaring at the screen as coordinates flooded the display.
Donna sighed, and jiggled her phone. Still no service. Her mates had invited her out, a bonfire by the ocean cliffs. It really wasn't her sort of thing, as she'd much rather be at a club but her friend Betha had invited her gorgeous brother, Robert. She wasn't going to miss out on that. So she sat on bench by the cliffs, waiting. It was nearly midnight, and her friends had said they'd be there by 9 pm. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to wait. She sighed and sat up.
"No use waiting anymore." She said to herself. She began to walk off when she noticed something glinting in the dirt. She walked closer without thinking. It looked like there had once been a fire here, one of those giant bonfires the college students would set and get completely trashed by. The earth was charred deeply, but still new grass had begun to sprout. None of that really mattered to Donna however, as she reached down to brush off a small object. It was a ring.
"How lucky is that!" She exclaimed, taking a tissue from her purse to wipe it off. "I wonder how much you're worth?"
She held it aloft in the moonlight, examining the strange set of circles that made up the insignia the ring had been stamped with. She sighed. No gem, no money. Still, it was pretty in a way. The moon shone off the silver of the new ring and into the deep gray of her grandmother's ring she wore. Donna, lost in her own thoughts, didn't see how her gray ring began to glow, as if it were gathering the light.
It was then Donna realized she wasn't alone. A man stood behind her that she spun around to meet. He was well dressed in a dark suit and tie, his brown hair cropped short to reveal a thinning hairline. His eyes were small and dark, but his smile was almost infectious.
"You must be Donna Noble." He said, extending his hand. "You have no idea what a pleasure it is to finally meet you."
"D'you know me?" Donna asked, taken aback. Still, the suit looked expensive. Maybe this was another of Betha's brothers?
"We've met, although I doubt you'd remember." He said, hand still extended.
Donna reached out and took his hand. He smiled, and clasped his left hand over hers. As he did so, Donna's vision faded to black.
The Master knelt next to Donna, one hand on her face. His smile didn't meet his narrowed eyes. "I do know half of you, Donna Noble. I know what you are, and now you are mine."
The Doctor balanced precariously as the TARDIS flew, one foot against the console holding him in place as he tied his shoe. He nearly fell off his seat when he went to switch feet. Still, the old ship shuddered and stopped just as he had finished. With a glance to the console to verify the date as he buttoned his suit, he bounded towards the door.
The date was February 25th, 1934. Cardiff, in his opinion, had never looked worse. The stench of industrialism unchecked by environmental concerns for decades left the city ashy and sick. The air was heavy, and the sky was a touch more gray than it should have been. The TARDIS had tucked itself away into an alley, and the Doctor stepped out quickly and merged into the flood of pedestrian traffic on the street. He examined the people walking and riding by, hunting. He felt he'd walked nearly a mile when something caught his eye. Rather, someone.
A well dressed man was talking to a girl by a storefront. The girl wore a simple blue calico dress and white apron stained with a hard day's work. The same blue dress the TARDIS computers had extrapolated Donna's grandmother was wearing the day she came into possession of the Bezulian ring. He couldn't see much of the man save the rich suit he was wearing and a crop of curly brown hair. She was smiling as they chatted, and the Doctor watched with interest as the man took her hand and lead her into an alleyway. Once they were out of sight, the Doctor made his move. He quickly crossed the street and came the alleyway. He peeked around the corner, and felt his hearts stop.
The Doctor had his forehead pressed against the woman's. Both hands were pressed to the sides of her head as he held her. He murmured quietly to her as he moved one hand from her head to his pocket, revealing a large, dark gray ring. "Keep this safe, give it to your granddaughter.", he said softly as he pressed the ring into her hand. "Do you understand?" He asked, releasing her. Her eyes fluttered and she stumbled. The Doctor reached out to steady her.
"Yes," She said softly as if in a trance. "I understand."
"Thank you." The Doctor said, smiling widely. "Now, go tell your husband how lucky you were to find this in a gutter on your way home. Buy a house in London but wait a few years." He extended a thick brown envelope.
" 'course I will. A house... in London." The woman said, as she tucked an envelope the Doctor handed her in the pockets of her apron. Smiling vacantly, she walked out of the alley.
And straight into the Doctor. "Sorry sir, pardon me." She said, barely glancing at him as she walked out. The Doctor barely acknowledged her, but moved into the alleyway staring at the man. For once, he found himself at a loss for words.
The Doctor smiled and examined the man who entered the alleyway. He was tall and slim, with a mass of unruly brown hair. His suit was a simple brown pin-stripe, and his shoes didn't match.
"I appreciate you not interrupting that," The Eighth Doctor began casually, walking closer. "You know how difficult it is to send a temporal note and have someone arrive before you've sent it."
"You." The Tenth Doctor stammered. "How?"
"I believe the more important question is, why?" The Eighth replied. "Still, it's very nice to meet you. Although I'm disappointed to see I've kept up with the pattern of bad hair."
The Tenth Doctor continued to stare at himself, before the Time War had left him broken and alone in the universe, although he unconsciously ran his hand through his hair. Bad hair?
"It's impossible." He said, pulling out his sonic screw driver. "You must be some sort of projection, or psychic fragment. Perhaps a pan-dimensional echo..."
The Eighth Doctor stood calmly for a few minutes and allowed the Doctor to go over him with the sonic. "Perhaps I'm a hallucination and you've gone insane?" He offered helpfully.
"No, you're definitely real." The Tenth murmured. It was then that the Eighth Doctor placed his hands firmly on his counterpart's shoulders and stopped him.
"Nine, nine, nine. May I call you Nine? Seems appropriate, you can call me Eight if you'd like." The curly haired Doctor began cheerfully, although his tone began to darken. "I would not have come here, crossed my own time line, if it were not of the utmost importance. You know that. So what I need you to do is to listen."
"May I say something before you start?"
The Eighth Doctor narrowed his eyes. "It's good to know I'm still incapable of being serious when it's called for. What?"
"I'm not your ninth regeneration, I'm your tenth." The pin stripe Doctor said a little flatly. "Really sorry."
The Eighth Doctor's eyes widened. "And trust me," The Tenth continued, "If you think my hair is bad, wait until you meet your Ninth regeneration. He barely had any at all."